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Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt spent 23 hours zig-zagging his way across the globe from inner-Mongolia, across China and Singapore, to make it home in time for this afternoon's Ranfurly Shield celebrations.
"This is fantastic. It's like two Santa parades in the same year," he told One News.
But during the ticker-tape parade, Mr Shadbolt was just another grinning supporter, with thousands of Southlanders lining the city streets today to cheer and applaude their new heroes, the Southland Stags rugby side.
An estimated 37,000 rolls of tape were handed out to happy fans and at times the sky was filled with balloons of maroon and gold.
Children, mums and dads, grandmas and granddads - they were all there, part of a community proud to take its place in rugby history after a 50-year Ranfurly Shield dry spell.
It was the third time in less than a week that the normally conservative community has let down its hair: first celebrating the team's historic 9-3 win on Thursday night, then travelling in their droves to Invercargill Airport on Friday to welcome home the team and the shield.
The jubilant mayor said it had been frustrating being so far away when the Southland Stags clinched the Log o' Wood from Canterbury in the epic battle last week but he had still been able to celebrate.
"One thing Mongolians can do is party."
Mr Shadbolt said he had noticed the support for Southland was nationwide.
"It's quite touching that New Zealand is behind us. It's typical for kiwis to support the underdog."
But the Stags' season is far from over. All Southland eyes are now focused on this weekend's semifinal clash against Wellington, in the capital, on Saturday.
And there' a real belief that the Stag team of 2009 have the ability to cause another upset and make it to the finals. The Ranfurly Shield and the Air New Zealand Cup? How would they party then?
- NZPA
