After just eight days, Taranaki's Ranfurly Shield reign has officially ended, with Otago snatching the Log O' Wood in Inglewood today with a 19-30 win.
The brief possesion of the shield is only one day longer than the shortest Ranfurly Shield reign in history, held by Waikato (2007) and Wellington (1963), who both held the shield for seven days.
In the absence of both Barrett brothers, the Bulls looked like a shell of the team that defeated Canterbury last Saturday in spectacular fashion.
Scoring only one try in the first half, Taranaki trailled 5-22 at the break.
The second half continued in the same vein but a late resurgence however in the last five minutes with the hero of last week's match, Lachlan Boshier, scoring a try.
Boshier's efforts simply weren't enough however, with Taranaki running out of time to pull off a miracle comeback in front of their home crowd.
Otago on the other hand dound the tryline four times through Dylan Nel, Freedom Vaha'akolo, Liam Coltman and Josh Ioane.
The province held the Ranfurly Shield last year before losing it to Canterbury, who held it until their defeat to Taranaki last week.
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