The Hanan Shield is one of the most prestigious trophies in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's domestic

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

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 in New Zealand covers the area of Otago 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 for astronomy and for glid ...

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 Southe ...

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 of C ...

. 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 up for challenge in any meeting between the holders and one of the other two teams. The Hanan Shield is held by Mid Canterbury, who beat South Canterbury 34–27 on 21 September 2013.Leask, Jonathan
"Rugby: Mid Canterbury claim Meads Cup"
The New Zealand Herald. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014. Nearly one year later, Mid Canterbury were able to defend it for a second time in a row after defeating North Otago 28–7. Mid Canterbury has continued to hold on to it ever since.

Overall record (1946–2006)

* Draw goes down as a win to the holders

Tally table

2007

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. The match is generally considered to be among the most memorable clashes in the history of New Zealand domestic rugby.

2008

On 9 August

made their first Hanan Shield defence of 2008 when they ran onto the Ashburton Showgrounds to play

. It was 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), and 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 37 (Brenton Connell 2, Jon Dampney 2, Richard Fridd, Dan Maw tries; Dan Maw pen, two con) South Canterbury 19 (Timaru Tafa 2, Eric Smith tries; Luke Reihana two con), HT: 18–5.

2012

After defeating Mid Canterbury 24–18 on 24 September 2011, North Otago lost the Hanan Shield 7–3 to Mid Canterbury on 8 September 2012. On 13 October 2012 South Canterbury claimed the shield by defeating Mid Canterbury 17–15 at Fraser Park in

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) 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 coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

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

2013

After winning the shield and defending it once, South Canterbury lost 34–27 against Mid 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. Also, this was Mid Canterbury's first time winning the

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

2014

Mid Canterbury was to next defend the shield against North Otago on 4 October 2014 in Ashburton."Rugby: North Otago's Lochore Cup spot in jeopardy"
Otago Daily Times. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014. Mid Canterbury next defended the sShield against South Canterbury in Timaru on 11 October 2014, only one week after their match against North Otago. They won 24–7.

2015

Mid Canterbury next defended the Hanan Shield in the

2015 Heartland Championship The 2015 Heartland Championship, the tenth edition of the Heartland Championship since the 2006 reconstruction of the National Provincial Championship, was a rugby union competition involving the twelve semi-professional rugby unions in New Zealand ...

on 22 August 2015. On the last match of the regular season Mid Canterbury successfully defended the Shield against North Otago in Oamaru.

2016

On 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 attempted to defend the Shield for a sixth consecutive time. Mid Canterbury successfully defended the shield in a high-scoring affair. Their next challenge will be on 15 October, Round 8, from South Canterbury.

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