Ranfurly Shield

Ranfurly Shield
Sport	Rugby union
Presented by	New Zealand Rugby Union
Type	Provincial challenge trophy
First contested	1904
Current holder	Canterbury
Official website	mitre10cup.co.nz
Current season	2017

The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than a league or knockout competition as with most football trophies. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge matches, and a successful challenger becomes the new holder of the Shield.

Although the professional era of rugby has seen other competitions, such as the ITM Cup and Super Rugby, detracting from the pre-eminence of the Ranfurly Shield, many still regard it as the greatest prize in New Zealand domestic rugby. This is mainly due to its long history, the fact that every challenge is a sudden-death defence of the Shield, and that any team, no matter how lowly, has a chance to win.

The Shield is currently held by Canterbury, after beating Waikato on 28 September 2016 at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton. Canterbury's won their first defence against North Harbour and will now hold onto the Shield over the 2016-2017 Summer.

In 1901 the Governor of New Zealand, the Earl of Ranfurly, announced that he would present a cup to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union to be used as the prize in a competition of their choosing. When the trophy, a shield, arrived, the NZRFU decided that it would be awarded to the union with the best record in the 1902 season, and thenceforth be the subject of a challenge system. Auckland, unbeaten in 1902, were presented with the shield. The shield was designed as a trophy for association football, not rugby. The picture in the centrepiece was a soccer one, and was modified by adding goal posts on the soccer goal in the picture to create a rugby scene. The alterations to the centrepiece are still apparent.

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