Raeburn Shield

Raeburn Shield

Awarded for	Rugby Union Challenge Trophy
History
First award	1871
Final award	2023
Most recent	South Africa
Website	www.raeburnandutrechtshields.com

The Raeburn Shield is a hypothetical 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.

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[edit]

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
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
212	New Zealand	12–23	Ireland	09-07-2022	0	7d
213	Ireland	24–28	New Zealand	14-10-2023	16	462d
214	New Zealand	11–12	South Africa	28-10-2023	1	14d
215	South Africa				0	186d

Most shield defences[edit]

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 (3y1m29d)
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[edit]

• ^1 Excludes two wins and one loss against the British & Irish Lions in 1910.
• ^2 Due to World War 1, South Africa played no tests from 1914 until 1921.
• ^3 Excludes three wins and one draw against the British & Irish Lions in 1924.
• ^4 Excludes one win against the British & Irish Lions in 1930 and one win against the Māori All Blacks in 1931.
• ^5 Excludes two wins and one loss against the British & Irish Lions in 1938.
• ^6 Due to World War 2, South Africa played no tests from 1939 until 1949.
• ^7 Excludes two wins and two losses against the British & Irish Lions in 1955.
• ^8 Excludes three wins and one loss against the British & Irish Lions in 1959.
• ^9 Excludes three wins and one draw against the British & Irish Lions in 1962.
• ^10 Excludes one draw against the Presidents XV in 1974.
• ^11 Excludes one win against the World XV in 1977, four wins against the South American XV in 1980 and three wins and one loss against the British & Irish Lions, also in 1980.
• ^12 Excludes four wins against the British & Irish Lions in 1983.
• ^13 Includes one win against the now-defunct Soviet Union team (which is now Georgia and Russia, among others) in 1985.
• ^14 Excludes two wins and one loss against the British & Irish Lions in 1993.
• ^15 Excludes two losses and one win against the British & Irish Lions in 1997.
• ^16 Excludes one win against the Pacific Islanders in 2004.
• ^17 Excludes one win, one loss and one draw against the British & Irish Lions in 2017.
• ^18 After the 2019 Rugby World Cup, South Africa did not play a match until 2021. This was due to complications faced with preparation and travel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

See also[edit]

• List of rugby union competitions

References[edit]

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