Rugby: Shield not defining Steelers' season

Is there a danger of the Ranfurly Shield becoming a Log of Burden in rugby's national provincial championship?

It seems holders Counties-Manukau have found a way to circumvent any such pressure with a heightened sense of expectation from the fans.

"We've set goals this year and one of them is that we shouldn't see the shield as a defining factor," assistant coach Grant Henson said last night before the Steelers defend the log against the Hawke's Bay Magpies in a 2.35pm kick off at Pukekohe on Saturday.

Henson, a forwards coach in charge of massaging the set-piece plays, said it didn't have to weigh heavily on the shoulders of the Steelers.

"If we play well at home then everything else will look after themselves, including retaining the shield and all that," said the retired hooker who reached the milestone of 100 caps for Counties-Manukau in 2011.

Without doubt, the shield has had a spin-off for the region, not only having a magnetic effect on drawing numbers to ECOLight Stadium but also igniting a sense of community spirit.

Henson, who coached the Counties-Manukau under-20 team last year, hastened to add the 27-24 shield victory about this time last year at McLean Park, Napier, came after almost two decades of losses to the Magpies.

"So it was kind of a double whammy for the boys and our union."

He didn't anticipate any more mongrel in their shield rematch than one would expect from two sides playing in a claustrophobic ITM Cup season from two unions that derive fuel from unbridled passion and a proud history.

"Challenging for a shield is a bit more charged and lifts you about 5 per cent more so I don't think there'll be any more niggle on the field," he said.

Henson played in six unsuccessful shield challenges in his career so finding himself in the matrix of the Tana Umaga-coached side adds to his experience.

He isn't 100 per cent satisfied with Counties' set-piece play so far but said their training this week at Massey Park, Papakura, had shown incremental improvements.

The Steelers, who have nine Super Rugby, two ex-Super and one Sevens players, aren't too preoccupied with the return of All Black fullback Israel Dagg to the Bay.

"They already have a fullback [Ryan Tongia] who is scoring tries and they have other dangerous personnel there so we just have to worry about what we're going to do," he said.