A favourite haka photo from long ago; from the 1926-27 Maori All Blacks tour of France

Always a day of historical traditions for French people. More lustre is added with this brilliant 24-19 win over the All Blacks in Auckland.

BAJADA

A term given to the rugby world by Argentina. Bajada (also known as bajadita) is the name given to the style of pushing in a scrum where the hooker keeps his feet back and the scrum pushes forward using the thrust of all eight men. While that in itself was not a new technique, Argentine teams, at both club and national level, shocked the rugby world with secret variations of the eight-man shove in the early 1970s.

The results were often astounding. South African players and officials were perhaps the first outsiders to feel the power of bajada when the Buenos Aires club, San Isidro, took the technique to South Africa in 1973. The locals there were shocked to find their teams, with all of South Africa’s history of powerful scrummaging, frequently pushed into a backslide.

Recent law changes have tended to deflate the power of the scrum, but the legacy of powerful scrimmaging remains with Argentine rugby today. The term ‘bajada’ (meaning ‘downhill’) deserves to be remembered.

Answer; SOUTHLAND (They had the Ranfurly Shield from September 10 1938 until August 2 1947 – which was three weeks short of nine years!) That was more than when Auckland had the Shield from September 14 1985 til September 18 1993 - a total just over 8 years! [NOTE:There were no matches played in the years of WWII. The Shield stayed in the window of H.H.Geddes and son, the menswear store, on the corner of Tay and Dee Streets in Invercargill during the war years.]