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. Unfortunately in 2009, Canterbury had to step down as sponsors but the resourcefulness of Alan Barnett has led to a quick replacement, With RugbyTech coming on board.The Canterbury Shield now becomes The Shield but is still a structured league competition for 2nd , 3rd and 4th 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 the following season. Page 1 2 3