The Medallion Shield is an annual

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and hom ...

. The competition is open to all schools within

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

, but only schools from within

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

currently enter, with no entries from schools situated in the three Ulster counties within the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. The competition has been contested continuously since its inception in 1910 and, in that time, fourteen different schools have secured at least a shared win of the shield. Teams entering the Medallion Shield are composed of boys who are under 15 years of age at the start of the school year. Entry in 2012-13 stood at 38 schools.

Campbell College Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

, Belfast, has won 5 outright, most recently being the 2022 season. The 2023 competition resulted in a final between Ballymena Academy and Royal Belfast Academical Institution with RBAI winning 10-7.RBAI have now won the competition 35 times outright and shared it 3 times.

Foundation and growth

It was reported in 1909 that discussions had taken place between

Belfast Royal Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in North ...

, Methodist College and

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

about setting up a rugby junior competition for pupils with an age qualification given as under fifteen years of age on 1 November. The success of the Leinster Schools Junior Cup which had started that year had prompted these discussions. Henry McIntosh, the Headmaster of Methodist College and respected rugby coach, was the main driving force behind the idea. In 1910 Methodist College and

proceeded with the competition and for the first five years only these two schools competed. The third school to join was

Royal School Dungannon The Royal School is a mixed boarding school located in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was one of a number of 'free schools' created by James I (otherwise known as James VI of Scotland) in 1608 to provide an education to the son ...

in 1915.

Bangor Grammar School (Maintain justice) , established = 1856 , type = Voluntary grammar school , religious_affiliation = Interdenominational , head_label = Principal , head = E P Huddleson , r_head_label = Chaplains , r_head = Nig ...

entered for the first time in 1916, with

Ballymena Academy Ballymena Academy is a mixed gender grammar school in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1828 as a small provincial school for children in the town and surrounding agricultural hinterland. Admiss ...

and

Coleraine Academical Institution Coleraine Academical Institution (CAI and styled locally as Coleraine Inst) was a voluntary grammar school for boys in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Coleraine Academical Institution occupied a site on the Castlerock Road, ...

following in 1917. In 1977 the organising committee of

Methodist College Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

and

ceded control of the competition to the Ulster Branch of the

Trophy

Initially without a trophy, a medal was presented to the winning captain at the conclusion of the second final in 1911. The original Medallion Shield was presented by the Governors of Methodist College with the medal mounted on the shield. When the original shield was filled with the names of winners, the Governors also provided a replacement shield. The original shield is on exhibit and can be viewed at the Methodist College Heritage Centre.

Venue of finals

All finals since 1973 had been played at Ravenhill. In 2014 the final was staged at the Queen's University Arena because of the ongoing development work at Ravenhill. Prior to 1973, the most commonly used venues were the North of Ireland grounds on the

Ormeau Road Ormeau Road is a road in south Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. Ormeau Park is adjacent to it. It forms part of the A24. History The road, as currently laid out, dates from the first decades of the 19th century when a bridge was bui ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

and the former

grounds at Orangefield, Belfast.

Future international players

Over the years a selection of players who went on to win international caps appeared in the Medallion Shield final. One future international appeared in the first ever final in 1910 with James B O'Neill a member of the victorious Methodist College team. He would win one cap for Ireland in 1920. Further examples of future international players include: * Arthur Coates Douglas played for

in the 1917 final, won 5 caps for Ireland. * Dick Milliken captained the

team to victory in 1966 appeared 14 times for Ireland and 4 British & Irish Lion appearances. * Niall Malone played for

in the 1986 final, won 3 caps for Ireland. * Jonny Bell played for

in the 1989 final, won 36 caps for Ireland. * David Irwin played for

in the 1974 final, and was capped 25 times for Ireland and toured with the British Lions in 1983.

Format

Until 2004 the Medallion Shield was competed for through an open draw, and since then a seeding system has been employed to determine the point at which a school enters the competition. A Medallion Plate competition for first round losers was introduced in 1986. The competition took on a new format in 2005 with further minor changes made since. Each team is assigned to a seeding group which determines the stage at which that team joins the competition. Each stage is run on a single tie knock-out basis, with replays for drawn games when necessary. The structure since the 2009–10 season is as follows: *Stage 1. Weakest twelve teams enter for round 1. If necessary, a preliminary round will be played to establish these twelve teams. The six winners progress to round 2. The losers enter the Medallion Trophy together with the losers of the round 2 fixtures. The matches are determined by an open draw. *Stage 2. A further ten teams enter together with the six winners from round 1. The matches in round 2 are determined by an open draw. The eight winners progress to round 3. The eight losers join the six losers from round 1 and any preliminary round losers and compete for the Medallion Trophy. *Stage 3. A further eight teams enter together with the eight winners from round 2. The matches in round 3 are determined by an open draw. The eight winners progress to round 4. The eight losers contest for the Medallion Bowl. *Stage 4. The top eight seeded teams join the remaining eight winners from round 3. The matches in round 4 are determined by an open draw. The winners proceed to the quarter finals, semi finals and final. The eight losers in round 4 play for the Medallion Plate. In 2014-15 the top eight seeded teams were

, Ballyclare High School,

, Dalriada School,

, Sullivan Upper School and Wallace High School.

