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His father, Jim, was a prop in the Marlborough provincial team that held the Ranfurly Shield, New Zealand’s premier challenge trophy, for two seasons in the early 1970s.

On that September day 16 years ago, Canterbury and Waikato’s A teams contested the “log o’ wood”, aka the Ranfurly Shield, the challenge trophy which has been at the heart of New Zealand rugby since 1904.

In rugby, the Ranfurly Shield is old-school.

Before Schmidt's arrival, Bay of Plenty had never won the Ranfurly Shield, New Zealand's oldest competition, in almost 100 years of trying.

Former headmaster Schmidt was in charge of the New Zealand Schools side before coaching Bay of Plenty in 2003, guiding them to the Ranfurly Shield.