# Ranfurly Shield 2000–2009

The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is perhaps the most prestigious trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Ranfurly Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than a league or knockout competition as with most football trophies. The holding union must defend the Shield in challenge matches, and if a challenger defeats them, they become the new holder of the Shield.
Waikato opened the decade with the Ranfurly Shield defending it successfully 21 times prior to losing it. The shield changed hands 11 times throughout the decade, Canterbury notably winning the shield four separate times, but ultimately losing it to Auckland, North Harbour, Auckland again, and finally Southland, who held the shield at the close of the decade.
The Bay of Plenty and Wellington were also involved with short Shield stints during the decade – both beating Auckland at Eden Park, but also both falling to Canterbury. North Harbour secured The Shield for the first time in beating Canterbury, however gave The Shield to a strong Waikato side after three defences.

## Fixtures
### 2000

* 6 July 2000
| West Coast | 3–99 | Waikato |
* Rugby Park, Greymouth
* 12 July 2000
| North Otago | 17–95 | Waikato |
* Whitestone Contracting Stadium, Oamaru
* 22 July 2000
| Waikato | 86–3 | Wanganui |
* Tokaroa Memorial Sports Ground, Tokoroa
* 19 August 2000
| Waikato | 52–14 | Northland |
* Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
* 2 September 2000
| Waikato | 44–36 | Southland |
* Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
* 9 September 2000
| Waikato | 24–11 | North Harbour |
* Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Waikato finally succumbed to the pressure of Ranfurly shield rugby after valiantly defending the shield 21 times, a run of games stretching back to 1997
* 23 September 2000
| Waikato | 18–26 | Canterbury |
* Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
* 1 October 2000
| Canterbury | 29–26 | Otago |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 6 October 2000
| Canterbury | 28–22 | Northland |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch

### 2001

* 11 July 2001
| Canterbury | 69–3 | Buller |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 18 July 2001
| Canterbury | 103–0 | South Canterbury |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 4 August 2001
| Canterbury | 67–10 | Nelson Bays |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 25 August 2001
| Canterbury | 72–3 | Bay of Plenty |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 22 September 2001
| Canterbury | 31–29 | Wellington |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 5 October 2001
| Canterbury | 38–17 | Taranaki |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 12 October 2001
| Canterbury | 38–10 | Auckland |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 19 October 2001
| Canterbury | 52–19 | Waikato |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch

### 2002

* 17 July 2002
| Marlborough | 24–85 | Canterbury |
* Lansdowne Park, Blenheim
* 24 July 2002
| Mid Canterbury | 78–10 | Canterbury |
* Ashburton Showgrounds, Ashburton
* 9 August 2002
| Canterbury | 51–06 | East Coast |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 31 August 2002
| Canterbury | 48–27 | Southland |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 13 September 2002
| Canterbury | 44–17 | Northland |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 28 September 2002
| Canterbury | 65–10 | North Harbour |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 12 October 2002
| Canterbury | 16–13 | Otago |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch

### 2003

* 2 July 2003
| North Otago | 24–85 | Canterbury |
* Centennial Park, Oamaru
* 9 July 2003
| Hawke's Bay | 14–76 | Canterbury |
* McLean Park, Napier
* 24 August 2003
| Canterbury | 31–26 | Bay of Plenty |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 30 August 2003
| Canterbury | 32–27 | Taranaki |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 20 September 2003
| Canterbury | 35–24 | Waikato |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 27 September 2003
| Canterbury | 38–38 | Wellington |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
After 23 successive shield defences Canterbury fall to long time rivals Auckland – a dominant performance in Christchurch, sees The Shield head to Auckland
* 11 October 2003
| Canterbury | 31–40 | Auckland |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch

### 2004

* 28 July 2004
| Auckland | 67–3 | Poverty Bay |
* Eden Park, Auckland
* 1 August 2004
| Auckland | 100–15 | Counties Manukau |
* Eden Park, Auckland
A shock upset in Auckland after only two defences, as the Steamers claim their first Ranfurly Shield victory, a historic win at the hallowed turf of Eden Park
* 15 August 2004
| Auckland | 28–33 | Bay of Plenty |
* Eden Park, Auckland
* 22 August 2004
| Bay of Plenty | 26–20 | Waikato |
* Baypark, Mount Maunganui
After a brilliant home defence over staunch local rivals Waikato, the Steamers fall to Canterbury as the Red and Black take the Shield back down south
* 5 September 2004
| Bay of Plenty | 26–33 | Canterbury |
* Baypark, Mount Maunganui
* 18 September 2004
| Canterbury | 52–13 | Southland |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 9 October 2004
| Canterbury | 68–19 | Northland |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch

