Raeburn Shield

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

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.
• 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]