Calcutta Cup

Calcutta Cup
Given for Winning the annual England versus Scotland match.
Country  England
 Scotland
Presented by Six Nations Rugby
History
First award 1879
Most recent  Scotland
Website www.sixnationsrugby.com

The Calcutta Cup is the trophy is awarded to the winner of the match between England and Scotland. It is the oldest of several individual competitions that take place under the umbrella of the Six Nations Championship, including: the Millennium Trophy, Centenary Quaich, Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy and the Auld Alliance Trophy (first contested in 2018).

The cup was first competed for in 1879, Scotland were the most recent winners, while England have won the cup the most times overall - at 70 to 40 wins.

The cup itself is of Indian workmanship, decorated with cobras and an elephant.

The Calcutta Club

On Christmas Day 1872, a game of rugby, between 20 players representing England on one side and 20 representing Scotland on the other, was played in Calcutta.

The match was such a success that it was repeated a week later. These lovers of rugby wanted to form a club in the area and the aforementioned matches were the agents which led to the formation of the Calcutta Football Club in January 1873.

The Calcutta Club joined the Rugby Football Union in 1874. Despite the Indian climate not being entirely suitable for playing rugby, the club prospered during that first year. However, when the free bar had to be discontinued, the membership took an appreciable drop. Other sports, such as tennis and polo, which were considered to be more suited to the local climate, were making inroads into the numbers of gentlemen available. The members decided to disband but keen to perpetuate the name of the club, they withdrew the club's funds from the bank, which were in Silver Rupees, had them melted down and made into a cup which they presented to the Rugby Football Union in England in 1878, with the provision that it should be competed for annually.

The cup

The cup is of Indian workmanship, approximately 18 inches (45 cm) high, the body is finely engraved with three king cobras forming the handles. 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.

The base has attached to it additional plates which record the date of each match played with the name of the winning country and the names of the two captains. There is an anomaly in the recording of the winning country on the base of the Cup. It was first played for in 1879, but the plinth shows records extending back to the first international in 1871.

The original trophy is in a very fragile state following many years of poor treatment and is not in a strong enough condition to attend functions or go on tours. When won by England the original Calcutta Cup is put on public display in the Museum of Rugby in Twickenham, where it slowly turns around in a purpose built showcase. Both nations have full size replicas of the Cup. Whilst the original was handmade by Indian craftsmen, the replicas were made using modern technology.

In 1988 the cup was damaged by the antics of some drunken players, including England number eight Dean Richards and Scotland flanker John Jeffrey who played football with the Calcutta Cup along Princes Street in Edinburgh. Jeffrey received a six-month ban from the SRU, whilst Richards was given a one-match sentence from England.[1]

The competition

Despite the initial request of the Calcutta Club that the trophy be used as rugby's answer to football's FA Cup, the RFU refused to turn the Calcutta Cup into a knock-out competition for English club sides. They believed that "competitiveness" ran against the amateur ethos and instead decided that a game should be played each year between England and Scotland and whoever wins should keep it for that year. The first Calcutta Cup match was played at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, on 10 March 1879 and ended in a draw; Scotland scored a drop goal and England a goal. The following year on 28 February 1880 England became the first winners of the Calcutta Cup when they defeated Scotland by 2 goals & 3 tries to 1 goal in Manchester. Matches have continued on an annual basis ever since except for two interruptions due to the World Wars between 1915–1919 and 1940–1946.

As of 2018, 125 Calcutta Cup matches have taken place. Currently, this game is the annual match between the two nations in the Six Nations Championship. The ground alternates between Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh (on even years) and Twickenham Stadium in London (on odd years).

In 2004, the two countries' rugby governing bodies, the Rugby Football Union (England) and the Scottish Rugby Union, were considering a plan to add a second Calcutta Cup fixture each year, outside the Six Nations. The second fixture would be hosted by the away nation in the Six Nations fixture of the same year. Under that plan, one nation would have to win both matches to take the Cup off its current holder. Due to a largely unfavourable reaction, the proposal soon disappeared from view.

Results

Since 1879, the Calcutta Cup has been played 125 times.

