European Shield
The European Shield was a "Hope " tournament for rugby teams that were eliminated in the first round of the European Challenge Cup in 2002-03 and 2003-04. The name " European Shield " was previously used for the European Challenge Cup.
In the 2004-05 season the twelve teams took part, missed the qualification for the European Challenge Cup. Moreover, even took Bucureşti Rugby ( Romania), UCM Madrid ( Spain), Bera (Spain) and Lisboa Rugby Club (Portugal ) participate in the European Shield.
The Shield is no longer held since 2005, as the European Challenge Cup was restructured.