RANFURLY SHIELD

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 173, 25 July 1939, Page 10

RANFURLY SHIELD

LIGHT CALENDAR THIS YEAR FEW MAJOR UNIONS CHALLENGING. Attention in the south is being focussed on the first of this season s engagements for the Planfuriy Shield. For some little time Otago and Southland have had a lien on the trophy, and these two unions are again to dispute possession before others come into the field. Southland are the holders, and Otago is planning a strong invasion in the hope of lifting the Shield next Saturday week (July 29). Present indications are that the holders will not be faced with many challenges from the North Island. This season’s fixture lists provide for Otago and Southland making northern tours, so that opportunities for meeting challenges will be limited to an extent. Then, too, the stronger unions of the North Island are not touring in the south this season, and few, if any, special challenges by them are contemplated. Wellington, for one, is apparently a non-starter. The Bush Districts will be sending a team on tour in the South Island, and they will have a match for the Shield, as also will Manawatu, who when last in the South Island went close to success against Otago, then holding the Shield. Beyond that, competition for the trophy appears likely to be confined to South Island unions, and some of these, including Canterbury, will have to make a special trip if a Shield match is wanted. It would seem, then, that the Ranfuriy Shield will not have anything like the importance this year that should be the case with a trophy entitling the holders to claim interprovincial supremacy. It will, of course, serve a very good purpose in the south.