2014-15 season

The 2015 Medallion Shield final was won by beating Wallace High School.

defeated Down High School in the Plate final.

won against

Grosvenor Grammar School Grosvenor Grammar School (formerly Grosvenor High School) is an 11–18 co-educational controlled grammar school and sixth form in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History Grosvenor Grammar School was founded in 1945 as Grosvenor ...

in the Bowl final. Omagh Academy beat Strabane Academy in the Trophy final.

Performance by school

(Table incomplete; two finalists missing - 1934, 1937) ^† denotes a shared win
^‡ Annadale Grammar School became Wellington College in a merger in 1990.

Finals

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Medallion Plate

1980s

*1986

15-0 Rainey Endowed School *1987 Larne Grammar School 10-8

*1988 (???? v Belfast High School) *1989

21-0 Sullivan Upper School

1990s

*1990

15-6 Coleraine Boys' Secondary School *1991 Wallace High School 14-0

Antrim Grammar School Antrim Grammar School is a co-educational grammar school in Northern Ireland. It is in County Antrim, in the North Eastern Region of the Education Authority. It is more commonly known by locals as "AGS". It has two neighbouring schools, Parkhal ...

*1992 Ballyclare High School 7-6

*1993

13-8

*1994 Omagh Academy 10-5

Portadown College Portadown College is an academically selective, co-educational post-14 grammar school in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. History Preparatory Department Portadown College Preparatory Department was founded in 1921 as the Carlet ...

*1995 Ballymena Academy 22-6 Foyle and Londonderry College *1996 *1997 Ballyclare High School 20-15 Foyle and Londonderry College *1998

30-7 Larne Grammar School *1999 Ballyclare High School 19-12 Larne Grammar School

2000s

*2000 Rainey Endowed School 13-6

*2001

22-7 Dalriada School *2002

17-12

*2003 Ballyclare High School 20-17

Portora Royal School Portora Royal School located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, was one of the public schools founded by the royal charter in 1608, by James I, making it one of the oldest schools in Ireland at the time of its closure. Original ...

*2004 Wallace High School 27-22

*2005

17-10

The Royal School, Armagh The Royal School, Armagh is a co-educational voluntary grammar school, founded in the 17th century, in the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. It has a boarding department with an international intake. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Hea ...

*2006

28-5 Sullivan Upper School *2007

10-5

*2008

22-0 Foyle and Londonderry College *2009 Wallace High School 37-22 Sullivan Upper School

2010s

* 2010 Dromore High School 12-12

Limavady Grammar School Limavady Grammar School is a co-educational 11-18 selective grammar school in Limavady, County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Situated on the Ballyquin Road, it is close to other schools in the town, including Limavady High School and St. Mar ...

Trophy shared * 2011

26-10

* 2012

34-10 Dalriada School * 2013

63-3 Down High School * 2014

24-21 Banbridge Academy * 2015

17-5 Down High School * 2016 Sullivan Upper School 12-10

* 2017

0-17 Sullivan Upper School * 2018

25 - 0 Sullivan Upper School * 2019

8 - 7 Rainey Endowed School * 2022 Sullivan Upper School 22-12 Rainey Endowed School

Medallion Bowl

*2005 Limavady Grammar 20 - 7

Foyle College Foyle College is a co-educational non-denominational voluntary grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. The school's legal name is Foyle and Londonderry College. In 1976, two local schools, Foyle College and Londonderry High School, merged unde ...

*2006 Omagh Academy 13-0 Rainey Endowed School *2007 Omagh Academy 5-0

*2008 Banbridge Academy 17-8 Belfast High School *2009 Dalriada School 19-17

2010s

* 2010

3-0 Sullivan Upper School * 2011 Rainey Endowed School 27-7

* 2012

Carrickfergus Grammar School Carrickfergus Grammar School is a controlled grammar school situated in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Since opening in 1962 with 60 pupils and 4 teachers, its pupil numbers have increased to just over 800 pupils from ages 11 ...

14-7 Rainey Endowed School * 2013

17-10 Carrickfergus Grammar School * 2014

37-7 Belfast High School * 2015

7-3

* 2016 Dalriada School 13-10

* 2017 Enniskillen Royal Grammar School 31-3 Down High School * 2018 * 2019 Omagh Academy 17-11 Down High School * 2022 Banbridge Academy 19-10

Medallion Trophy

*2005

13-8 Belfast High School *2006 Craigavon Senior High School 13-8 Friends School Lisburn *2007 Lisneal College 22-17 Downshire School *2008 Larne Grammar School 13-12 Downshire School *2009

28-3 Downshire School

2010s

* 2010 Foyle and Londonderry College 38-7 Dalriada School * 2011 Dalriada School 12-0 Foyle and Londonderry College * 2012 Wellington College Belfast 17-8

* 2013 Lurgan College 8-0 Dalriada School * 2014 Larne Grammar School 3-3 Rainey Endowed School shared * 2015 Omagh Academy 22-0 Strabane Academy * 2016 Foyle and Londonderry College 16-12 Cambridge House * 2017 Ballyclare Secondary School 12-10

Sources

External links

Ulster rugby
{{Ulster Rugby Links High school rugby union competitions in Ireland Rugby union competitions in Ulster