### 2005

* 22 June 2005
| Canterbury | 67–3 | Marlborough |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 12 July 2005
| Canterbury | 85–0 | Nelson Bays |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 20 August 2005
| Canterbury | 40–13 | Bay of Plenty |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 3 September 2005
| Canterbury | 13–11 | Taranaki |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 17 September 2005
| Canterbury | 23–15 | Waikato |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 23 September 2005
| Canterbury | 15–14 | Wellington |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 8 October 2005
| Canterbury | 27–12 | Auckland |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch

### 2006

* 4 July 2006
| South Canterbury | 15–80 | Canterbury |
* Fraser Park, Timaru
* 11 July 2006
| Canterbury | 96–10 | Wairarapa Bush |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 18 August 2006
| Canterbury | 24–7 | Southland |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 2 September 2006
| Canterbury | 22–17 | Otago |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
* 10 September 2006
| Canterbury | 32–16 | Counties Manukau |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
Christchurch is the home of upsets as North Harbour win The Shield for the first time in 11 attempts in its 21 year history as a rugby province
* 24 September 2006
| Canterbury | 17–21 | North Harbour |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch

### 2007

* 30 August 2007
| North Harbour | 69–0 | Thames Valley |
* North Harbour Stadium, Albany
* 14 July 2007
| North Harbour | 99–6 | Horowhenua Kapiti |
* North Harbour Stadium, Albany
* 4 August 2007
| North Harbour | 19–13 | Taranaki |
* North Harbour Stadium, Albany
North Harbour's historic first run of three shield defences comes to a crunching halt by a simply dominant Waikato displaying electric attacking rugby
* 25 August 2007
| North Harbour | 7–52 | Waikato |
* North Harbour Stadium, Albany
Ultimately it would not be a successful shield reign for the Mooloos as Canterbury went on to claim the Shield back after just over a year without it
* 1 September 2007
| Waikato | 20–33 | Canterbury |
* Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
* 7 September 2007
| Canterbury | 44–6 | Hawke's Bay |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch
A dominant Auckland team crushed any hopes Canterbury had of repeating the double figure shield defences of earlier in the decade with a classy win
* 29 September 2007
| Canterbury | 15–26 | Auckland |
* Jade Stadium, Christchurch

### 2008

* 15 July 2008
| Poverty Bay | 3–54 | Auckland |
* More FM Rugby Park, Gisborne
* 22 July 2008
| North Otago | 3–113 | Auckland |
* Centennial Park, Oamaru
* 10 August 2008
| Auckland | 22–6 | Taranaki |
* Eden Park, Auckland
* 23 August 2008
| Auckland | 25–3 | Manawatu |
* Eden Park, Auckland
* 6 September 2008
| Auckland | 13–9 | Southland |
* Eden Park, Auckland
On the weekend of Auckland Rugby's 125th anniversary, a dominant Wellington side broke Gull hearts, and its own 26-year drought stretching back to 1982
* 20 September 2008
| Auckland | 0–27 | Wellington |
* Eden Park, Auckland
* 27 September 2009
| Wellington | 26–20 | Tasman |
* Westpac Stadium, Wellington

### 2009

* 2 July 2009
| Wairarapa Bush | 19–90 | Wellington |
* Memorial Park, Masterton
* 9 July 2009
| Wanganui | 6–61 | Wellington |
* Cooks Gardens, Whanganui
* 31 July 2009
| Wellington | 23–19 | Otago |
* Westpac Stadium, Wellington
* 22 August 2009
| Wellington | 16–15 | Auckland |
* Westpac Stadium, Wellington
In just under two years after losing The Shield to Auckland, Canterbury regain it after a dominant performance in the Capital, outclassing Wellington
* 29 August 2009
| Wellington | 14–36 | Canterbury |
* Westpac Stadium, Wellington
* 12 September 2009
| Canterbury | 36–14 | Otago |
* AMI Stadium, Christchurch
* 18 September 2009
| Canterbury | 29–17 | Taranaki |
* AMI Stadium, Christchurch
* 26 September 2009
| Canterbury | 31–21 | Northland |
* AMI Stadium, Christchurch
* 9 October 2009
| Canterbury | 50–26 | Manawatu |
* AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Christchurch was again host to a mighty upset as Southland regained the Shield for the fifth time in their history after a 50-year hiatus stretching back to 1959
* 22 October 2009
| Canterbury | 3–9 | Southland |
* AMI Stadium, Christchurch