The Daily Mail Trophy has been a highlight of the Autumn Term since 2013, showcasing the prowess of the top rugby playing schools in the UK. It is a merit table based on common opponents; to be eligible a school must play at least five fixtures during the autumn term against other schools already competing in the Trophy.
The start of the 2012/13 season marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Team Leagues on the Schools' Rugby Website. They attract millions of page views every year and continue to be very popular and hotly debated by coaches, players, parents, alumni and followers around the World – indeed by everyone passionate about rugby at the grassroots.
Of the 3,000+ rugby playing schools in the UK, there are approximately 70 schools that play against at least 5 schools within the same group. The Daily Mail Trophy is based on these shared opponents. Whilst similar to the Performance and All Comers league, The Daily Mail Trophy is reflective of schools playing strong and long established fixtures. You can see The Daily Mail Trophy from 2007 to date.
The Daily Mail Trophy is another way of examining the data, whilst being non-disruptive, highlighting the schools that play some of the toughest fixtures and giving more profile to schools not entering the various national competitions. As always data is presented in an interesting way, keeping it simple and transparent with the usual links to a team's playing and past performance records.
The AASE teams as well as NatWest Cup fixtures (known as the Daily Mail Cup/Vase in previous seasons) trial, pre-season, festival and short format competition fixtures, such as St Jos, are omitted. Only fixtures played during the autumn term are included.
How to Enter
To enter The Daily Mail Trophy a school simply has to play against at least 5 other schools in The Daily Mail Trophy group of schools during the autumn term.