The Raeburn Shield is an unofficial rugby union trophy. The concept is that it is a Title Holders Shield, similar to a Boxing World Title or the Ranfurly Shield in New Zealand. The trophy is named after Raeburn Place the site of the first ever international between England and Scotland, on 27 March 1871. The women's rugby union version is the Utrecht Shield.

Raeburn Shield
Awarded forRugby Union Challenge Trophy
History
First award1871
Final award2024
Most recent New Zealand
Websitewww.raeburnandutrechtshields.com

The proposed advantages are:

  • As it would be decided on a single game, there would be increased chances of producing a Title Holder from a non Top Tier nation, giving more chance for an underdog to win a title. For example, Romania has held the title despite never reaching the Rugby World Cup knockout stages.
  • Title games would become more interesting, as the title holder would have something to play for, and the underdog would have extra motivation to lift their game. For example, Munster still are proud about beating the All Blacks in 1978, even after winning the Heineken cup multiple times.
  • These Title games would occur much more frequently than the World Cup. For example, in 1999 Rugby World Cup, the sequence of Raeburn Shield holders was Wales, Samoa, Scotland, New Zealand, France, Australia. However, after the World Cup, the Raeburn Shield was quickly challenged. In 2000 Australia defended the shield 4 times, before yielding it to NZ in July. NZ defended it 2 times before yielding it to England who defended it 10 times before yielding it to Ireland, who then yielded it to Japan.[1]

