The Waratahs proudly display their club allegiances on a day when a new sponsor
for the Shute Shield – Magners – was announced

Waratahs Rugby Media Release –

This year’s Shute Shield is set to be stronger than ever with the announcement of a new naming rights sponsor to bolster the existing roll call of exciting rugby talent.

From 2014, the Sydney Premiership Competition will become the Magners Shute Shield.  Packed full of exciting and emerging Super Rugby talent, the tournament will once again be available on free to air TV, with the ABC televising one match of each round live as part of its longstanding support of club rugby.

“The ABC is proud to once again be the only free to air broadcaster of rugby and to showcase the best club rugby in the country,” said ABC Head of Sport and Entertainment Justin Holdsforth.

“After a successful 2013 and now in our nineteenth continuous year of broadcasting the Shute Shield we look forward to another great season.”

For the first time since 2010, the tournament will also have the backing of a naming rights sponsor, with Magners Irish Cider choosing St Patrick’s Day to announce its support of Australia’s most successful club rugby competition.

Senior Brand Manager for Magners Irish Cider, Fraser Lockwood explained, “Magners has a long history with the rugby union having supported local rugby in the UK and Ireland for many years.

“The Shute Shield is a strong and prominent competition and provides us with the opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the Australian code and support players and fans right through the NSW player pathway.

“We are excited to have secured naming rights for 2014 and can’t wait to see the Magners Shute Shield kick off this season.”

Tatafu Polota-Nau (Parramatta), Adam Ashley-Cooper (Northern Suburbs), Alofa Alofa (West Harbour) and Brendan McKibbin (Eastern Suburbs) celebrate the announcement Irish style

The inaugural Magners Shute Shield kicks off on Saturday March 29, one week earlier than previous seasons, with an 18-week competition preceding a three-week, six team finals format. It culminates in a Grand Final which will take place on Saturday August 16.

The revised compact season is designed to accommodate the introduction of the new National Rugby Competition which is scheduled to start in mid-August. The random draw format sees each of the 12 teams play each other at least once, with local derbies preserved (on a home and away basis) at the clubs’ request.

And club rugby fans can expect plenty of exciting talent on display.  According to NSW Waratahs’ head coach Michael Cheika, a host of current Waratahs players are expected to run out alongside up and coming NSW stars when the action starts in just over two weeks’ time.  “Anyone who’s not been selected for us on that Super Rugby weekend will be playing in his club colours and getting the football he needs.”

A long-time advocate of the club competition, Cheika has thrown his support behind this year’s tournament, saying, “Not enough attention and respect has been paid to Shute Shield.  It’s always delivered the majority of players that are playing Super Rugby right now and it will continue to do that.

“The reality is that the best players come from a strong competition and that’s what the Shute Shield is.

“It’s a direct feeder competition for the players that are going to be playing for NSW going forward.  It’s very important, it’s always had an important place in NSW rugby.  It gives players the experience they need to be able to move up in the Super Rugby ranks.

“You only need to look at Alofa Alofa who was playing Shute Shield last year and we picked him out of that based on his performance to come and have a run with us on tour in Argentina and now he’s an established starter in our team.

“There are a lot of very good players who are on the cusp of playing Super Rugby that are in the Shute Shield.  We’ve got a host of players who are in and around our squad or playing for Gen Blue – Tim Metcher, Mike Ala’alatoa, David Horwitz, Greg Peterson – there’s a stack of them coming through.  It’s a forum for players to show how good they are and still have that tribal nature for their club.”