All Blacks v Argentina: How Ian Foster’s men bagged the Raeburn Shield, the ‘oldest’ title in world rugby

By Te Ahikaa Trotman, Te Rito journalism cadet

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

The All Blacks are one step closer to winning their fourth Rugby World Cup, but victory over Ireland on Saturday morning means they’ve already secured a linear rugby title that stretches back to the first international match ever played.

The Raeburn Shield is a hypothetical, linear title – kind of like a boxing championship – where the winner defends it every game they play, and the only way to win it is by beating the current title holders. The women’s game similarly has the Utrecht Shield – and this weekend the All Blacks and Black Ferns defend both titles.

The shield was invented by a group of rugby followers in 2008, Dunedin-born Dave Algie among them. His interest in the idea of the shield was sparked by the pain of the 2007 World Cup quarter-final loss to France.

“I was on an online rugby forum, and there was a bunch of us where we were like, this is awful, there has to be a better way,” said Algie. “And that was when we came up with the idea of tracing right back to the start from when we did this as a lineal title.”

Algie has been running a website since 2008 to keep hold of the mythos of the Raeburn Shield. The shields are ”named” after the venues of the first men’s and women’s internationals: the first men’s test was played at Raeburn Place, in Edinburgh, between Scotland and England in 1871; the first women’s international was played at Utrecht, in the Netherlands, between the hosts and France in 1982.

The All Blacks won back the shield from Ireland on the weekend, after handing it to them last June on their way to a 2-1 series defeat.

“Ireland brought over the Raeburn Shield in that series, having won it in the Six Nations,” said Algie. “They lost it in the first match to NZ. So as soon as you win it, you have to defend it, so Ireland took it back in match two and kept it in match three.

“They hadn’t let go of it, because they hadn’t lost until this quarter-final.”

Algie said his purpose in keeping track of the shield was to give rugby fans something to keep the world game interesting in the four years between World Cups.

“This is cool, this should exist,” he said. “This would enhance World Rugby, for fans, for players, for all of us, so we should do it.”

How to follow All Blacks v Argentina

Kick off: 8am, Saturday

Live updates: nzherald.co.nz

Listen to commentary: Join Elliott Smith on Newstalk ZB, Gold Sport and iHeartRadio, or catch the ACC on iHeartRadio or Hauraki