List of shield holders

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Match Defender Score Challenger Date SD Tenure
1   England 0G–1G   Scotland 27–03–1871
2   Scotland 1G–2G   England 05–02–1872 0 315d (10m9d)
3   England 0G–1G   Scotland 05–03–1877 4 1855d (5y1m0d)
4   Scotland 1G–2G   England 28–02–1880 2 1090d (2y11m23d)
5   England 0G–0G(2T)   Scotland 04–03–1882 1 735d (2y0m4d)
6   Scotland (1T)0G–0G(2T)   England 03–03–1883 0 364d (11m27d)
7   England 0G–2G   Ireland 05–02–1887 9 1435d (3y11m2d)
8   Ireland 0–2G   Scotland 19–02–1887 0 14d
9   Scotland 0–0G(1T)   Wales 04–02–1888 1 350 (11m16d)
10   Wales 0–2G   Ireland 03–03–1888 0 28d
11   Ireland 0–1G   Scotland 10–03–1888 0 7d
12   Scotland 0–6   England 01–03–1890 4 721d (1y11m19d)
13   England 3–9   Scotland 07–03–1891 3 371d (1y0m6d)
14   Scotland 0–5   England 05–03–1892 2 364d (11m27d)
15   England 11–12   Wales 07–01–1893 0 308d (10m2d)
16   Wales 3–24   England 06–01–1894 2 364 (11m30d)
17   England 5–7   Ireland 03–02–1894 0 28d
18   Ireland 3–6   England 02–02–1895 2 364 (11m30d)
19   England 3–6   Scotland 09–03–1895 0 35d (1m7d)
20   Scotland 0–6   Wales 25–01–1896 0 322d (10m16d)
21   Wales 4–8   Ireland 14–03–1896 0 49d (1m18d)
22   Ireland 3–8   Scotland 20–02–1897 1 343d (11m6d)
23   Scotland 3–12   England 13–03–1897 0 21d
24   England 6–9   Ireland 05–02–1898 0 329d (10m23d)
25   Ireland 0–8   Scotland 19–02–1898 0 14d
26   Scotland 3–9   Ireland 18–02–1899 1 364d (11m30d)
27   Ireland 4–15   England 03–02–1900 1 350d (11m16d)
28   England 0–13   Wales 5–01–1901 1 336 (11m2d)
29   Wales 8–18   Scotland 09–02–1901 0 35d (1m4d)
30   Scotland 5–14   Wales 01–02–1902 2 357d (11m23d)
31   Wales 0–6   Scotland 07–02–1903 2 371d (1y0m6d)
32   Scotland 3–21   Wales 06–02–1904 2 364d (11m30d)
33   Wales 12–14   Ireland 12–03–1904 0 35d (1m6d)
34   Ireland 3–10   Wales 11–03–1905 2 364d (11m27d)
35   Wales 6–11   Ireland 10–03–1906 3 364d (11m27d)
36   Ireland 12–15   South Africa 24–11–1906 0 259 (8m14d)
37   South Africa 5–13   New Zealand 13–08–1921 71 5376 (14y8m20d)2
38   New Zealand 5–9   South Africa 27–08–1921 0 14d
39   South Africa 6–7   New Zealand 21–07–1928 23 2520d (6y10m24d)
40   New Zealand 6–11   South Africa 18–08–1928 0 28d
41   South Africa 5–13   New Zealand 01–09–1928 0 14d
42   New Zealand 8–9   Australia 06–07–1929 0 308d (10m5d)
43   Australia 13–20   New Zealand 12–09–1931 24 798d (2y2m6d)
44   New Zealand 17–22   Australia 02–07–1932 0 294d (9m20d)
45   Australia 3–21   New Zealand 16–07–1932 0 14d
46   New Zealand 11–25   Australia 11–08–1934 1 756d (2y0m26d)
47   Australia 6–11   New Zealand 05–09–1936 1 756d (2y0m25d)
48   New Zealand 6–13   South Africa 04–09–1937 2 364 (11m30d)
49   South Africa 14–18   Australia 05–09–1953 115 5845d (16y0m1d)6
50   Australia 8–18   South Africa 19–09–1953 0 14d
51   South Africa 6–10   New Zealand 14–07–1956 37 1029d (2y9m25d)
52   New Zealand 3–8   South Africa 04–08–1956 0 21d
53   South Africa 10–17   New Zealand 18–08–1956 0 14d
54   New Zealand 3–6   Australia 06–09–1958 4 749d (2y0m19d)
55   Australia 8–17   New Zealand 20–09–1958 0 14d
56   New Zealand 0–13   South Africa 25–06–1960 08 644d (1y9m5d)
57   South Africa 3–11   New Zealand 23–07–1960 0 28d
58   New Zealand 3–8   South Africa 27–08–1960 1 35d (1m4d)
59   South Africa 5–9   Australia 10–08–1963 99 1078d (2y11m14d)
60   Australia 6–22   South Africa 07–09–1963 1 28d
61   South Africa 6–8   France 25–07–1964 1 322d (10m18d)
62   France 6–9   England 27–02–1965 4 217d (7m2d)
63   England 6–11   Wales 15–01–1966 1 312 (10m9d)
64   Wales 6–9   Ireland 12–03–1966 1 66d (2m7d)
65   Ireland 3–8   England 11–02–1967 1 336d (10m30d)
66   England 12–16   France 25–02–1967 0 14d
67   France 3–26   South Africa 15–07–1967 1 140d (4m20d)
68   South Africa 14–19   France 29–07–1967 1 14d
69   France 15–21   New Zealand 25–11–1967 1 119d (3m27d)
70   New Zealand 6–17   South Africa 25–07–1970 8 973d (2y8m0d)
