Trophies
The Super Rugby trophy is sterling silver and has the competition logo on a globe which sits atop of a four-sided twisted spiral; it stands at 49 centimetres high and weighs 2.7 kilograms. Jens Hansen Gold and Silversmith in Nelson, New Zealand hand made the trophy which took over two months to make; the same workshop made the gold ring in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
On 7 February, a new Super Rugby Trophy was unveiled in Wellington, New Zealand for the Super 14 competition. In the first Super 14 final, played at Jade Stadium, in Christchurch, on 27 May 2006, the Crusaders beat the Hurricanes 19–12.
There are several other trophies contested during the competition; the Charles Anderson VC Memorial Cup between the Brumbies and Stormers, the Bob Templeton Cup between the Reds and Waratahs, and the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy between the Blues and Highlanders.
Every year the Super Rugby player of the year is awarded.
On 30 June 2011, SANZAR unveiled the new trophy that will be presented to the winners of the Super Rugby final scheduled for Saturday, 9 July 2011.
The trophy, which will be in use from 2011 and beyond, was crafted from solid stainless steel and polished to a mirror finish. It has a height of 65 cm and a mass of 18 kilograms.
The trophy was designed by the company responsible for the 2000 Olympic Torch, Blue Sky Design of Sydney. The trophy was manufactured by Box and Dice Pty Ltd also based in Sydney.
SANZAR CEO, Greg Peters, said “The shape of the trophy is centred around three curved legs, each representing the Conferences involved in the Super Rugby competition.”
According to Peters, “The champions trophy is the ‘big one’, and will become the ultimate symbol of Super Rugby supremacy in the years to come.”
The colour on each leg corresponds to the Conferences with gold for Australia, black for New Zealand, and green for the South Africa.
The Reds of Australia, the Stormers of South Africa and the Crusaders of New Zealand were the winners of their respective conferences and were each presented with a scaled-down copy of the trophy.
Read more about this topic: Super Rugby
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