Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Southland's great Ranfurly Shield win over Canterbury

Friday, July 29, 2011

Southland's great Ranfurly Shield win over Canterbury

Last weekend Southland captured the Ranfurly Shield as they wrestled it from the grasp of Canterbury in an epic game of ITM Cup rugby. They've already defended it, against Counties, but here is a quick look at last weekend's classic match.

The Southland Stags beat Canterbury 22-19 in a great game of rugby that had a bit of everything, and went right down to the wire, with flyhalf James Wilson slotting a late dropgoal to give the Stags the lead, and a well deserved win.

Canterbury had a 16-9 halftime lead thanks to two nice tries, but they could only score a solitary penalty in the second, as Southland defended their hearts out in front of a passionate crowd at Rugby Park in Christchurch.

They have since put the Shield on the line, and successfully defended it with a 22-14 win against Counties Manukau, taking their ITM Cup season wins to two and with that, retaining the log of wood. They now sit mid-table, with spirits down south.

Canterbury meanwhile have gone down again this week, losing 37-28 against Wellington.

Time: 01:55

When I first saw this I thought it was from the 2009 archives! Great result for the Stags, the players, coaches and management – and of course the fans – deserve a lot of credit. They've done a great job over the past few seasons.

A minor quibble: it's 'Ranfurly', no 'e'.

As always, thanks for posting!

By Ben, at July 29, 2011 7:25 pm
Southland are such great ambassadors for Shield rugby. Every time they play for it you can see how much it means to them. Congratulations!

Now lose it quick so Canterbury can get it back again! ;)

By Anarchangel, at July 29, 2011 10:11 pm
Fantastic Atmosphere. Of course nothing will beat an international stadium, but there is something magical about small stadiums like this.

By EARugbyFan, at July 30, 2011 12:50 am
Yawn. Boring low scoring game!

By Anonymous, at July 30, 2011 1:27 am
oh and 1 more thing. Im a troll!

By Anonymous, at July 30, 2011 4:37 am
No, im not actually, i did think it was boring, it was low scoring and involved a lot of boring NH style kicking rugby!

By Anonymous, at July 30, 2011 5:48 am
no that was a proper rugby game where the set pieces and breakdown were actually contested unliked a lot of the super 15 and itm games. You'll only have a proper game with the south island teams.

By Anonymous, at July 30, 2011 7:35 am
^^^^ If that was a proper game then im not surprised more and more people are turning to league!

By Anonymous, at July 30, 2011 11:46 am
A kiwi landing a drop goal in an important game!

By Anonymous, at July 30, 2011 1:28 pm
It'd be cool if RD had a results and fixtures section, especially with the world cup coming soon.

By WelshOsprey, at July 31, 2011 2:14 am
Agreed welsh osprey, of course rugby planet will provide that.

Great video, though I'd love to see an extended version including the highlights of the celebrations.

To me this is rugby, passionate supporters and players caring about something very few else on the planet do. As a former club and provincial player who played in competitions no one has ever heard of I love to see the passion southland fans have for the shield.

Proper rugby game? If intense defense leading to the only option of taking a drop goal attempt (see the 95 final, with all the points scored by the boot, competed btwn 2 SH sides) isn't rugby I don't know what is. Go watch ur league with it's predictable pattern of play, I'll keep my rugby.

By Canadian content, at August 01, 2011 5:22 pm
Oh yeh, its fine when SH teams to it isnt it everyone, but when a england decide to put JW against the ball the whole world screams in outrage....

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2011 8:12 pm
This comment has been removed by the author.

By Ari Wiapo, at August 02, 2011 12:41 pm