KEY POINTS:
Canterbury 15
Auckland 26
It didn't even get a chance to gather dust.
So often resident at Canterbury's headquarters, the Ranfurly Shield is on its way back to Auckland after one of the shortest tenures in Canterbury history.
One defence is almost unheard of in red and black country.
In truth, however, they were never really in it against a ruthless Auckland side that brought a brilliant gameplan to whatever the rugby park in Christchurch is now called.
In past weeks, they have struggled to find significant challenges and discovered their biggest threat was themselves.
A raid on Canterbury's trophy cabinet seems to do it.
The result in an Air New Zealand Cup context wasn't that important, especially as both sides were assured of finishing in the top two and securing a decent run into what many expect will be a repeat meeting in the final.
It was all about the Shield.
There's plenty of history and tradition with the old Log O' Wood but nothing compares to a challenge featuring Canterbury and Auckland.
There's plenty of feeling - some might even call it hatred, particularly among Canterbury fans - as well as a healthy dose of grudging respect.
Auckland have a tradition of flying into Christchurch and heading home with some extra carry-on baggage and they can now look forward to locking it into the trophy cabinet at Eden Park for the summer.
Coach Pat Lam was chuffed to get it back in Auckland's possession after an absence of three years but he has often said winning the Air New Zealand Cup title was more important because it was a reward for consistency.
They will have the chance to get closer to that when they host either North Harbour or Taranaki - the amber and blacks need to secure a bonus-point win against Counties Manukau today to progress - next Saturday night.
Canterbury now face Otago at home in their quarter-final next Saturday.
They desperately wanted to hold on to the Shield, perhaps more than Auckland wanted to win it, and even brought in a number of former greats to explain what it means.
They had the enthusiasm but just lacked the class without their All Blacks and Auckland were simply too powerful across the park.
Auckland had been expected to fling the ball to their talented backline at every opportunity but they also added in more than a dash of patient and effective forward play.
They rumbled it up on the pick and go, employed the rolling maul to good effect and used Sam Tuitupou as a battering ram in midfield.
But a combination of good Canterbury defence and errant passes or dropped ball saw them miss out on a number of good scoring chances in the opening passages.
Jerome Kaino went inches short, Canterbury scrambled in defence when it looked like David Smith would score and Taniela Moa misfired the pass with three players lining up to touch down.
They really needed to score to gain momentum and get on top in the psychological battle.
Canterbury are the masters of absorbing pressure and then taking advantage when the pendulum inevitably swings the other way.
Just when it looked like Auckland had lost their chance, they rumbled it up once more and fullback Brent Ward, of all people, picked the ball up from the back of a ruck close to the tryline and burrowed over.
When Ward grabbed his second three minutes after the break, latching on to an Isa Nacewa to extend the lead to 20-10, the home crowd started the waver.
It was a worrying sign. Perhaps they even felt they were out of it.
It got even worse when Canterbury skipper Corey Flynn was told to cool the heels he had used so heartily on Jerome Kaino's shoulder when trying to clear the Auckland flanker out of a ruck.
Canterbury kept plugging away but plugging isn't good enough against this Auckland side given the way it's currently playing.
Now they will have their sights set on some more silverware.
Canterbury 15 (S. Hamilton, H. Hopgood tries, S. Brett con, pen) Auckland 26 (B. Ward 2 tries, I. Nacewa 4 pens, 2 cons). HT: 10-13.
