Plans to relive the euphoria and excitement of Bay of Plenty's historic Ranfurly Shield victory a decade ago are in motion, but exact details are being firmly kept under wraps.

Photo: file.

This year marks 10 years since the Bay of Plenty Steamers lifted the famous Log o' Wood for the first time, after beating Auckland 33-29 at Eden Park.

The Ranfurly Shield is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition, first played for in 1904.

Based on a challenge system, the holding union must defend the shield in challenge matches, and a successful challenger becomes the shield's new holder.

And to mark the 10-year occasion, SunLive understands both the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union and BOP Mafia are planning separate milestone celebrations.

A BOP Mafia Facebook post says: 'Advance warning – something is in the planning stage for August 15, the 10th anniversary of the Bay's Ranfurly Shield win. Watch this space”.

On August 15, the Steamers run out on to Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill in the opening match of the ITM Cup season before returning to Baypark Stadium on August 24 to face Tasman.

BOP Mafia godfather Terry Leeming, better known as his raucous alter ego Hori BOP, admits to being in on the planning but says he cannot confirm what exactly is in the pipeline.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union commercial manager Matt Cairns says it is one of the rugby union's finer achievements and something that needs to be celebrated.

He confirms the rugby union is looking into marking the anniversary during the side's home matches, as opposed to down in Invercargill.

'It is a proud part of the union's history and something we want to celebrate,” says Matt.

'We are looking at our plans for the home games at the moment. The week after is our first home game and we are possibly looking at doing something around that, but that's not confirmed.”

He knows the BOP Mafia is planning on celebrating on the actual day – August 15 – but the rugby union must instead prioritise efforts around the side's home games.

Leading up to the famous win, the Bay lost its first 18 Ranfurly Shield challenges before Steamers first five, and now international referee, Glen Jackson's 23-point haul proved decisive.

The win gave Wayne Ormond the chance to become the first Bay of Plenty captain to lift the shield – going on to defend it against Waikato the following week before relinquishing it to Canterbury.

The Steamers are the only team in the ITM Cup not to have a challenge for the Ranfurly Shield since 2006.