In a fiercely contested clash in front of a record crowd at Oamaru's Centennial Park, Mid Canterbury played themselves into a Shield winning position.
Mid Canterbury made the decisive break thanks to two stunning solo tries to young winger Brenton Connell, then hung on in the final 20 minutes despite losing star midfielder Jack Umaga to a broken jaw.
Mid Canterbury's 19-year-old wing Brenton Connell sliced through a midfield gap on his own 10-metre line, broke a tackle and sprinted away down the left-hand flank to score in the corner.
In the 29th minute, loose forward Jon Dampney showed his strength in shrugging off a tackler to score in the corner.
South Canterbury started the second half strong, and scored two tries in the first 10 minutes, to loose forward Eric Smith and Tafa got his second.
[6] Mid Canterbury defended the shield by defeating North Otago 26–20 in the 2013 Meads Cup final on 26 October.
[11] In the last match of the regular season, Mid Canterbury successfully defended the Shield against North Otago in Oamaru.
[12] In the first match of the 2016 Heartland Championship season, Mid Canterbury defended the Shield for a sixth consecutive time.