The origins of the Shute Shield While rugby in Sydney can be traced all the way back to 1829, the inaugural Shute Shield was first contested in 1923.  The newly-formed competition was named in memory of Sydney University prop Robert Elliot Shute, who tragically died during a representative game played at Manly Oval in 1922. A New South Wales v ‘The Rest’ trial match was held to help selectors pick the NSW team to face a touring New Zealand side later that year. Shute, who was making a name for himself as a bookend, was selected at prop for ‘The Rest’. Shute was left unconscious following a tackle by a NSW back. He died the following day in hospital and a Coroner’s inquest later described his death as an accident.  Shute was just 23 years old. He was a veteran of World War One, having enlisted not long after his 18th birthday in 1917, and joined the 8th Field Artillery Brigade as a Gunner in Europe before being hospitalised in Italy towards the end of the war.