Wellington v Hawkes (RS)
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From Jason Pine on FB
The damage done to the Ranfurly Shield.
Couple of points ...
Firstly ... how dumb do you have to be to share this stuff on social media?
Who took the video and the photos, then thought it'd be a good idea to put them online?
I'm at a loss to explain why you would think that's a good idea.
To the Shield itself ... and what happened to it...
The alleged drug-taking doesn't actually bother me that much.
There are plenty of stories about what's allegedly been done on and around the Ranfurly Shield over the years.
Many of those things happened in the days well before social media and cameras on every phone.
The decision by someone to do drugs, let alone off the Ranfurly Shield, is perhaps worthy of wider discussion, but it's not the big issue here for me.
The main issue is the damage.
The Shield has suffered minor damage in the past ... and needed some reasonably significant restoration over the last 12 months to repair a few things.
But it has never been BROKEN IN HALF.
We've all seen the Ranfurly Shield ... many of us have held it up for a photo at promotional events and things like that.
The Shield is a decent hunk of wood.
It feels to me like you'd have to try really hard to snap it in half.
In fact, James Dwan - whose company Tri-Peek helped replace the original piece of wood with a new solid piece of oak this year - says the new version of the shield is three to four times thicker than the original.
He says that means it would require a lot of force to break.
When this all came to light yesterday, those at Hawke's Bay Rugby insisted it was an accident ... and that it had been dropped on a concrete floor by mistake.
If they stick to their story (which they are), we probably have to believe it.
But accidents tend to happen more often when people have had a bit to drink, or (allegedly) had a bit of the other stuff.
I'm all for celebrating success ... and winning the Ranfurly Shield is still a big deal for provincial rugby players ... and worthy of celebration.
But before you get started on the celebrations, make a plan.
And at the very least, keep the Ranfurly Shield out of harm's way.
Give the Shield a minder; someone who doesn't drink, for example, or a younger squad member who has to earn his stripes ... or someone who's put in charge of keeping the Shield away from those who are celebrating the hardest, so that accidents like this don't happen.
It's like having a sober driver ... just some sort of plan to make sure that when everyone wakes up in the morning, the Shield looks the same as when it was handed over.
The biggest thing for me though is the underlying disrespect which led to this happening.
The Ranfurly Shield should ... and does ... mean something significant.
Generations of rugby players have tried ... successfully and unsuccessfully ... to win it and to keep it.
It's without doubt the most famous trophy in NZ sport.
And whoever was around it on Saturday night treated it like it was nothing more than a piece of wood ... and with utter contempt.
They were laughing.
They were laughing about breaking one of the most treasured sporting trophies in our national game.
That completely disrespects its history ... and everyone who has been part of its legacy.
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Putting all of this on social media really is the most stupid thing out of all of this stupidity. Up there with Val Holmes in league posting a bag of white powder in his mouth.
I would 100% be saying the shield is 3x thicker and stronger if I spent a year building it then it breaks in the first couple of months. At least the stupidity of the players means his story means no one is going to question it (and rightly so)
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@taniwharugby said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
It feels to me like you'd have to try really hard to snap it in half.
I'm more inclined to believe that story because of how it's clearly in two pieces with the plate part still on one. If there was an actual attempt to damage it it wouldn't split nicely into two pieces like that.
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I find it funny that NZR is basically going to turn a blind eye to the coke all over the shield, complete with snorting tube. 'if we don't test, no one will be guilty, ergo less bad publicity'
NZR general manager community rugby Steve Lancaster said NZR wasn't aware that the white powder was drugs.
"We are aware of images that are in circulation but we don't have any information or clarification about what has taken place so we have launched an investigation to ascertain exactly what has gone on but at this stage we're at the very early stages of that.
NZR did ask Hawke's Bay Rugby Union if drugs were involved. Lancaster said the response was there was "no awareness on anyone's part of anything illicit taking place is what we've been told".
Lancaster said drug testing was an employment matter so he would not disclose whether testing of the winning players had taken place.
Would NZR be testing the surface of the Shield for the presence of drugs?
"That's not something we've contemplated at this stage, I don't know if that would be feasible or not, but [the Shield] is making its way back to us at NZR now and we'll determine the next steps once we've got our hands on it," Lancaster said.
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@Nepia said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
@taniwharugby said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
It feels to me like you'd have to try really hard to snap it in half.
I'm more inclined to believe that story because of how it's clearly in two pieces with the plate part still on one. If there was an actual attempt to damage it it wouldn't split nicely into two pieces like that.
hidden defects are hidden defects.
There's a lot of pearl clutching going on (looking at you Scotty Stephenson). Socials is just stupid; damage is potentially a colossal accident, but drugs AND social media is the height of stupid.
Fark me.
Also, congrats HB - getting the Shield is a big deal.
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Seeing people post about how disrespectful it is on socials…that haven’t never posted about rugby before is getting a bit tiresome
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Breakers media team
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@MN5 said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
@voodoo said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
Pricks, though I shouldn’t be surprised.
HB has always just been a bogan version of Manawatu
I’m giving this an upvote despite the massive contradiction in terms
Tautology?
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@booboo said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
@MN5 said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
@voodoo said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
Pricks, though I shouldn’t be surprised.
HB has always just been a bogan version of Manawatu
I’m giving this an upvote despite the massive contradiction in terms
Tautology?
I had to Google it but yes…..
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@Smudge said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
@Higgins check out the whataboutery from Brad!
Missed that Smudge. Ploise exploin?
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@nzzp said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
@Nepia said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
@taniwharugby said in Wellington v Hawkes (RS):
It feels to me like you'd have to try really hard to snap it in half.
I'm more inclined to believe that story because of how it's clearly in two pieces with the plate part still on one. If there was an actual attempt to damage it it wouldn't split nicely into two pieces like that.
hidden defects are hidden defects.
There's a lot of pearl clutching going on (looking at you Scotty Stephenson). Socials is just stupid; damage is potentially a colossal accident, but drugs AND social media is the height of stupid.
Fark me.
Also, congrats HB - getting the Shield is a big deal.
Mate I make no apologies for saying how pissed I am that the shield was left in possession of someone who didn't take care of it.
I do admit the social media etc pissed me off the most (as did Scotty Stevenson if you heard him) . I can understand EVEN if it was an accident by a sober person if they then grabbed it put it away and contacted the HBRU straight away, rather than hearing laughing etc going on about it.
See I not into just shrugging shoulders and saying they young men celebrating, thats, how you end up with players getting caught driving pissed etc, and shit being bought on game.
