Second time around and it still tastes sweet. Otago had to wait 20,000-odd days to finally win the Ranfurly Shield back in 2013.
But it grabbed the prized trophy again on Saturday, just a mere 1868 days since it last held it. Just over five years from last holding it, captain Michael Collins, who also played in the 2013 win, said it was a great feeling.
"It is so good. To be honest, I don't think we understand the enormity of what's happened. To see our president Des Smith, who has been around for so long, and those sort of guys, to see the tears and all that, it is pretty special," he said.
"We have got such a young team. We lost
so much experience last year. To come up here with all these young guys and to play as well as we did - I think it is awesome. And so proud, so proud," he said.
Otago was gritty to the end in the match, holding Waikato out with some strong defence.
"We talked about it all week. Emotions are one thing but action is another. I do not want to criticise them. But their guy that gave away the penalty at the end, that is what we tried so hard not to do. As a young group that is something we had to learn and we did. We trusted our systems and
performed well."
Collins and his side were calmness personified when the pressure came on in the dying minutes and Otago had the good fortune to receive a penalty with three
minutes left, when under siege on its line.
But fortune favours the brave. Otago was heroic and accurate in the final few minutes and that is what wins Shield games.
The shield tenure should last considerably longer than the nine days of 2013, and how this latest celebration will be marked will be decided in the next few days.
But Otago has to get back to playing the game. It has a home semifinal this weekend against Hawke's Bay in the Mitre 10 Cup Championship.
As it is not a regular-season game, it is not a shield challenge.