While Central Bay of Plenty battled out their Stan Meads Cup semifinal on Kuirau Park yesterday, perched sideline was the glorious and time-honoured "ugliest" trophy in New Zealand rugby.
Glass encased, the Peace Cup returned to Rotorua for the first time in 15 years after Central beat Te Awamutu twoweeks ago to break the Waikato side's vice-like grip on the challenge trophy after 28 successive encounters.
The cup turns 100 next year and looks every day of it.
On a permanent tilt, it looks like its has been taken to by a small hammer and in some ways it has. It's been dragged behind buses, battered, beaten, taped up, went missing for 12 years (found by a farmer), and thrown out of hotel rooms.
The Peace Cup - the ugliest trophy in New Zealand, at Kuirau Park yesterday. Photo / Ben Fraser
It was donated by Mr R English, a Hamilton accountant and auditor for the Waikato Rugby Union in 1920 for the furtherance of rugby football at sub-union level.
A symbol of rugby sub-union supremacy in the Waikato, Thames Valley, King Country and Bay of Plenty regions, according to the New Zealand Rugby Museum in its early days it ranked only below the Ranfurly Shield in importance and drew large crowds and parochial support.
Special trains were put on to ferry away team supporters to Peace Cup games, with host towns often putting on street parades that made their way to the ground on game day.
Famously the cup was stolen in 2004.
The Peace Cup visits a Rotorua school in 2004. Photo / File
An excerpt from the New Zealand Rugby Museum website reads: "It was taken to a preliminary game between Hamilton and Te Awamutu to show case, and subsequently disappeared without trace at the after match function. A small storm of publicity followed and on the morning of the Peace Cup final, Kit Fawcett answered a knock on his front door.
"While no one was to be seen, a black rubbish bag sat on his doorstep. Inside was the Peace Cup, which was taken to the final."
Central Bay of Plenty will have the chance to hold on to the cup over summer and into its centenary year when they meet Te Awamutu in this weekend's Stan Mead Cup final in Rotorua after beating Cambridge yesterday.
And the "ugliest" trophy in New Zealand will be sideline to watch it unfold.
PEACE CUP WINNERS 1920 - 2018:
1920 - Thames 1921 - Thames 1922 - Thames 1923- Hamilton 1924 - Hamilton 1925 - Thames 1926 - Thames 1927 -Hamilton 1928 -Morrinsville 1929 -Hamilton 1930 - Hamilton 1931 - Matamata 1932 - Morrinsville 1933 - Morrinsville 1934 - Matamata 1935 -Morrinsville 1936 - Thames 1937 -Thames 1938 - Morrinsville 1939 - Matamata 1940 - Waihi 1941 - Pukekohe 1942 - Pukekohe 1943- Maniapoto 1944 - Hamilton 1945 - Morrinsville 1946 - Morrinsville 1947 - Morrinsville 1948 - Hauraki 1949 - Thames 1950- Hauraki 1951 - Rotorua 1952 - Rotorua 1953 - Rotorua 1954 - Rotorua 1955 - Matamata 1956 - Thames 1957 -Rotorua 1958 - Paeroa 1959 - Morrinsville 1960 - Morrinsville 1961 -Matamata 1962 -Paeroa 1963 -South Waikato 1964 - South Waikato 1965 -South Waikato 1966 - Thames 1967 - Te Awamutu 1968 - South Waikato 1969 - South Waikato 1970 - Cambridge 1971 - Rotorua 1972 - Rotorua 1973 - Rotorua 1974 - Morrinsville 1975 - Te Awamutu 1976 - Te Awamutu 1977 -South Waikato 1978 - Hamilton 1979 -South Waikato 1980 -Tauranga 1981 - Te Puke 1982 - Tauranga 1983 - Tauranga 1984 - South Waikato 1985 - South Waikato 1986 - Tauranga 1987 - Te Awamutu 1988 - Te Awamutu 1989 - Te Awamutu 1990 - Te Awamutu 1991 - Maniapoto 1992 - Maniapoto 1993 - Otorohanga 1994 - Maniapoto 1995 - Maniapoto 1996 - Matamata 1997 - Matamata 1998 - Te Awamutu 1999 - Western Bay of Plenty 2000 - Western Bay of Plenty 2001 - Central Bay of Plenty 2002 - Hamilton 2003 - Hamilton 2004 - Central Bay of Plenty 2005 - Te Awamutu 2006 - Te Awamutu 2007 -Hamilton 2008 - Hamilton 2009 – 2018 - Te Awamutu 2019 - Central Bay of Plenty
