PHOTO
There was possibly less chat in the car on the way home to Te Anau than on the way down to Invercargill for Saturday’s shield match at Rugby Park — but it seems unlikely.
It was Ruby Douglas’ (left) 12th birthday, and all the Mararoa School pupil wanted was for the Southland Stags to win.
Ruby said she would have been happy to forgo any birthday presents if the Southland team had retained the shield.
She might have been disappointed on that front, but she and her friends and siblings (from left) Lexie Slee, 13, Eva Douglas, 9, Chloe Thomas, 13, Jack Douglas, 7, and Paige MacGregor, 12, still managed to have a grand day out with their pre-written signs, painted faces and custom antlers made from sparkly pipe cleaners.
The group was among the thousands of rugby fans who made the trip to the Invercargill ground, including a few who came from Canterbury, for the Shield challenge against Canterbury after Southland took it from Waikato the Saturday before. Southland lost the match 54-14.