The Richards trophy is played for between Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and North Otago.

Introduced in 1952, it was presented by the then Mayor of Timaru William Leslie Richards for competition between the three minor districts as a challenge trophy. North Otago played in the first match that it was up for grabs, winning the match against South Canterbury but lost the following game agaisnt Mid Canterbury.

The trophy went dormant for a while due the reconfiguration of the Hawke Cup zones. But another change in 2008-2009 saw it was reintroduced when both Mid Canterbury and South Canterbury joined the Otago districts in the southern most zone in the country.

The conditions on winning the trophy have changed many times over the years but it currently aligned with the current points sytem used in the Hawke Cup zone, but the only points included for the Richards Trophy are in the matches between the three districts.