Southland is still celebrating after winning the Ranfurly Shield for the second time in two years. But should Otago people be happy for their neighbours, or annoyed they have waited 54 years and counting for their turn?
Sports editor Hayden Meikle argues we have no choice but to rejoice. But rugby writer Steve Hepburn finds it difficult to be entirely magnanimous.
Meikle says:
Look, I know it's tempting to succumb to bitterness.
It's tempting, even though it's patronising, to think of Southland as still the little brother down there in the city that always sleeps.
It's tempting to blame the gods of rugby for the cruel decision to bless the Stags with two Ranfurly Shield victories in two years, while Otago's drought enters a third generation.
It's tempting to raise (legitimate) questions about how Southland was able to hold on to all its players and face no punishment for slipping into such financial troubles last year.
And, I can assure you, it is tempting for the ODT sports editor to sigh as he sees his Southland Times counterpart and long-time nemesis, Nathan Burdon, revelling in being able to cover another shield reign.
But we must resist temptation. We must rise above petty jealousies and see the good in Southland's achievement.
For genuine good has been achieved. A sprightly, spirited province has done something rather remarkable.
Winning back the Ranfurly Shield the first time was special enough for the Stags, when they broke their own half-century barren run two years ago.
Reclaiming the Log, from the very province that snaffled it away from Invercargill last year, is fairytale stuff.
With drop-kicking hero James Wilson as the king.
Did you see the looks on their faces on Saturday? Most of the men in maroon are highly paid professionals, but you can't put a price on pure joy.
Does even the most devout Otago fan dare to try to dampen that spirit?
The Stags might be Southland's team, but there are Otago connections running through the squad. I can't help but be genuinely delighted for ODT tipster and erstwhile columnist Kendrick Lynn, inspiring Highlanders captain Jamie Mackintosh and veteran midfielder Matt Saunders, whom I have known since he was a schoolboy playing for North Otago.
Doesn't a new Southland shield reign dovetail neatly with other rugby achievements this season? It, along with the Highlanders' resurgence and Otago's win at Eden Park, sends a nice reminder to the rest of the country that rugby is far from dead in the South.
Most of all, Southland's passionate embrace of the Ranfurly Shield is another rebuttal to those killjoys who maintain the trophy has lost its magic.
Utter rot. The legend of the Log lives on - if anything, it becomes even more important now the national championship has been so thoroughly messed up.
The more uncharitable Otago fans might have their fingers crossed Southland immediately loses the shield, to Counties this weekend.
Then, if Waikato takes it off Counties, the first challenge in Hamilton will come from Otago.
But I like this solution better: the Stags hold on to the shield for the rest of the season, and enjoy another summer as its custodians.
Then - and you just know this will happen - Otago gets an early challenge next year. The great rivalry will be on again.
Hepburn says:
When Martin Crowe scored 299 against Sri Lanka he described it as like pulling a hamstring when getting to the top of Mt Everest.
A great achievement, but still that nagging feeling of emptiness.
And in some ways that is how Otago supporters might feel about Southland winning the Ranfurly Shield for a second time.
Good on them, but how can they get it twice within 22 months when Otago has not had it for nearly 54 years?
Well, I'm afraid that is the way the cards have fallen for Otago.
Being an Otago supporter means you learn to live with heartache.
Things do not go your way.
Between 1995 and 1998, when Otago was probably at its peak, the side had zero challenges.
In 1998, when it was the best side in the land by miles - 80 point victories over Wellington and Northland - it never got a challenge.
And do not even mention Colin Hawke.
In 2009, Canterbury played outstandingly well against Otago in a challenge. Just over a month later most of those same players put together a shocker to lose the Log o' Wood to Southland. Stephen Brett was at his flaky best.
Also, how can someone like James Wilson look decidedly average for the Highlanders, missing penalties seemingly at will, yet calmly slot the winning dropped goal last Saturday ?Sure, Otago has played badly and the union has made stuff-ups off the field, but so has every union.
Another point which is being somehow overlooked was Southland should have won on Saturday.
They had a pack full of Super 15 players.
Canterbury had the might of Andrew Olorenshaw, Ash Parker and Paea Fa'anunu in its tight five.
It was hardly a David and Goliath match-up, with the wee boys from the south putting on a Herculean performance.
And, also, who are these doom-sayers who say there is no magic left in the Ranfurly Shield? Do these people actually exist?
It is a bit like being politically correct. Everyone is so busy not being politically correct that you wonder if there is anyone who is in the affirmative.
And lastly, there is an elephant in the room about this win. A nasty, big, stinky elephant. It is called money.
Southland lived beyond its means last year. It spent like an international playboy, while enjoying the income of a paper boy.
At the end of the year it was cash poor. It had no money to pay the bills.
In other sports - English football for example - it would have gone out of business or been demoted at least. But it escaped penalty. It got a loan from the NZRU and other funders and got to keep all its players. It has since signed Highlanders winger Kade Poki.
How could it do that fresh from having not a penny in the bank? I'd love to have that sort of bank manager.
But for Southland supporters, who cares? Possession is nine-tenths of the law. They possess the shield; Otago doesn't . . . 19,659 days and counting.
