Shock waves from Southland's historic Ranfurly Shield rugby win have reached as far as Mongolia, where Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt is recruiting students.
Southland beat Canterbury 9-3 last night to capture the shield, the first time the province has held it in 50 years.
The Stags players can expect a tumultuous welcome home this morning, if the scenes of celebration in Christchurch last night are any guide.While that was to be expected, Mr Shadbolt's excitement at the triumph raised eyebrows in Mongolia, a country not noted for its devotion to rugby.
Mr Shadbolt, recruiting students for the Southern Institute of Technology, kept a careful eye on his cellphone as the game was played.He told NewstalkZB he was ecstatic about the win and he and his delegation will be celebrating.
He is planning a street parade.Mongolians are the only overseas students who do not complain about the Invercargill cold, he said. Teak-hard southern men reached for their tissues at the same speed as rugby historians rifled through the record books after one of the great Ranfurly Shield outcomes last night.
Southland not only ended 50 years without the famous domestic prize but their 9-3 upset of holders Canterbury injected a life into the provincial lifeblood of the game.The toppling of a rugby juggernaut and the wild celebrations it sparked at AMI Stadium surpasses anything the marketing men or razzle dazzle rugby can do to get an increasingly apathetic New Zealand public returning to the national sport.
It was a tryless, error-filled encounter on a wet evening but that won't be remembered as the community in the deep south rejoices over the summer.Just ask manager Leicester Rutledge, the Southland stalwart who reckoned he had failed in 20 Shield challenges as a player, coach or manager.
For too long he has reflected on the closest of them, the 9-9 draw with Auckland in 1976.Rutledge sensed something special was on the cards last night.
"For the last two days the planes, the trains, the buses have been full and they've all been headed to Christchurch," he told Sky Sport."This caps a wonderful period of Southland rugby, it doesn't get any better than this," former All Blacks flanker Rutledge said.
Since North Auckland's 1978 reign, the Ranfurly Shield has barely been pried free of Auckland, Waikato, Wellington or Canterbury. The exception was three short tenures -- Taranaki in 1996, Bay of Plenty in 2004 and North Harbour in 2006.Captain Jamie Mackintosh said the players didn't realise how much victory meant until they went sideline to celebrate with emotional fans.
"Leicester Rutledge is the old boy of our team, he's been there since I started. To see him crying is pretty awesome," Mackintosh said, relishing the trip south."I think we're in for a big couple of days."
It was Rutledge's son Jason, whose performance at hooker encapsulated the commitment of a Southland pack who established dominance in the second spell.Once celebrations die down, Southland will aim to maintain their late-season surge in the playoffs.
They have all summer to prepare for a sixth Ranfurly Shield tenure.And it should last longer than the 1959 reign, which began with a defeat of holders Taranaki but ended a game later at the hands of Auckland.
