The ‘Irish Shield Trophy’ will be a new addition to the inaugural United Rugby Championship (URC) season.
The winners of the four reginal pools – Ireland, Scotland/Italy, Wales and South Africa will receive a shield trophy. The new trophy will be presented during an on-field ceremony.
The ‘Irish Shield Trophy’ gives an extra incentive to teams to be the best in their region along with the already significant bonus of automatically qualifying for the Champions Cup if a team tops the regional table.
“A tremendous value is placed on the rivalries within the Shield groups by fans, players, coaches and broadcasters and with a European place available to each winner, the value of overcoming your ‘Shield’ opponents now has more rewards than ever,” said a statement released by the URC.
All 18 games this season will contribute to the reginal standings, while regional opponents will face each other home and away every season also.
Qualification for Europe’s premier competition the Champions Cup will be decided by where a team finishes in the overall league table as well as their standing in the regional pool.
The four highest ranked teams outside of the Shield winners will be the remaining teams to gain entry to the Champions Cup.
The new URC season kicks off on Friday evening with matches taking place across the weekend.