Home to the Barrett brothers, Peter Snell and now the Ranfurly Shield.

Singalongs, dancing and chanting could all be heard from Taranaki's changing room in the aftermath of their stunning 55-43 Ranfurly Shield triumph over Canterbury in Christchurch on Friday night.

Not only did the come-from-behind win kick-start their sixth Shield tenure, and first since 2012, they denied the reigning champions from stowing it away at Rugby Park for the summer.

GETTY IMAGES Pita-Gus Sowakula scores one of Taranaki's tries against Canterbury.

Instead, no doubt after celebrating late into the night, the amber and blacks will arrive home in New Plymouth with it on Saturday morning.

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KAI SCHWOERER/GETTY IMAGES Taranaki first-five eighth Stephen Perofeta scores.

"Oh boy. It's something special, I'm just so stoked to get a win for this province and take the Shield home," Taranaki hooker Ricky Riccitelli said.

Having trailed 31-7 inside the first half hour, and 38-21 early in the second half, Riccitelli was at times lost for words when discussing Taranaki's fightback.

"I think it's quite easy for a team, when you're down that much (24 points), to go down by 60 points. But it shows the brotherhood and the bond we've got between these boys here, it was a special win for us."

KAI SCHWOERER/GETTY IMAGES Taranaki prop Mitchell Graham lines up Canterbury pivot Richie Mo'unga.

Snaring the Shield was the perfect way to honour Taranaki legend Peter Burke, who died aged 90 on Monday, and captained the province through their famous Shield era of 1957-59.

Donning black armbands to honour Burke, Taranaki flanker Lachlan Boshier scored the go-ahead points when he completed his brace with 10 minutes to play.

Wing Manasa Mataele, who scored a few sparkling tries on the same ground for the Crusaders this season, sent the Taranaki contingent of the crowd into raptures a few minutes later, when he sealed the triumph after returning a charged down kick.

JOHN DAVIDSON/PHOTOSPORT Rob Thompson scores Canterbury's opening try against Taranaki.

"We're pretty excited and pretty happy, we had a great preparation week for the game, and obviously playing for Peter Burke, playing for a lot of history," Taranaki coach Colin Cooper said.

"After 20 minutes, we'd made 10 mistakes and they scored three tries off our mistakes. We just had to get the ball and build and trust our game plan, and we did that."

Having just handed over the Shield to Taranaki captain Angus Ta'avao, signalling the end of his team's 15th tenure after seven successful defences, Canterbury captain Tim Bateman lamented his team's collapse.

"We're absolutely gutted, we really are," he said. "We felt like we had enough to win, as a team we just let ourselves down. What, we were 31-7 up? To let 48 points go like that . . ."

Canterbury coach Glenn Delaney was also miffed at the way his team folded in the seesaw match.

"Desperately disappointed. We're gutted, that would be an understatement," Delaney said. "But I thought in that second half Taranaki actually played better footy, put pressure on and there was a big momentum shift."

Taranaki fans weren't the only ones smiling on Friday night.

Thirty-nine years after Manawatu held the Shield for the first and only time in team history, they will get a shot at it in New Plymouth on Wednesday night.

In addition to winning the Shield, the statement win all but seals the premiership's top seed for Taranaki, who are equal with Canterbury on 36 competition points but have a game in hand.

Cooper heaped praise on a bunch of his players after the win, particularly centre Seta Tamanivalu, who scored an intercept try in the first half, and fullback Marty McKenzie, who scored 17 points in a perfect night off the tee.

Taranaki 55 (Seta Tamanivalu, Stephen Perofeta, Pita Sowakula, Ricky Riccitelli, Lachlan Boshier 2, Manasa Mataele tries; Marty McKenzie 7 con, 1 pen, Perofeta drop goal) Canterbury 43 (Rob Thompson 2, Tom Sanders, Tim Bateman, George Bridge, Braydon Ennor tries; Richie Mo'unga 5 con, 1 pen). HT: 21-31