The RSRU Shield has been invented way back in 1996 by John Williams, even though it was Craig Harris who worked it out later on. The idea is, in a way, simular to the Ranfurly Shield in New Zealand. Every time (contrarily to NZ, it doesn't matter whether this is a home or an away match) the holder plays an international the Shield is at stake. The winner is awarded the virtual Shield. The Shield is not at stake against non-International teams, such as provinces, or invitational teams, such as the British Lions or the Barbarians. In case of a draw, the original holder retains the Shield. The Shield was first awarded to the winners of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, South Africa.

Alex Goff has tried to track the Shield even further down than 1995. His account, that includes a number of statistics, can be found on http://www.esportsmediagroup.com/e-sports/articles/1,1090,46--2759--1-2,00.html. For the RSRU Shield in ASCII-art (credits to Bill Taylor, who else), see http://www.dmsystems.co.nz/rsru.

The Shield history can now be found at http://www.brombeer.net/rugby.