| Current season or competition: 2011 Shute Shield Season |
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The current Shute Shield logo |
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| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1923 |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Country(ies) | Australia |
| Most recent champion(s) | Eastwood 2011 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC1 |
The Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. It is the premier grade rugby trophy in NSW rugby. The Shute Shield is awarded at the end of the Sydney Club Rugby season to the team that wins the Grand Final. The Shield is contested by the twelve NSWRU clubs.
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The first Sydney club competition was in 1874, contested by Balmain, Newington College, Sydney University Football Club and The King's School. The Shute Shield is seen as the traditional successor.
The Shute Shield was struck in honour of the late Robert Elliott Stewart Shute, who died on 6 June 1922 aged 23,[1] following a match at Manly Oval. Shute served as an infantryman in 30th Battery A.I.F. during World War One. On his return to Australia he took up his studies at the University of Sydney and joined the Sydney University rugby club as a front row forward in the first XV. The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 7 June 1922[2] reported:
As a result of injuries received while playing at Manly in the Rugby football match between the team which toured New Zealand and the Next 15, Robert Elliott Shute, a front row forward in the latter team, died at a private hospital at Manly yesterday morning. The accident occurred during the latter portion of the first spell of the match. Shute secured the ball and when tackled fell heavily. He was removed to a private hospital, where it was ascertained that he was suffering from cerebral hemorrhage. Without recovering consciousness he died at 6am. A former pupil of Sydney Grammar School, Shute, who was 23 years of age, was a third year student at Sydney University and he played for the University first fifteen. He served in the AIF for four years.
The University club had the shield made following his death and donated it in 1923 to the NSWRU to be used as a perpetual trophy for the Sydney first grade competition.[3]
The teams currently in the Shute Shield are:
| Jersey | Club | Location | Home Ground | Nickname | First season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Suburbs | Upper Eastern Suburbs, (Rose Bay) | Woolahra Oval | The Beasties | 1900 | |
| Eastwood | Northern Suburbs, (Eastwood) | T G Millner Field | The Woodies | 1927 (1947 first division admittance) | |
| Gordon | Upper North Shore, (Chatswood) | Chatswood Oval | Highlanders | 1936 | |
| Manly | Lower Northern Beaches, (Manly) | Manly Oval | The Marlins | 1906 | |
| Northern Suburbs | Lower North Shore, (North Sydney) | North Sydney Oval | The Shoremen, Norths, The Red and Blacks | 1900 | |
| Parramatta | Parramatta | Granville Park | Two Blues | 1879 (as Cumberland, 1900 name change) | |
| Penrith | Penrith | Nepean Rugby Park | Emus | 1965 (Shute Shield admittance 1995) | |
| Randwick | Lower Eastern Suburbs, (Randwick/Coogee) | Coogee Oval | Galloping Greens, The wicks | 1882 | |
| Southern Districts | St George and The Shire | Forshaw Park | The Rebels | 1989, (St George DRC – 1906, Port Hacking RC – 1957) | |
| Sydney University | Sydney University, (Inner West, CBD Boundarys, Sydney University) | University Oval No.1 | The Students | 1863 | |
| Warringah | Upper Northern Beaches, (Narabeen) | Pittwater Park | The Rats, Ratties | 1963 | |
| West Harbour | Inner West,(Concord) | Concord Oval | Pirates | 1900 (as Western Suburbs DRFC) |
In previous seasons clubs from outside of the Sydney metropolitan area, such as the Illawarriors and Central Coast Waves have competed but do not continue to compete.
The competition format involves a 13 week round-robin competition which is followed by a four week play-off series that culminates in a grand final. The playoffs are contested by the top six placed teams following the round-robin. The bottom eight teams following the round-robin contest the plate during the play-offs.
From 2002 through 2007 the Tooheys New Cup was run to fill the void between Grade Rugby and Provincial Rugby in Australia. This competition was merged into the Shute Shield to become the Tooheys New Shute Shield when an attempt at an Australian wide domestic rugby competition, the Australian Rugby Championship ,was started and stopped within one season in 2007. The Shute Shield competition was then extended to a full 22 match home and away round robin competition, culminating in the Grand Final in early October.
The ABC Network broadcasts the Match of the Day from the Shute Shield competition in Sydney every Saturday at 3pm
| Shute Shield seasons | ||
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1874 · 1906-1914 · 1919-2008 |
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