The Medallion Shield is an annual rugby union competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The competition is open to all schools within Ulster, but only schools from within Northern Ireland currently enter, with no entries from schools situated in the three Ulster counties within the Republic of Ireland. 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. Royal Belfast Academical Institution have won the most titles, having 37 Won Outright titles and 3 shared. The 2024 competition resulted in a final between Sullivan Upper and Royal Belfast Academical Institution with RBAI winning 36–10.RBAI have now won the competition 37 times outright and shared it 3 times.

Foundation and growth

It was reported in 1909 that discussions had taken place between Belfast Royal Academy, Campbell College, Methodist College and Royal Belfast Academical Institution 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 Royal Belfast Academical Institution proceeded with the competition and for the first five years only these two schools competed. The third school to join was Royal School Dungannon in 1915. Bangor Grammar School entered for the first time in 1916, with Ballymena Academy and Coleraine Academical Institution following in 1917. In 1977 the organising committee of Belfast Royal Academy, Methodist College Belfast, Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Royal School Dungannon ceded control of the competition to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union.

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 in Belfast and the former Royal Belfast Academical Institution 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:

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:

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

1990s

2000s

2010s

Medallion Bowl

** 2000s **

2010s

2020s

Medallion Trophy

2010s

2020s

Sources