Get your selfie sticks ready — the Ranfurly Shield is home.
The victorious Otago team touched down with their precious cargo yesterday morning.
They wrestled it from the old enemy, Canterbury, in a 38-36 thriller in Christchurch on Saturday.
If the players celebrated long and hard into the night, they did an admirable job hiding the effects yesterday as they arrived at Dunedin Airport to be greeted by a crowd of more than 200 fans.
Everyone from giant All Blacks and Otago lock Fabian Holland to the more moderately-sized members of the Otago rhythmic gymnastics team, waiting for their flight to Auckland for the national championships, mobbed the victorious lads in blue.
Proud parents hoisted youngsters on to their shoulders, eager teenagers lined up for a photo, and that might nearly have been a tear in the eye of Des Smith, the Otago rugby stalwart who never tires of seeing the province succeed.
Co-captain Sam Gilbert has surely never been as popular as he was yesterday, and the smile never left his face.
The win in Christchurch will go down in history as one of the great challenges.
It was also the day the rest of New Zealand woke up to the talent of Lucas Casey.
The Otago loose forward is dynamite and he exploded in the second half, scoring two sensational tries in a man-of-the-match effort.
His second try was the spark Otago needed to reignite the flame Canterbury had almost snuffed out.
"I’m super happy about that," he said shortly after the game.
"Awesome effort from the team. Yeah, I’m just stoked."
Canterbury led 24-14 at the break and stretched their lead to 36-21. But Otago rallied with three unanswered tries, including a 40m effort from Casey, which came a few minutes after lock Will Tucker picked up a yellow card.
It is a highlight that will probably come to define the game.
"It was extra hard when we got down to 14. But I suppose we showed how much we wanted it when we scored those two tries."
The Otago union last night confirmed the initial plan for getting the Shield out in the community.
It will get engraved in Dunedin this morning then, accompanied by players, will be taken to the Toko (10.30am), Clutha (11.30am), Taieri (2pm) and Green Island (3pm) rugby clubs. Details for the rest of the week will be released today.
The Otago Spirit completed a fabulous double with a dominant 37-12 win over the Northland Kauri in the Farah Palmer Cup Championship final at Tahuna Park yesterday, earning promotion to the Premiership.
— Additional reporting Hayden Meikle
