Shute Shield

Shute Shield

Logo introduced for the 2015 season
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1923
No. of teams	12
Country	Australia
Most recent champion(s)	Northern Suburbs
TV partner(s)	7Two
Official website	www.nswrugby.com.au

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 SRU clubs.

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, 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 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.

There are currently twelve clubs that compete for the Shute Shield.

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.