Rugby Union's Bledisloe Cup is contested by the Australia national rugby union team and New Zealand national rugby union team. It is named after Lord Bledisloe, the former Governor-General of New Zealand who donated the trophy in 1931. The trophy was designed in New Zealand by Nelson Isaac, and crafted by Walker and Hall in London. It is the largest trophy in world rugby.
Once played irregularly every few years, Bledisloe Cup matches now happen annually, and include Rugby Championship (formerly Tri Nations) fixtures between the two sides. Their World Cup fixtures do not count as Bledisloe Cup matches, which were always played in Australia or New Zealand. However, 2008 saw a Bledisloe Cup match held outside the two countries for the first time when the teams met in Hong Kong, and a 2009 Bledisloe Cup match was played in Tokyo.
Recently New Zealand has dominated the cup, winning it 10 times in a row (2003–2012).
Famous quotes containing the word cup:
“Sisters define their rivalry in terms of competition for the gold cup of parental love. It is never perceived as a cup which runneth over, rather a finite vessel from which the more one sister drinks, the less is left for the others.”
—Elizabeth Fishel (20th century)