The Ranfurly Shield is back in the capital for the first time in 13 years, following Wellington's 19-12 victory over Hawkes Bay.
Wellington forward, Du'Plessis Kirifi was thrilled that his side could bring the shield home for the region.
“There’s a lot of history on that log of wood. I said earlier to someone. It brings a lot of energy to the rugby community in the provinces, so hopefully, it does the same for us," Kirifi said.
“The magnitude of what we’ve just done isn’t lost on us. We’re really grateful."
It was 2009 the last time the Lions held the Log O’ Wood, that was when All Black great Piri Weepu was on the team.
Wellington defeated Hawkes Bay in a gritty match that included only one try, proving the passion for one of rugby’s oldest prizes is still alive.
The man that scored the only try of the match, TJ Perenara spoke about his fond childhood memories of the Ranfurly Shield.
“My earliest memory was when the team won it back in 2008, my Grandfather, a very big rugby man in Porirua was lucky enough to have the shield taken to his house, so to win it and bring it back home is pretty cool," Perenara said.
Du’Plessis said, “I grew up in Taranaki and dad worked for the rugby union so they were lucky enough to win it a few times when I was 8."
"Quite often it was sitting in the lounge because Taranaki had it for a while…as a kid, we got used to the shield but once I grew up and got kicked out of home, I didn’t see much of it until now so it’s nice to see it again."
Wellington will defend their shield against Waikato next weekend.
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