71   South Africa 8–9   New Zealand 08–08–1970 0 14d
72   New Zealand 3–14   South Africa 29–08–1970 0 21d
73   South Africa 9–18   England 03–06–1972 6 644d (1y9m5d)
74   England 0–9   New Zealand 06–01–1973 0 217d (7m3d)
75   New Zealand 6–13   France 10–02–1973 1 35d (1m4d)
76   France 6–14   England 24–02–1973 0 14d
77   England 14–16   Scotland 02–02–1974 3 343d (11m9d)
78   Scotland 6–9   Ireland 02–03–1974 0 28d (1m0d)
79   Ireland 6–15   New Zealand 23–11–1974 010 266d (8m21d)
80   New Zealand 7–16   South Africa 24–07–1976 2 609d(1y8m1d)
81   South Africa 9–15   New Zealand 14–08–1976 0 21d
82   New Zealand 10–15   South Africa 04–09–1976 0 21d
83   South Africa 9–14   New Zealand 15–08–1981 311 1806 (4y11m11d)
84   New Zealand 12–24   South Africa 29–08–1981 0 14d
85   South Africa 22–25   New Zealand 12–09–1981 0 14d
86   New Zealand 16–19   Australia 28–08–1982 4 350d (11m16d)
87   Australia 18–33   New Zealand 11–09–1982 0 14d
88   New Zealand 9–15   England 19–11–1983 212 434d (1y2m8d)
89   England 6–18   Scotland 04–02–1984 0 77d (2m16d)
90   Scotland 22–28   Romania 20–05–1984 2 106 (3m16d)
91   Romania 3–18   France 10–11–1984 0 174d (5m21d)
92   France 16–24   Argentina 22–06–1985 813 224d (7m12d)
93   Argentina 15–23   France 29–06–1985 0 7d
94   France 17–18   Scotland 19–01–1986 4 204d (6m21d)
95   Scotland 15–22   Wales 02–02–1986 0 14d
96   Wales 15–23   France 02–03–1986 1 28d (1m0d)
97   France 13–15   Argentina 31–05–1986 4 62d (2m1d)
98   Argentina 9–22   France 07–06–1986 0 35d (1m4d)
99   France 14–27   Australia 21–06–1986 0 14d
100   Australia 12–13   New Zealand 23–08–1986 3 63d (2m2d)
101   New Zealand 9–22   Australia 06–09–1986 0 14d
102   Australia 24–30   France 13–06–1987 5 280d (9m7d)
103   France 9–29   New Zealand 20–06–1987 0 7d
104   New Zealand 9–21   Australia 18–08–1990 17 1155d (3y1m29d)
105   Australia 3–6   New Zealand 24–08–1991 3 371d (1y0m6d)
106   New Zealand 6–16   Australia 27–10–1991 4 64d (2m3d)
107   Australia 23–26   New Zealand 25–07–1992 5 272d (8m28d)
108   New Zealand 9–15   England 27–11–1993 414 490d (1y4m2d)
109   England 12–13   Ireland 19–02–1994 1 84d (2m23d)
110   Ireland 13–33   Australia 05–06–1994 1 106d (3m17d)
111   Australia 18–27   South Africa 25–05–1995 7 354d (11m20d)
112   South Africa 16–21   Australia 13–07–1996 9 415d (1y1m18d)
113   Australia 25–32   New Zealand 27–07–1996 0 14d
114   New Zealand 22–32   South Africa 31–08–1996 3 35d (1m4d)
115   South Africa 32–35   New Zealand 19–07–1997 615 322d (10m19d)
116   New Zealand 16–24   Australia 11–07–1998 9 357d (11m22d)
117   Australia 13–14   South Africa 18–07–1998 0 7d
118   South Africa 7–13   England 05–12–1998 6 140d (4m17d)
119   England 31–32   Wales 11–04–1999 3 127d (4m6d)
120   Wales 31–38   Samoa 14–10–1999 7 186d (6m3d)
121   Samoa 20–35   Scotland 20–10–1999 0 6d
122   Scotland 18–30   New Zealand 24–10–1999 0 4d
123   New Zealand 31–43   France 31–10–1999 0 7d
124   France 12–35   Australia 06–11–1999 0 6d
125   Australia 35–39   New Zealand 15–07–2000 3 252d (8m9d)
126   New Zealand 23–24   Australia 05–08–2000 1 21d
127   Australia 19–22   England 18–11–2000 3 105d (3m13d)
128   England 14–20   Ireland 20–10–2001 9 336d (11m2d)
129   Ireland 29–40   New Zealand 17–11–2001 1 28d
130   New Zealand 14–16   Australia 03–08–2002 8 259d (8m17d)
131   Australia 31–33   South Africa 17–08–2002 0 14d
132   South Africa 10–30   France 09–11–2002 0 84d (2m23d)
133   France 17–25   England 15–02–2003 2 98d (3m6d)
134   England 16–17   France 30–08–2003 7 196d (6m15d)
135   France 14–45   England 06–09–2003 0 7d
136   England 13–19   Ireland 06–03–2004 9 182d (6m0d)
137   Ireland 17–31   South Africa 12–06–2004 2 98d (3m6d)
138   South Africa 21–23   New Zealand 24–07–2004 216 42d (1m12d)
139   New Zealand 18–23   Australia 07–08–2004 0 14d
140   Australia 19–23   South Africa 21–08–2004 0 14d
141   South Africa 12–17   Ireland 13–11–2004 1 84d (2m23d)
142   Ireland 19–26   France 12–03–2005 5 119d (3m27d)
