| New Zealand FOLK*SONG |
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FERDINAND |
Ferdinand the bull is the icon of the Taranaki provincial rugby team. Ferdie helped them hold the Ranfurly Shield for 29 games between 1958 and 1963.
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You've
heard about Mt Egmont, and our rivers, parks and lakes Ferdinand, Ferdinand, with your fifteen men He held the mighty
Springboks and he fought the British Isles, Chorus
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All provincial teams had their mascots who epitomised their region's qualities, a man dressed up in an animal suit who capered about on the sidelines whipping up crowd enthusiasm. Taranaki was known for its dairy farming, and a dairy bull was the mascot.A children's story popular on radio stations at the time told of Fedinand the bull, who was gentle and loved smelling the flowers in the fields, but who could be roused when stung.
In 1902, the Earl of Ranfurly, Governor of New Zealand, gave a shield to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, of which he was patron. The NZRFU decided that it should be a trophy for competition among affiliated unions on a challenge basis, the first holder to be the union with the best record for the 1902 season. Auckland, with an unbeaten record, was declared the first winner of the Ranfurly Shield.Since then, provincial rep rugby teams have striven to successfully challenge for the Shield. Ranfurly shield games were especially popular in the days before air travel and commercialised rugby.
When the smaller rugby unions, like Taranaki, made a long journey to challenge for the Shield, were successful, and took it back home with them, the people in their home towns come together as one, resulting in shop windows decorated and a general 'buzz' in the air and a parade down the main street, for what everyone knew of as the peak of provincial rugby.
See the Ranfurly Shield website for more details.
The Taranaki team and their supporters made the long journey to Dunedin late in the 1957, and took the shield off Otago (11-9).They successfully defended it against 13 challegers who came to New Plymouth in 1958 and most of 1959; Golden Bay, Mid Canterbury, King Country, Manawatu, Wanganui, Wellington, Waikato, Auckland, Counties, Nelson, Wanganui again, Wellington again, and Otago.
Then they lost it to Southland (23-6)
But late in 1963 they won it again from Wellington, and defended it in 16 challenges through all of 1964 and most of 1965, finally losing it to Auckland (16-11)
Our thanks to Mosston Millar for supplying this song and the historical rugby documents. Old Moss lives down the road from me here at Wanganui East. He has painstakingly typed out onto a computer spreadsheet the results of every 1st class game rugby ever played in New Zealand, about 25,000 games.
Date Venue Team Opponent Score Competition Apparently lots of people phone him to solve their bar-room arguments. "Hey Moss, what was the highest score Taranaki ever got against South Canterbury? When was the first game ever played between Wanganui and Manawatu? "
And old Moss takes less than a minute to come up with the answer.
Try phoning him and asking him a couple of questions. 06 343 2564 (New Zealand).
 Big Ferdie in action at the Lions match. TREVOR READ/Taranaki Daily News |
A new-age version of Taranaki's traditional rep rugby mascot Ferdinand the Bull made its grand entrance at Wednesday's big match against the Lions.
Sitting on an electric golf cart and breathing smoke through its fibreglass nostrils, Auckland-built Big Ferdie stalked its way around Yarrow Stadium as part of the pre-match entertainment that impressed the 22,500 fans.
And the good news is that although construction of Big Ferdie was largely funded from a New Zealand Rugby Union-supplied budget for what is known as pre-match enhancement, he is now officially ours for future representative matches.
"We think he's great," Taranaki Rugby Union chief executive Paul Easton said yesterday. "We'll still have our two-legged Ferdie, but Big Ferdie now gives us the ability to make our pre-match entertainment a lot more dramatic."
Page made Sept 1st 2001