North Otago's sole scorer remembers 'deafening' noise

Brent McEwan was too busy working on a Duntroon dairy farm to attend yesterday's Ranfurly Shield challenge in Oamaru but he could still remember the "deafening" noise when he scored North Otago's lone try in the previous challenge 15 years ago.

McEwan was fullback back in 1993 when he gathered a pass from wing Hayden Hunt and crashed over in the corner to send the home supporters into a frenzy.

For five magical minutes, North Otago led 5-0.

"It turned to custard pretty quick," McEwan (37) wryly recalled yesterday.

Auckland then took control and won 139-5, leaving McEwan's name etched forever in North Otago rugby history.

Auckland, which was littered with All Blacks, was probably the best team in the world that year, he recalled.

McEwan only played one season for North Otago before moving to Canterbury.

He returned to North Otago in 2000.

Yesterday, he confessed he rarely watched rugby these days but said, even 15 years later people still remembered him as the lone try scorer.

He also recalled being presented with the player of the day mug for his efforts.