Keeping the Shield in the family

1.00pm

What should two loyal Bay of Plenty rugby fans to do when their son is trying to snatch away the Ranfurly Shield?

This is the dilemma facing Moira and John O'Neill, who are divided over loyalty to their son and their local team.

On the one hand, the Tauriko couple would be stoked to see Bay of Plenty keep the Shield when they defend it against Canterbury at Mt Maunganui on Sunday.

But when their son Kevin runs on to Blue Chip Stadium he will be wearing the red and black of a Canterbury team intent on taking the Bay of Plenty's greatest rugby prize.

The game is especially poignant for lock Kevin, 22, because he is the only Canterbury player not to have played in a shield game.

His mum and sister, Clair, 18, know what side they are on: it's red and black all the way.

But Mr O'Neill will be wearing green and brown to the game.

Green and brown? Mr O'Neill is sitting firmly on the fence.

Blood might be thicker than water, but he thinks the arrival of the Ranfurly Shield has been "fantastic" for the Bay of Plenty.

No matter what the outcome, it should be a win-win situation for the O'Neills.

The parents agree it would be good for the Bay of Plenty to keep the shield and if not, they can still be happy for their son's win.

The O'Neills have lived in Tauriko for six years after dairy farming in Te Aroha for 20 years.

They have been staunch Bay of Plenty fans ever since and attended their first shield defence against Waikato decked out in yellow and blue garb.

Mrs O'Neill was still knitting a yellow and blue scarf and was "casting off in the car" as they pulled up to the stadium.

Kevin boarded at Auckland's Sacred Heart College during his secondary school years -- but his loyalty does not lie there.

"Generally I've never supported Auckland," he said.

"I haven't really had much support for them. As a kid, probably Waikato was the team I supported, which was nearer to Thames Valley."

Neither parent is game to predict who will win the game this weekend.

Mr O'Neill thinks it will be the "game of the series" and both think the score will be tight.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES