It was a game most Otago people would love to forget but probably never will.
Interest in rugby in the province was on a high in 1994 when the team journeyed to Christchurch to take on Canterbury in an unexpected challenge.
The red-and-blacks had beaten Waikato earlier in the season to lift the shield, and then smashed Counties-Manukau at a packed Lancaster Park in its first defence.
But Otago then came calling and in front of a huge crowd, the visitors went out to an early lead, courtesy of a Jamie Joseph try and kept their noses in front.
But Canterbury came back, thanks to Andrew Mehrtens' boot, and went ahead at the end, after referee Colin Hawke ruled Otago captain David Latta offside at a ruck.
The agony of it was too much for many both at the ground and in Dunedin.
Some in Christchurch just got straight in their cars and drove back to Dunedin, barely uttering a word the whole way.
Justin Cullen, who locked the Otago scrum that day with Andy Rich, said it was a day he would always remember.
"The whole province was right behind us. I think the colts and the Bs played before us and that was at the time when the University scene was pretty closely aligned with rugby," Cullen said.
"I think we got out to bit of a lead when Jamie [loose forward Joseph] scored and we had a bit of a wind with us in the first half.
"All I did was hit rucks all day. I know in those games that if you made a mistake then you paid for it. They had a lot of guys, like Mehrtens and Mayerhofler, who were just coming into the team who knew how to play."
Cullen, who now runs a Speight's Ale House in Petone, said after the last-minute penalty, the team stood behind the posts, wondering what had happened.
He said Otago coach Gordon Hunter had never hyped up the match, just wanting to play a good attacking game.
"We had some exceptional players in that team, and we wanted to use them."
As for the dressing room afterwards, Cullen said it was a mixture of emotions.
"There were guys there who had just accepted it as that was rugby and got on with it. There were a few with tears. But we were a tight bunch. We had to play Auckland the next week, so we just did what we had to do the next day and then got ready for Auckland."
Unfortunately the match took too much out of both Otago and Canterbury and they both lost semifinals the following week.
Halfback Stu Forster scored a try for Otago that day, skirting down the touchline, but he said it was one of those matches where he never felt comfortable of victory.
"We just never got into the comfort zone where we felt we had the game in the bag. And when you don't have that you play a little bit differently," Forster said.
"You couldn't feel it slip away but we were just not that far ahead. I remember JT (John Timu) had an absolute blinder. That was his 100th game for Otago so we wanted to do something special for a guy who was an icon of Otago rugby."
There were no grudges with referee Hawke, Forster said, but he said Latta was still given a hard time whenever the penalty was discussed.
Forster, who now lives in Wellington and is helping out with the Wellington team, said he did not know why Otago had such a wretched run in shield encounters.
"That is the way rugby goes sometimes. When I played, we had to play Auckland who were an unbelievable team."
• Ranfurly Shield- October 1, 1994
Canterbury 22 (Paula Bale 2 tries; Andrew Mehrtens 4 penalty goals)
Otago 20 (Jamie Joseph, Stephen Bachop, Stu Forster tries; Jeff Wilson conversion, penalty goal).
