Calcutta Cup

The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between teams of England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested between any two international rugby union teams, pre-dating the Bledisloe Cup (Australia–New Zealand) by more than half a century. It is also the oldest of several trophies awarded under the umbrella of the Six Nations Championship, which include the Millennium Trophy (England–Ireland), Centenary Quaich (Ireland–Scotland), Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy (France–Italy), Auld Alliance Trophy (France–Scotland), the Doddie Weir Cup (Scotland–Wales) and the Cuttitta Cup (Italy–Scotland).

History

Calcutta Club

On Christmas Day in 1872 a game of rugby union football was played in Calcutta, British India by a group of forty people (twenty-a-side), with one team representing England and the other Scotland. Following this match, and the growth of British Sport in India, the Calcutta Rugby Football Club was formally established in January the following year by immigrants, former students of Rugby School, and soldiers of the Royal East Kent Regiment. In 1874, the club joined the Rugby Football Union (RFU). By 1878, the club's diminishing members withdrew club funds, a total of ₹270, and had them melted down to make a trophy. The trophy was presented by the club to the RFU and was used as “the best means of doing some lasting good for the cause of Rugby Football.”

The cup

The domed lid is surmounted by an elephant which is, it is said, copied from the Viceroy's own stock. The inscription on the Cup's wooden base reads: The Calcutta Cup.