The Webb Ellis Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the Rugby World Cup, the premier competition in men's international rugby union. The Cup is named after William Webb Ellis, who is often credited as the inventor of rugby football. The trophy is silver gilt and has been presented to the winner of the Rugby World Cup since the first competition in 1987. It has been held twice by New Zealand (1987 & 2011), Australia (1991 & 1999) and South Africa (1995 & 2007), and once by England in 2003.
The 38 centimetre trophy weighs 4.5 kg, is gilded silver and is supported by two cast scroll handles. On one handle there is a head satyr, on the other there is head of a nymph. On the face of the trophy, the words International Rugby Football Board and below that arch The Webb Ellis Cup are engraved. The Webb Ellis Cup is also referred to (incorrectly) as the "Webb Ellis Trophy" or colloquially as "Bill", a nickname coined by the 1991 Rugby World Cup winners, the Wallabies.
Read more about Webb Ellis Cup: History
Famous quotes containing the words webb, ellis and/or cup:
“Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.”
—David Webb Peoples, U.S. screenwriter, and Ridley Scott. Roy Batty, Blade Runner, to the film’s protagonist as he dangles perilously from a beam (1982)
“I always seem to have a vague feeling that he is a Satan among musicians, a fallen angel in the darkness who is perpetually seeking to fight his way back to happiness.”
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939)
“I know it does make people happy, but to me it is just like having a cup of tea.”
—Cynthia Paine (b. 1934)