Ranfurly Shield taken to strip club

This picture of Waikato players in a strip club with the shield has been widely shared on social media.

The Ranfurly Shield made its debut at a Hamilton strip club in the wee hours of Sunday morning - the latest in its colourful history of ending up in strange places.

A Snapchat photo of Waikato players Stephen Donald, Chauncy Edwardson and Damian McKenzie posing in Hamilton strip club Hush Hush has appeared on Facebook, Fairfax reported.

A text line on the photo stated "the ranfurly shield being taken to Hamilton strip club Hushush" [sic].

It is not clear who took the photo or who it was sent to.

The image appears to have been taken after the Waikato players took out Hawke's Bay 36-30 last Friday night, with revelry continuing through the weekend.

And it comes after a somewhat eventful past for the shield, which has been taken to bed or bars by players - and pictured clasped by bar-going Otago students - in the past.

The shield, colloquially referred to as the Log o' Wood, has been around for 111 years.

Waikato Rugby Union general manager Blair Foote told Fairfax he had seen the photo and was not concerned about it - as long as it returned to his office "not wrecked".

"From my point of view, as long as the Shield returns here in a reasonable condition [I don't mind]. I'm sure it's been in a lot worse places," he said.

"I guess we at times are at the mercy of these young men, in terms of where they take it and what they do after hours."

The shield is understood to be with team management now.