Kent Shield

{{Short description|Annual rugby union knock-out club competition}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox rugby league football competition

| name = Kent Shield

| logo =

| sport = Rugby Union

| founded ={{Start date and age|2015}}

| country = {{ENG}}

| teams = 5

| champion = Dover (1st title)

| season = 2017-18

| most_champs = Aylesford, Dover, Medway

| count = 1

| website = [http://www.kent-rugby.org/ Kent RFU]

}}

The Kent Shield is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Kent Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced during the 2015-16 season, with the inaugural winners being Aylesford Bulls. It is the second most important rugby union cup competition in Kent, behind the Kent Cup but ahead of the Kent Vase, Kent Plate and Kent Salver.

The Kent Shield is currently open to the first teams of club sides based in Kent that play in tier 7 (London 2 South East) and tier 8 (London 3 South East) of the English rugby union league system. The format is a knockout cup with a first round, semi-finals and a final, typically to be held at a pre-determined ground at the end of April on the same date and venue as the Cup, Vase, Plate and Salver finals.{{cite news|url=http://www.kent-rugby.org/competitions/club-rugby/kent-shield/|title=Kent Shield|publisher=Kent RFU|accessdate=22 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619050656/http://www.kent-rugby.org/competitions/club-rugby/kent-shield/|archive-date=19 June 2017|url-status=dead}} Teams that are knocked out of the first round join the teams knocked out of the first round of the Kent Cup to compete for the Kent Plate.