The Spirit of Rugby - The Shield
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Alan Barnett,
President London Kiwis RFC and
Shield Founder
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Steve Appleby, Basingstoke RFC and
Shield Committee
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David Booth, Fixtures
Sec Rosslyn Park
and Shield Committee
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There were no quality competitions in England
for 2nd XV teams. That was Alan Barnett's opinion back in 2000. So he
started his own one for teams like London Kiwis, Rosslyn
Park, Richmond and London Welsh who were eager to be founder member
Clubs.
The competition expanded fast. Steve Appleby of Basingstoke
RFC and David Booth of Rosslyn Park RFC offered
years of experience and joined him to create The Shield Committee. Barnett is President of The
London Kiwis RFC and, as such, had invited Canterbury of New Zealand in
to the family as Major Sponsors and Canterbury were delighted with the
immediate effect on sales by supporting the Competition and the Sevens Cup , which takes
place annually in May. Barnett, Appleby and Booth knew that the Clubs who
previously had relied on a variety of fixture committees to find games
would quickly pick up a simply structured competition where the players
needs come first. But this can be a bit of a lottery where teams are
often mismatched; and do not lend itself to player development,
competition or the spirit of rugby.
The Canterbury Shield is
a structured league competition for National 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th XVs who lack real
competitive matches. There are now four Divisions and plans for
increasing if the demand is there. Division Winners collect the Shield
and a full playing kit for next season from the sponsors with Runners up
receiving sets of Polo and T-shirts. David Booth of Rosslyn Park has
his finger on the pulse of English rugby and is proud to be associated
with The Shield and as liaison with the member Clubs says “For
years I have been frustrated by the lack of a 2nd team quality rugby
competition. Over the years, the coaches have shared their frustration
with me since the key to a good, strong 1 st XV
is the power, strength and experience of the 2 nd
XV biting at their heels to get into the top team”.
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The Canterbury
Shield
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The Shield addresses this problem by securing excellent
matches throughout the whole season from September until April and the
Coaches are grateful for the opportunities to run their teams out for a
worthwhile match.
Steve Appleby
of Basingstoke (who also
is a registered referee) knows too just how important these games are and
how equally important getting the right referee
in place can be. It's a pleasure to be offering this service to our
members. The Shield is hard work, but reaps enormous rewards for us, for
the players and the sponsors; even that forgotten and un-loved bunch, the
referees, are delighted to be involved in quality matches. So you see, everyone benefits.
The RFU recognize the meaningfulness of the competition
and offers financial support for the Committee!
Someone who knows a good thing when he sees it is Sean Fitzpatrick that
in-your-face front rower, former All Black Captain who offers his support
and has adopted the competition as Patron. Fitzy
added “The best way in to 1st
team rugby is to play your heart out for the 2nd team in worthy
competition. The
Shield provides
the perfect stage for aspiring talent to show just what they are made of!
".
So, there you have
it. If your Club lacks quality matches at 2nd team level, contact Alan Barnett
on 020 7629 7838 or email him on alan@barnettgroup.biz
or visit www.theshield.it
for membership details.