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I thought it's about time I'd started a thread for these.
The idea for these 2 shields was hashed out on another rugby forum I'm a member of (though I claim none of the credit) about 10-15 years ago - based on the Ranfurly Shield in NZ's domestic rugby.
The basic idea, is that we know the winner of every international match ever played; so this (sadly mythical) shield simply starts with the first winner - Scotland for the men in 1871 (match taking place at Raeburn Place), France for the women in 1982 (match taking place in Utrecht). The winner then defends the shield in their next match, and is taken home by the winner; and so on and so on.
IIRC There is an exception to this defence and take-home is that a RWC winner always takes the shield home, even if the holder goes out in the pool stages, though I don't think this has ever happened.
Because it's a winner-takes-it-all, 1 match at a time, more minor nations do get the chance to challenge for it, and even win it sometimes. To date, there have been 12 holders of the Raeburn Shield (including the likes of Japan, Samoa and Romania); whilst the Utrecht has passed through 8 sets of hands (including the likes of Italy, USA and The Netherlands)
For example, for the Raeburn Shield; in 2019, Ireland took the shield to the 6N, after taking it off Australia in November. Ireland gave it England, who then gave it to Wales during the 6N. During the RWC warm-ups, it shuffled around a bit, but ended up back with Ireland to take to Japan - who took it off them before handing it over to the Boks.
The current Raeburn holders are Australia, who won in during the QuadNations, whilst the current Utrecht holders are England, who took it off a rusty NZ a few days ago.
Both are being played for this weekend, as Australia are hosted by Scotland, and England play host to NZ.
It's just a little extra spice - and one that means more (to me, at least) than just slapping a random name on a rivalry that no-one knew was a particular rivalry (eg the Douglas Horn Trophy, or the Pershing Cup). This was first thought up due to the rash of seemingly pointless new trophies in the late 00s.
The idea for these 2 shields was hashed out on another rugby forum I'm a member of (though I claim none of the credit) about 10-15 years ago - based on the Ranfurly Shield in NZ's domestic rugby.
The basic idea, is that we know the winner of every international match ever played; so this (sadly mythical) shield simply starts with the first winner - Scotland for the men in 1871 (match taking place at Raeburn Place), France for the women in 1982 (match taking place in Utrecht). The winner then defends the shield in their next match, and is taken home by the winner; and so on and so on.
IIRC There is an exception to this defence and take-home is that a RWC winner always takes the shield home, even if the holder goes out in the pool stages, though I don't think this has ever happened.
Because it's a winner-takes-it-all, 1 match at a time, more minor nations do get the chance to challenge for it, and even win it sometimes. To date, there have been 12 holders of the Raeburn Shield (including the likes of Japan, Samoa and Romania); whilst the Utrecht has passed through 8 sets of hands (including the likes of Italy, USA and The Netherlands)
For example, for the Raeburn Shield; in 2019, Ireland took the shield to the 6N, after taking it off Australia in November. Ireland gave it England, who then gave it to Wales during the 6N. During the RWC warm-ups, it shuffled around a bit, but ended up back with Ireland to take to Japan - who took it off them before handing it over to the Boks.
The current Raeburn holders are Australia, who won in during the QuadNations, whilst the current Utrecht holders are England, who took it off a rusty NZ a few days ago.
Both are being played for this weekend, as Australia are hosted by Scotland, and England play host to NZ.
It's just a little extra spice - and one that means more (to me, at least) than just slapping a random name on a rivalry that no-one knew was a particular rivalry (eg the Douglas Horn Trophy, or the Pershing Cup). This was first thought up due to the rash of seemingly pointless new trophies in the late 00s.
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