Paul Lewis: Chance lost to add spark to dull season

North Harbour's joy at winning the Ranfurly Shield from Canterbury was one of the high points of the rugby season so far. Which makes it more than a little daft that the shield season is now abruptly at an end.

The rules for the Air NZ Cup - and the NPC long before that - stipulate that the Shield does not have to be put up for grabs at the quarter-final and semifinal stages of the provincial competition. The reason for this is so the Shield does not interfere with the business end of the ANZC.

Rowlocks. The poor old Shield, having been roundly dismissed as an anachronism by all and sundry (except Lindsay Knight), again demonstrated its power to galvanise, just as it did in 2004 when the Bay of Plenty (including a fella by the name of Rua Tipoki) took it off Auckland.

In a rugby season beset by rotation, re-conditioning and previously diehard fans falling asleep in profusion, the Shield drama was a welcome respite from some of the drudgery of the ANZC. It showed its power with the fact that the challenge wasn't even that flash a game. North Harbour made mistakes, Canterbury even more.

But the closeness of the score and the sheer, unmitigated joy of a match that actually had something important in the balance demonstrated the appeal of the Shield, right there.

So what do we do? We close the season. No challenges while the playoffs are on, thank you.

In terms of rugby as a business, ending shield challenges now might be considered a sensible move. In terms of rugby as a product, the thing that actually gives the New Zealand Rugby Union a basis for the business, it's about as smart as walking down the main street of Baghdad wearing only a US flag and holding a sign saying: "Ban the Burqa - Bob Clarkson fan club, Israel branch".

I mean, let's see - shield match lights up provincial season. So our cunning marketing ploy is: Not to play for it again. Might cause too much interest. People might be enthusiastic. Hmmm.

If Harbour crack a home quarter-final or semifinal, why not put the Shield up for grabs while playing off for the ANZC? The outfit least keen for this to happen is Harbour, understandably. But with New Zealand rugby under such siege from issues such as too much rugby, dwindling crowds, falling ratings and plain old boredom, surely this is an opportunity to spark things up.

Another possibility is that the Shield be taken on tour. Previously this has been resisted by holders who want a tenure to reap the benefits of home defences. But distribution of funds should be the least of all reasons, and is easily solved. Structure the ANZC season so that Weeks 1-6 are all home defences, as per normal. After that make all ANZC games from weeks 7-12 mandatory shield defences, at home or away.

ANZC pool A and B play lends itself to this as not all unions will play each other in the course of a season - so the need for the Shield to move around is increased. Allow challenges until the final of the ANZC, so that the final (week 13) is safeguarded as a separate event and so it is at least possible that the Shield is held by a team other than the overall ANZC winner.

The key issue is not to render the Shield irrelevant because it changes hands too often - as opposed to not enough, as happens currently. Maybe there also needs to be a sweetener: A shield bonus of one point in the ANZC tables for a successful away defence or defence from week 7 on.

If mandatory defences had happened this year, the Shield would have been won by Wellington who beat Canterbury in week 8, and then won by Waikato who beat Wellington last week. Or would it? The renowned intensity of shield clashes might have seen a different result.

This suggestion may be far from foolproof. Minor unions would get fewer looks at shield challenges under the current ANZC pool format.

But let's be realistic - challenges from minor unions are usually foregone conclusions anyway. Also, the holders' first match after a successful challenge would be a major hurdle.

Or, and here's a major lateral thought, what about making the Shield part of the Super 14 for the next four years of the Sanzar agreement? The Shield would become an international prize, contested at all home games of the holder and taking the power of the Shield to Australia and South Africa as well.

Rugby in this country - and in Sanzar - needs a shot in the arm. A big one. Fast.