143   France 13–27   South Africa 25–06–2005 2 105d (3m13d)
144   South Africa 12–30   Australia 09–07–2005 0 14d
145   Australia 20–33   South Africa 23–07–2005 0 14d
146   South Africa 12–30   New Zealand 27–08–2005 2 35d (1m4d)
147   New Zealand 20–21   South Africa 02–09–2006 13 371d (1y0m6d)
148   South Africa 15–32   Ireland 11–11–2006 1 70d (2m9d)
149   Ireland 17–20   France 11–02–2007 3 92d (3m0d)
150   France 18–26   England 11–03–2007 1 28d (1m0d)
151   England 18–27   Wales 17–03–2007 0 6d
152   Wales 23–29   Australia 26–05–2007 0 70d (2m9d)
153   Australia 19–22   South Africa 16–06–2007 2 21d
154   South Africa 21–26   New Zealand 23–06–2007 0 7d
155   New Zealand 15–20   Australia 30–06–2007 0 7d
156   Australia 12–26   New Zealand 21–07–2007 1 21d
157   New Zealand 18–20   France 06–10–2007 4 77d (2m15d)
158   France 9–14   England 13–10–2007 0 7d
159   England 6–15   South Africa 20–10–2007 0 7d
160   South Africa 8–19   New Zealand 05–07–2008 4 259d (8m15d)
161   New Zealand 28–30   South Africa 12–07–2008 0 7d
162   South Africa 9–16   Australia 19–07–2008 0 7d
163   Australia 10–39   New Zealand 02–08–2008 1 14d
164   New Zealand 22–27   France 13–06–2009 8 315d (10m11d)
165   France 10–14   New Zealand 20–06–2009 0 7d
166   New Zealand 19–28   South Africa 25–07–2009 2 35d (1m5d)
167   South Africa 6–21   Australia 12–09–2009 3 49d (1m18d)
168   Australia 6–33   New Zealand 19–09–2009 0 7d
169   New Zealand 24–26   Australia 30–10–2010 14 406d (1y1m11d)
170   Australia 18–35   England 13–11–2010 1 14d
171   England 11–21   South Africa 27–11–2010 1 14d
172   South Africa 20–39   Australia 27–07–2011 0 242d (8m0d)
173   Australia 14–30   New Zealand 06–08–2011 0 10d
174   New Zealand 5–18   South Africa 20–08–2011 0 14d
175   South Africa 9–11   Australia 09–10–2011 4 50d (1m19d)
176   Australia 6–20   New Zealand 16–10–2011 0 7d
177   New Zealand 21–38   England 01–12–2012 14 412d (1y1m14d)
178   England 3–30   Wales 16–03–2013 4 95d (3m5d)
179   Wales 8–23   Japan 08–06–2013 1 94d (3m2d)
180   Japan 6–54   New Zealand 02–11–2013 2 147d (4m25d)
181   New Zealand 25–27   South Africa 04–10–2014 11 336d (11m2d)
182   South Africa 15–29   Ireland 08–12–2014 1 64d (2m4d)
183   Ireland 16–23   Wales 14–03–2015 5 96d (3m6d)
184   Wales 21–35   Ireland 08–08–2015 1 147d (4m25d)
185   Ireland 10–16   Wales 29–08–2015 1 21d
186   Wales 6–15   Australia 10–10–2015 4 42d (1m11d)
187   Australia 17–34   New Zealand 31–10–2015 2 21d
188   New Zealand 29–40   Ireland 05–11–2016 10 371d (1y0m5d)
189   Ireland 9–21   New Zealand 19–11–2016 1 14d
190   New Zealand 18–23   Australia 21–10–2017 817 336d (11m2d)
191   Australia 6–30   England 18–11–2017 2 28d
192   England 13–25   Scotland 24–02–2018 3 98d (3m6d)
193   Scotland 8–28   Ireland 10–03–2018 0 14d
194   Ireland 8–19   Australia 09–06–2018 1 91d (2m30d)
195   Australia 21–26   Ireland 16–06–2018 0 7d
196   Ireland 20–32   England 02–02–2019 5 231d (7m17d)
197   England 13–21   Wales 23–02–2019 1 21d
198   Wales 19–33   England 12–08–2019 2 170d (5m20d)
199   England 6–13   Wales 17–08–2019 0 5d
200   Wales 17–22   Ireland 31–08–2019 0 14d
201   Ireland 12–19   Japan 28–09–2019 2 28d
202   Japan 3–26   South Africa 20–10–2019 2 22d
203   South Africa 26–28   Australia 12–09–2021 5 693d (1y10m23d)18
204   Australia 13–15   Scotland 07–11–2021 4 56d (1m26d)
205   Scotland 15–30   South Africa 13–11–2021 0 6d
206   South Africa 26–27   England 20-11-2021 0 7d
207   England 17–20   Scotland 05-02-2022 0 76d (2m16d)
208   Scotland 17–20   Wales 12-02-2022 0 7d
209   Wales 19–23   England 26-02-2022 0 14d
210   England 15–32   Ireland 12-03-2022 0 14d
211   Ireland 19–42   New Zealand 02-07-2022 1 112d (3m20d)
212   New Zealand 12–23   Ireland 09-07-2022 0 7d
213   Ireland 24–28   New Zealand 14-10-2023 16 462d (1y3m5d)
214   New Zealand 11–12   South Africa 28-10-2023 1 14d
215   South Africa 24–25   Ireland 13-07-2024 1 259d
216   Ireland

