List of oldest rugby union competitions

The following article lists the oldest known rugby union competitions.

Rank Competition Location Date First winner First Runner-up Ref
1 United Hospitals Challenge Cup The Oval 1874 Guy's Hospital St George's Hospital [1]
Shute Shield Sydney 1874 Waratah
3 Ulster Schools' Cup Ulster 1876 The Royal School, Armagh Royal Belfast Academical Institution [2]
4 Yorkshire Cup Recreation Ground, Holbeck 1877 Halifax York [3]
5 Calcutta Cup Raeburn Place 1879  Scotland  England [4]
6 Dublin Hospitals Rugby Cup Ireland 1881 Meath Hospital Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital [5]
7 Home Nations Championship England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Italy 1883  England  Scotland [6]
8 Leinster Towns Cup Ireland 1888 Blackrock College RFC [7]
9 Currie Cup South Africa 1889 Western Province [8]
10 French Championship Bagatelle, Paris 1892 Racing Club de France Stade Français [9]
11 Mallett Cup Cardiff 1893 Cardiff RFC Reserves Canton RFC
12 Mulock Cup (University of Toronto Intramural Championship) Toronto 1895 Faculty of Medicine [10]
13 River Plate Rugby Championship Argentina 1899 Lomas Athletic Club Buenos Aires Football Club [11]
14 Bottle Match United Kingdom 1902 Camborne School of Mines Royal School of Mines [12]
15 Ranfurly Shield New Zealand 1904 Wellington Auckland [13]
16 Clifford Cup Sri Lanka 1911 United Services All Ceylon [14]
17 Siam Cup Channel Islands 1920 Jersey Jersey Reds Guernsey Guernsey
18 Deans Trophy Fiji Fiji 1939 Queen Victoria School [15]
  1. ^ "United Hospitals RFC Club History". United Hospitals RFC. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) ()
  2. ^ "Past Winners of Ulster Schools' Cup". BBC. 2003-03-14. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  3. ^ Yorkshire Cup final programmes, including the 1978 Centenary Programme.
  4. ^ "The Origin of the Calcutta Cup". RFU. Retrieved 2009-12-08.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "The Dublin Hospitals Rugby Cup – the Oldest Trophy in World Rugby" (PDF). The Irish Medical Journal. October 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-27."
  6. ^ "Official RBS 6 Nations Rugby: History". Archived from the original on 2009-10-15. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  7. ^ "Domestic News".
  8. ^ "ABSA Currie Cup Records" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  9. ^ "Bagatelle, Bois de Boulogne, Paris, 20 mars 1892". TOP 14 Orange : Histoire (in French). Ligue Nationale de Rugby. 2004-01-22. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
  10. ^ "University of Toronto Intramurals - Mulock Cup History". Retrieved 2016-06-02.
  11. ^ "National Competitions". Union Argentina de Rugby. Archived from the original on 2013-02-19. Retrieved 2015-08-06.
  12. ^ "Anger at Cornish 'inbreds' remark". BBC News. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
  13. ^ "National Competitions". New Zealand Rugby Union. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  14. ^ "Clifford Cup, the oldest club rugby tourney in SL". Daily News. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Fiji Rugby".