Funny how that works out. I like the shield, it's pretty cool to see where it gets to, and it's treated seriously, not just a "hey look what we got" trophy like I see in other tournaments. Funny how Canterbury haven't held it since 2010, despite winning the tournament every year since 2008.
Found this young lad in the Waikato squad, hope dad brings him over if he is any good 
Waikato Rugby Union
If he has the first five skills of his father you are welcome to have him
I don't know a lot about him to be honest. I'm sure his father - a former hooker - is pretty disappointed to have a son that plays in the backs though!
Anyways.... Good to see Otago get another win. Despite the 11 point margin it felt like a 50:50 match on the field. Both sides benefited from intercept tries but in the end goal-kicking was the main difference between the sides. Both sides need to do a lot of work on defense, as there were a lot of missed tackles.....
Halaholo was again an massive threat in Southland's midfield. He setup Jackman's try brilliantly, and even if he was generally predictable he was very hard to stop. He (like his midfield partner Vaega) still looks to have issues on defense, but I do wonder if someone like the Crusaders will look to pick him up next season as he has some undoubted attacking potential....
There weren't too many standouts for Otago IMO. Walden was the pick of the backs for me - his defense in particular was impressive. Trent Renata did some good things at fullback too. Franklin was the pick of the forwards for me, though I thought Dawai made a good impact when he came on.
I saw parts of the Waikato vs North Harbour match too, though it was a pretty scrappy game (not helped by the conditions). McKenzie again did some brilliant things with ball in hand - he could be a sensational player in a few years time. Lienert-Brown had some nice touches, and Joe Webber looks good going forward (not so much in defense or under the high ball though..), and Kerr-Barlow did some good things once he came on. I feel Waikato are missing a powerful ball runner in the forward pack - Faiva did make a couple of strong runs, but they were all standing on the wing (as is usual for him..).
As for North Harbour..... hmmm.... Manihera tried hard up front. That's about as big a complement I can give to their forwards! McGahan can tackle. Ahki can break tackles (though still needs to work on his distribution). Raikuna had a good work rate. Unfortunately Raikuna's work rate may have cost them the match. Time and time again he popped up off his wing in the middle on the backline when North Harbour had a good overlap out wide (with one Tevita Li at the end of the chain), and time and time again Raikuna cut back in against the traffic and the opportunity was lost....