13-23

  New Zealand

8-11-2024

0 118d

Most shield defences

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Most shield defences by each team
Team Total Chal. Cons.
1   New Zealand 155 41 17
2   South Africa 87 33 11
3   England 62 28 9
4   Ireland 50 23 16
6   Australia 46 30 7
6   France 27 16 8
7   Wales 24 17 7
8   Scotland 16 18 4
9   Japan 4 2 2
10   Argentina 0 2 0
11   Romania 0 1 0
12   Samoa 0 1 0
Highest consecutive shield defences
No. Team Start Def. Score End Score Chal. Tenure
17   New Zealand 20–06–1987   France 9–29 18–08–1990 9–21   Australia 1155d (3y1m29d)
16   Ireland 09–07–2022   New Zealand 12–23 14–10–2023 24–28   New Zealand 462d (1y3m6d)
14   New Zealand 19–09–2009   Australia 6–33 30–10–2010 24–26   Australia 406d (1y1m11d)
  New Zealand 16–10–2011   Australia 6–20 01–12–2012 21–38   England 412d (1y1m14d)
13   New Zealand 27–08–2005   South Africa 12–30 02–09–2006 20–21   South Africa 371d (1y0m6d)
11   South Africa 04–09–1937   New Zealand 6–13 05–09–1953 14–18   Australia 5845d (16y0m1d)6
  New Zealand 02–11–2013   Japan 6–54 04–10–2014 25–27   South Africa 336d (11m2d)
10   New Zealand 31–10–2015   Australia 17–34 05–11–2016 29–40   Ireland 371d (1y0m5d)
9   England 03–03–1883   Scotland 1T–2T 05–02–1887 0G–2G   Ireland 1435d (3y11m2d)
  South Africa 27–08–1960   New Zealand 3–8 10–08–1963 5–9   Australia 1078d (2y11m14d)
  South Africa 25–05–1995   Australia 18–27 13–07–1996 16–21   Australia 415d (1y1m18d)
  New Zealand 09–07–1997   South Africa 32–35 11–07–1998 16–24   Australia 357d (11m22d)
  England 18–11–2000   Australia 19–22 20–10–2001 14–20   Ireland 336d (11m2d)
  England 06–09–2003   France 14–45 06–03–2004 13–19   Ireland 182d (6m0d)

Notes

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See also

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References

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  • ESPN Scrum article on the Raeburn Shield [1]
  • Raeburn Shield web site [2]
  1. ^ "Raeburn Shield".