YearDateWinnerResultStadiumPlace
187910 Marchdraw3–3Raeburn PlaceEdinburgh
188028 February England9–3Whalley RangeManchester
188119 Marchdraw4–4Raeburn PlaceEdinburgh
18824 March Scotland0–2Whalley RangeManchester
18833 March England1–2Raeburn PlaceEdinburgh
18841 March England3–1Rectory FieldBlackheath
1885Not played
188613 Marchdraw0–0Raeburn PlaceEdinburgh
18875 Marchdraw1–1Whalley RangeManchester
1888Not played
1889Not played
18901 March England0–6Raeburn PlaceEdinburgh
18917 March Scotland3–9Athletic GroundRichmond
18925 March England0–5Raeburn PlaceEdinburgh
18934 March Scotland0–8HeadingleyLeeds
189417 March Scotland6–0Raeburn PlaceEdinburgh
18959 March Scotland3–6Athletic GroundRichmond
189614 March Scotland11–0Hampden ParkGlasgow
189713 March England12–3FallowfieldManchester
189812 Marchdraw3–3PowderhallEdinburgh
189911 March Scotland0–5Rectory FieldBlackheath
190010 Marchdraw0–0InverleithEdinburgh
19019 March Scotland3–18Rectory FieldBlackheath
190215 March England3–6InverleithEdinburgh
190321 March Scotland6–10Athletic GroundRichmond
190419 March Scotland6–3InverleithEdinburgh
190518 March Scotland0–8Athletic GroundRichmond
190617 March England3–9InverleithEdinburgh
190716 March Scotland3–8Rectory FieldBlackheath
190821 March Scotland16–10InverleithEdinburgh
190920 March Scotland8–18Athletic GroundRichmond
191019 March England5–14InverleithEdinburgh
191118 March England13–8TwickenhamLondon
191216 March Scotland8–3InverleithEdinburgh
191315 March England3–0TwickenhamLondon
191421 March England15–16InverleithEdinburgh
1915Not held due to World War I
1916
1917
1918
1919
192020 March England13–4TwickenhamLondon
192119 March England0–18InverleithEdinburgh
192218 March England11–5TwickenhamLondon
192317 March England6–8InverleithEdinburgh
192415 March England19–0TwickenhamLondon
192521 March Scotland14–11MurrayfieldEdinburgh
192620 March Scotland9–17TwickenhamLondon
192719 March Scotland21–13MurrayfieldEdinburgh
192817 March England6–0TwickenhamLondon
192916 March Scotland12–6MurrayfieldEdinburgh
193015 Marchdraw0–0TwickenhamLondon
193121 March Scotland28–19MurrayfieldEdinburgh
193219 March England16–3TwickenhamLondon
193318 March Scotland3–0MurrayfieldEdinburgh
193417 March England6–3TwickenhamLondon
193516 March Scotland10–7MurrayfieldEdinburgh
193621 March England9–8TwickenhamLondon
193720 March England3–6MurrayfieldEdinburgh
193819 March Scotland16–21TwickenhamLondon
193918 March England6–9MurrayfieldEdinburgh
1940Not held due to World War II
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
194715 March England24–5TwickenhamLondon
194820 March Scotland6–3MurrayfieldEdinburgh
194919 March England19–3TwickenhamLondon
195018 March Scotland13–11MurrayfieldEdinburgh
195117 March England5–3TwickenhamLondon
195215 March England3–19MurrayfieldEdinburgh
195321 March England26–8TwickenhamLondon
195420 March England3–13MurrayfieldEdinburgh
195519 March England9–6TwickenhamLondon
195617 March England6–11MurrayfieldEdinburgh
195716 March England16–3TwickenhamLondon
195815 Marchdraw3–3MurrayfieldEdinburgh
195921 Marchdraw3–3TwickenhamLondon
196019 March England12–21MurrayfieldEdinburgh
196118 March England6–0TwickenhamLondon
196217 Marchdraw3–3MurrayfieldEdinburgh
196316 March England10–8TwickenhamLondon
196421 March Scotland15–6MurrayfieldEdinburgh
196520 Marchdraw3–3TwickenhamLondon
196619 March Scotland6–3MurrayfieldEdinburgh
196718 March England27–14TwickenhamLondon
196816 March England6–8MurrayfieldEdinburgh
196915 March England8–3TwickenhamLondon
197021 March Scotland14–5MurrayfieldEdinburgh
197120 March Scotland15–16TwickenhamLondon
197218 March Scotland23–9MurrayfieldEdinburgh
197317 March England20–13TwickenhamLondon
19742 February Scotland16–14MurrayfieldEdinburgh
197515 March England7–6TwickenhamLondon
197621 February Scotland22–12MurrayfieldEdinburgh
197715 January England26–6TwickenhamLondon
19784 March England0–15MurrayfieldEdinburgh
19793 Februarydraw7–7TwickenhamLondon
198015 March England18–30MurrayfieldEdinburgh
198121 February England23–17TwickenhamLondon
198216 Januarydraw9–9MurrayfieldEdinburgh
19835 March Scotland12–22TwickenhamLondon
19844 February Scotland18–6MurrayfieldEdinburgh
198516 March England10–7TwickenhamLondon
198615 February Scotland33–6MurrayfieldEdinburgh
19874 April England21–12TwickenhamLondon
19885 March England6–9MurrayfieldEdinburgh
19894 FebruaryDraw12–12TwickenhamLondon
199017 March Scotland13–7MurrayfieldEdinburgh
199116 February England21–12TwickenhamLondon
199218 January England7–25MurrayfieldEdinburgh
19936 March England26–12TwickenhamLondon
19945 February England14–15MurrayfieldEdinburgh
199518 March England24–12TwickenhamLondon
19962 March England9–18MurrayfieldEdinburgh
19971 February England41–13TwickenhamLondon
199822 March England20–34MurrayfieldEdinburgh
199920 February England24–21TwickenhamLondon
20002 April Scotland19–13MurrayfieldEdinburgh
20013 March England43–3TwickenhamLondon
20022 February England3–29MurrayfieldEdinburgh
200322 March England40–9TwickenhamLondon
200421 February England13–35MurrayfieldEdinburgh
200519 March England43–22TwickenhamLondon
200625 February Scotland18–12MurrayfieldEdinburgh
20073 February England42–20TwickenhamLondon
20088 March Scotland15–9MurrayfieldEdinburgh
200921 March England26–12TwickenhamLondon
201013 Marchdraw15–15MurrayfieldEdinburgh
201113 March England22–17TwickenhamLondon
20124 February England6–13MurrayfieldEdinburgh
20132 February England38–18TwickenhamLondon
20148 February England0–20MurrayfieldEdinburgh
201514 March England25–13TwickenhamLondon
20166 February England9–15[2]MurrayfieldEdinburgh
201711 March England61–21[3]TwickenhamLondon
201824 February Scotland25–13[4]MurrayfieldEdinburgh
201916 MarchTwickenhamLondon

