The Hanan Shield is one of the most prestigious trophies in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

's domestic

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

competition. First played for in 1946 after being presented by the

Mayor of Timaru The mayor of Timaru is the directly elected head of the Timaru District Council, the local government authority for the Timaru District in New Zealand, which it controls as a territorial authority. List of officeholders There have been 40 mayor ...

, A. E. S. Hanan. The Hanan Shield is based on a challenge system played between

North Otago North Otago is an area in New Zealand that covers the area of the Otago region between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre f ...

South Canterbury South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the S ...

and

Mid Canterbury Mid Canterbury (also spelt Mid-Canterbury and mid-Canterbury) is a traditional, semi-official subregion of New Zealand's Canterbury Region extending inland from the Pacific coast to the Southern Alps. It is one of four traditional sub-regions o ...

. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge matches, and if a challenger defeats them, they become the new holder of the shield. A rules change at the end of the 2011 season meant that the shield is contested in all meetings between the holders and one of the other two teams.

Record (1946–2006)

* A draw is recorded as a win for the holders

2007–2010 Mid Canterbury

On 6 October 2007, Mid Canterbury won the Shield from North Otago, who had held the shield since 2000, with a 25–22 victory. In a fiercely contested clash in front of a record crowd at Oamaru's Centennial Park, Mid Canterbury played themselves into a Shield winning position. Mid Canterbury made the decisive break thanks to two stunning solo tries to young winger Brenton Connell, then hung on in the final 20 minutes despite losing star midfielder Jack Umaga to a broken jaw. This ended North Otago's Hanan Shield reign of 14 defences over seven years. ---- On 9 August 2008 Mid Canterbury made their first Hanan Shield defence when they ran onto the Ashburton Showgrounds to play South Canterbury in the first Hanan Shield match contested under the new

experimental law variations The experimental law variations (ELVs) were a proposed set of amendments to the laws of rugby union. They were proposed by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), and trialled games at Stellenbosch University in 2006. In ...

(ELVs). It was South Canterbury who put on the early pressure with prop Timaru Tafa crossing in the 6th minute. Mid Canterbury's 19-year-old wing Brenton Connell sliced through a midfield gap on his own 10-metre line, broke a tackle and sprinted away down the left-hand flank to score in the corner. In the 29th minute, loose forward Jon Dampney showed his strength in shrugging off a tackler to score in the corner. Connell made it two for the afternoon when Dampney took a quick throw, which saw the ball spread to the opposite sideline into the hands of Connell who crossed the line and scored. South Canterbury started the second half strong, and scored two tries in the first 10 minutes, to loose forward Eric Smith and Tafa got his second. Mid Canterbury were trailing 19–18 but were not about to give up. A try to second five-eighth Richard Fridd pulled them back into the game, while two more tries were scored by first five-eighth Dan Maw and Dampney who scored his second. ---- Mid Canterbury retained the Hanan Shield until 2010. ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

2010 South Canterbury

In the last Hanan Shield challenge in the

2010 Heartland Championship The 2010 Heartland Championship was the fifth edition of the New Zealand provincial rugby union competition, since the 2006 reconstruction. The teams represented the 12 amateur rugby unions. In Round 1, the teams were split into two pools of 6 ...

, South Canterbury took the Shield from Mid Canterbury.

2011 North Otago

In the first Hanan Shield challenge of the

2011 Heartland Championship The 2011 Heartland Championship was the sixth edition of the Heartland Championship, New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition, since it was reorganised in 2006. The teams represented the 12 amateur rugby unions. For 2011, the competition ...

, North Otago uplifted the Shield from South Canterbury. North Otago retained the Shield for one challenge. ----

2012 Mid Canterbury

Mid Canterbury claimed the Hanan Shield from North Otago with a 7–3 win on 8 September 2012.

2012 South Canterbury

On 13 October 2012 South Canterbury claimed the shield by defeating Mid Canterbury 17–15 at

Fraser Park Fraser Park is Lower Hutt's largest recreational sportsground, at 27 hectares it is the biggest sporting ground in the lower North Island. It is home to the Ricoh Sports Centre, a multi-use venue, as well as sports like rugby, rugby league, fo ...

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

. South Canterbury outscored their opponents by three tries to two. ---- South Canterbury retained the shield by defeating Mid Canterbury 48–20 in the 2012 Lochore Cup semi-final on 21 October.

2013–2016 Mid Canterbury

Mid Canterbury won the Shield with a win 34–27 against South Canterbury on 21 September 2013. ---- Mid Canterbury defended the shield by defeating North Otago 26–20 in the 2013 Meads Cup final on 26 October.Leask, Jonathan
"Rugby: Mid Canterbury claim Meads Cup"
The New Zealand Herald. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014. This was also Mid Canterbury's first time winning the

Meads Cup The Meads Cup is a rugby union trophy named after King Country Rugby Football Union, King Country and All Blacks player Colin Meads. It is contested during the Heartland Championship. It was first awarded in 2006 Heartland Championship, 2006, when ...

. ---- On 4 October 2014, Mid Canterbury defended the shield against North Otago in Ashburton. They won the match 28–7. ---- On 11 October 2014, Mid Canterbury defended the shield against South Canterbury in Timaru, only one week after their match against North Otago. They won 24–7. ---- ---- In the last match of the regular season, Mid Canterbury successfully defended the Shield against North Otago in Oamaru. ---- In the first match of the

2016 Heartland Championship The 2016 Heartland Championship, known as the 2016 Mitre 10 Heartland Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the eleventh edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. ...

season, Mid Canterbury defended the Shield for a sixth consecutive time. Mid Canterbury successfully defended the shield in a high-scoring affair.

2016 South Canterbury

On 15 October 2016, South Canterbury, on their home ground, won the Shield from Mid Canterbury. South Canterbury defended the Shield on four occasions throughout 2017 and 2018. ---- ---- ---- ----

2019 North Otago

On 24 August 2019, in an away fixture, North Otago ended the Shield reign of South Canterbury. North Otago defended the Shield in one challenge, against Mid Canterbury. ----

2020–2025 South Canterbury

On 12 September 2020, South Canterbury won the Shield back from North Otago. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Combined Hanan Shield selections

A combined Mid Canterbury, North Otago and South Canterbury team has been selected to play touring international teams: * On 9 June 1971, against the British Lions at Timaru, losing 6-25. Neville Twaddell (South Canterbury) scored 2 penalties. * On 22 June 1977, against the British Lions at Timaru, losing 6-45. Doug Nicol (South Canterbury) scored 2 penalties. * On 25 July 1990, against

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at Timaru, losing 0-34. * On 15 April 1992, against the

World XV A World XV (or World 15) is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ''ad hoc'' basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies since the 1970s, often to take pa ...

at Timaru, losing 3-74.

References

{{Rugby union in New Zealand New Zealand rugby union competitions Rugby union trophies and awards New Zealand sports trophies and awards 1946 establishments in New Zealand