The Raeburn Shield: Rugby Union’s unknown honour

Rugby Union fans often take jokes at the seemingly endless amount of trophies to be won, but there is one unofficial trophy which perhaps holds the biggest bragging rights amongst fans.

It seems like sometimes the trophies never end. For example, the Six Nations, which has just been and gone, saw 10 trophies handed out across the tournament, with more and more coming about every few seasons.

So many international matches will finish in a big trophy ceremony or handover minutes after a game for no rhyme or reason.

Perhaps then rugby could take a leaf out of boxing’s playbook in regard to achievements.

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Man who beat the man title

There are only a handful of belts to play for, and although, like rugby, the number of belts is always growing, there are far fewer fights that end with a random belt being handed out.

However, the lineal world champion belt, although unofficial, is properly significant amongst boxing fans, which would be fun to take note of in rugby as well.

The Raeburn Shield, just like in boxing, is the ‘man who beat the man’ title given to the chronological world champion in the sport.

The Shield, named after the first international game between Scotland and England in Raeburn Place (Edinburgh), was first held by Scotland when they defeated England by one goal and one try in 1871.

Linear champions are obviously reset every four years when the winner of the World Cup is discovered.

But during the four years in between, it is a fun little way to keep track of who is supposedly the greatest team.

Surprise title wins, current holders & Utrecht shield

Of course, it doesn’t actually denote the best team on the planet at that time, with some teams you may not expect to be previous holders.

Both Romania and Japan have held the title of ‘the best’ at some point. Romania took the crown after beating the at-the-time Five Nations holders Scotland in Bucharest in what was one of the biggest upsets of the time.

Japan’s turn with the crown came far more recently in 2013, when they beat Wales in the second of a two-game Welsh tour of Japan.

More recently, England were the holders coming into this year’s Six Nations, but lost the title to Scotland, who then subsequently lost it to Ireland on the final day, meaning the Irish are the current holders.

Other teams that have held the title at some point include: Wales, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, France, Argentina and Samoa.

Indeed, there is also a version for the women’s game, known as the Utrecht shield, named after the first official international fixture between The Netherlands and France in 1982.

England are expectedly the current holders and have been since 2024.

History

The man behind the shield, David Algie, is desperate to get both trophies sanctioned by World Rugby.

Taken from their website, their goal is to “enhance the entire international calendar, ensuring that every test match carries the weight of history”.

Their website also has options for people to donate, in order to help the team in their quest to make the shield an official part of international rugby.

All in all, the shield is something which can create an indefinite link to rugby’s history and can get fans and indeed players excited to play games for a trophy with real significance.

But even for the cynical, it’s a fun little bit of trivia to chat about down the pub, a great quiz question and an extra little bragging right between nations without any ultra serious consequences.

READ MORE: 2026 Six Nations analysis: What we learned from this year’s tournament