Records

TeamWins
 England70
 Scotland40

The cup has been tied 15 times.

The current record number of points scored by a player in a Calcutta Cup game was set by Jonny Wilkinson in 2007 when he scored 27 points (1 try, 2 conversions, 5 penalties, 1 drop goal). The previous record of 24 points was held by Rob Andrew.

See also

The other Calcutta Cups

The Other Calcutta Cup Trophy

In 1884 Calcutta Cricket and Football Club again set up a rugby section and in 1890 set up an inter club trophy, the Calcutta Rugby Union Challenge Cup, promptly christened the Calcutta Cup.[5]

The Cup is currently held by Jungle Crows who beat CC&FC. The second division trophy was won by Calcutta Cricket and Football Club Panthers.[6]

The original and oldest Calcutta Cup is a silver trophy played for annually by the members of Royal Blackheath Golf Club. It was a gift from the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in response to the presentation of a medal given by Blackheath. It is made from melted down silver rupees reputedly from same the batch of melted down silver rupees as the Rugby Union Cup played for between England and Scotland. The cup arrived in London in 1875. It was first played for in December 1875 three years before the first Calcutta Cup match between England and Scotland. The Cup held by Royal Blackheath Golf Club has only 2 handles unlike the well known Calcutta Cup. It is only in recent years that the history of the original Calcutta Cup has been appreciated by sporting historians.

Royal Blackheath Golf Club members had close links with Blackheath Football (Rugby) Club which was one of the most prominent Clubs in the early years of the Rugby Football Union. Members of both clubs served in India in the 1870s. This link is the most likely explanation for the creation of a similar cup being created by the Calcutta rugby Club a few years later and becoming the world famous Calcutta Cup.

References

  1. ↑ "The Calcutta Cup goes kickabout". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  2. ↑ BBC. "Scotland lose 15-9 to Jones' England". Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  3. ↑ "Auld Enemy put to the sword as Jonathan Joseph spearheads Calcutta Cup rout". The Telegraph, UK. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  4. ↑ "Rampant Scots bring auld rivals crashing down to earth to claim Calcutta Cup". The Telegraph, UK. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "Calcutta Cricket and Football Club history". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  6. ↑ Scrum.com report
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