The Weary Dunlop Shield was an annual Australian domestic rugby union match contested between the Victorian team, Melbourne Rebels, and the New South Welsh team, New South Wales Waratahs, between 2011 and 2024. Played within the Super Rugby competition, the two teams typically played each other twice a year, with the winner of each match being awarded the Weary Dunlop Shield. Created in 2011 upon the arrival of the expansion team Melbourne Rebels, the match was contested a total of twenty-six times. The New South Wales Waratahs have won majority of the fixtures (18).
The Weary Dunlop Shield effectively ended when the Melbourne Rebels were withdrawn from the Super Rugby following the 2024 season.
Weary Dunlop
The namesake of the match, Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop (1907–1993), was an Australian surgeon, former Colonel in the Australian Army during World War II, and former prisoner of war with vast honours. Dunlop was also a keen rugby union player who became the first Victorian-born Australia representative, hailing from Wangaratta. Dunlop made his international debut against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1932. He played across several forward positions and made a total of two appearances for Australia.
Results Overview Details Played Won byRebels Won byWaratahs Drawn Rebels points Waratahs points In Victoria 11 4 7 0 247 313 In New South Wales 15 4 11 0 334 437 Overall 26 8 (30.77%) 18 (69.23%) 0 581 750
List (Brackets) denotes total matches the shield was held. No. Season Date Venue Score Winner 1 2011 18 February Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne0–43 New South Wales Waratahs (1) 2 20 April Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney28–9 New South Wales Waratahs (2) 3 2012 2 March Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne19–35 New South Wales Waratahs (3) 4 21 April Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney30–21 New South Wales Waratahs (4) 5 2013 1 March Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney31–26 New South Wales Waratahs (5) 6 24 May Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne24–22 Melbourne Rebels (1) 7 2014 21 March Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney32–8 New South Wales Waratahs (6) 8 23 May Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne19–41 New South Wales Waratahs (7) 9 2015 20 February Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne28–38 New South Wales Waratahs (8) 10 25 April Stadium Australia, Sydney18–16 New South Wales Waratahs (9) 11 2016 3 April Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney17–21 Melbourne Rebels (2) 12 2017 24 March Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne25–32 New South Wales Waratahs (10) 13 21 May Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney50–23 New South Wales Waratahs (11) 14 2018 18 March Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney51–27 New South Wales Waratahs (12) 15 29 June Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne26–31 New South Wales Waratahs (13) 16 2019 20 April Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney23–20 New South Wales Waratahs (14) 17 31 May Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne15–20 New South Wales Waratahs (15) 18 2020 14 February Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne24–10 Melbourne Rebels (3) 2 May Brookvale Oval, Sydney colspan=3 19 2020 (AU) 24 July Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney10–29 Melbourne Rebels (4) 20 29 August Leichhardt Oval, Sydney32–38 New South Wales Waratahs (16) 21 2021 (AU) 19 March Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne33–14 Melbourne Rebels (5) 22 24 April Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney25–36 Melbourne Rebels (6) 23 2022 19 March Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney24–19 New South Wales Waratahs (17) 24 2023 10 March Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne34–27 Melbourne Rebels (7) 25 13 May Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney38–20 New South Wales Waratahs (18) 26 2024 29 March Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney21–27 Melbourne Rebels (8)
See also Dan Vickerman Cup, annual match contested between the ACT Brumbies and the New South Wales Waratahs. Templeton Cup, annual trophy contested between the Queensland Reds and New South Wales Waratahs since 2000 Rod Macqueen Cup, rugby union trophy contested biannually between the and the Queensland Reds
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