History against Otago as old nemesis seeks shield

Otago's Matt Saunders (left) and Anton Oliver celebrate beating Canterbury 37-22 in an NPC...
Otago's Matt Saunders (left) and Anton Oliver celebrate beating Canterbury 37-22 in an NPC semifinal at Jade Stadium in Christchurch in October, 2005. Photo: Getty Images
Here is a not-so-fun fact - it has been 14 years since Otago beat Canterbury.

Fourteen years.

Tom Donnelly. Photo: Getty Images
Tom Donnelly. Photo: Getty Images
That is nothing compared with the 56-year Ranfurly Shield drought the province endured between 1957 and 2013.

But it is long enough. And tomorrow night that record and the Ranfurly Shield will go on the line at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Otago was expected to name its side yesterday but put off the announcement until today.

The millennials might struggle with this but back in 2005, when Otago last dealt to Canterbury, Facebook was still in its infancy, Twitter did not exist and neither did Instagram.

People still looked each other in the eye. The Otago team could certainly do that after dispatching Canterbury 37-22 in the National Provincial Championship semifinal in Christchurch.

Otago actually beat Canterbury twice that year but the win in the semifinal was pretty special.

Former rugby writer Hayden Meikle was at Jade Stadium that night and described the scenes.

"On the scale of upsets in New Zealand sport this season, this will rank very near the top," he wrote.

"Otago scored five tries to three and out-played its heavily favoured opponent with a glorious mix of passion, accuracy and talent."

There are a couple of survivors. Otago assistant coach Tom Donnelly started at lock in the game and veteran loose forward Adam Thomson was part of that squad that year but did not play against Canterbury.

Donnelly was one of the heroes that night. He "ruled the line-outs" and charged down two kicks.

But it was halfback Chris Smylie who was the standout. He scored two tries in the game and was named NPC first division player of the year.

The rookie played with unchallenged confidence and energy and showed up a lot of experienced players.

But Otago had a really talented line-up including Nick Evans, Seilala Mapusua, Josh Blackie, Anton Oliver, Carl Hayman, James Ryan and Craig Newby.

The team went on to lose the NPC final to Auckland 39-11 but beat its arch nemesis twice.

For the record, Otago and Canterbury have played 165 games since 1881. Otago has won 63, Canterbury 92 and there have been 10 draws.

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