The Aberdare Shield (men) and the Lidcombe Shield (women) are unofficial lineal titles for international rugby league. They work like a boxing world title, or the Ranfurly Shield in New Zealand: whoever holds the shield puts it on the line every time they play, and anyone who beats them takes it. The rules follow the same approach as rugby union’s Raeburn Shield.

The rules

• Every international between two national teams counts. There is no separate category for friendlies. Tournament matches, Test series, one-off Tests, mid-season internationals, wartime matches and exhibitions all count.
• Each match counts on its own. If the holder loses the first Test of a series, the shield changes hands, whoever wins the series.
• A win or a draw keeps the shield. It only changes hands when the holder loses.
• Only national teams can win it. Composite sides drawn from several countries (Other Nationalities, Pacific Islands, Rest of the World) are not national teams, and neither are representative sides within a country (NZ Māori, England Knights, Prime Minister’s XIII). Matches against them don’t count.

Where it starts

The Aberdare Shield starts with Wales v New Zealand at the Aberdare Athletic Ground on 1 January 1908, the first international between two national teams. Wales won 9–8 and became the first holders. (The earlier England v Other Nationalities matches from 1904 don’t count, because Other Nationalities was a composite side.)

The Lidcombe Shield starts with the first women’s international, New Zealand v Australia, on 1 July 1995. It is named after Lidcombe Oval in Sydney, where that match was played. New Zealand won 18–14 and became the first holders.

Which teams count as national teams

• Great Britain counts. Unlike rugby union’s Lions, it was rugby league’s official national side for the home nations for most of the 20th century, and it played in the World Cup. England, Wales and the other home nations also count in their own right.
• Northern Union sides (before 1922) are treated as Great Britain, and the Australasia touring side of 1908–1912 is treated as Australia.
• Great Britain sides that played under the name “England”, including the Ashes and Kiwi Tests between 1924 and 1947 and the 1933–34 matches against Australia and France, are treated as Great Britain, following the Rugby League Record Keepers’ Club.
• Tonga Invitational XIII (2019) counts as Tonga. The name was only used because Tonga’s governing body was suspended at the time. International Rugby League sanctioned the matches as official Tests and treated the team as the Tonga national team.
• Super League Australia (1997) doesn’t count. During the Super League war there were two rival Australian sides, and only the official Australia team is used.

Sources

Results come from the Rugby League Project and have been checked against the Rugby League Record Keepers’ Club, the official statistics supplier to International Rugby League. The two sources agree on almost every match. Where we differ from the Record Keepers’ Club, it is because of the rules above. They count Other Nationalities, NZ Māori and Pacific Islands as international sides, and we don’t. We also include Australia v the United States on 30 November 2004, which they don’t record. If you spot an error, please get in touch through the contact page.