The Super Rugby trophies are adding up. Photos / Photosport and Getty Images
For the first time since 2016, a team not called the Crusaders will get their hands on the Super Rugby trophy when the Blues host the Chiefs in Saturday’s final.
But it won’t be the original trophy. Or the one after that. Cameron McMillan looks over the history of the silverware and tracks down each one’s whereabouts.
The Ranfurly Shield, Fifa World Cup trophy, the Stanley Cup – you hear them and you can instantly picture what they look like. You may even be able to draw a rough shape of them, artistic skills aside, from memory.
But what about the Super Rugby trophy? No, not that one. The other one. You’re thinking of the second iteration, which kind of looked like the Vince Lombardi Trophy. I mean the latest trophy, first handed out in 2022.
There have been five official Super Rugby trophies since the competition began in 1996, though the number could be 12 or more if you include separate competitions during Covid and other replicas.
It looks like an actual cup. Big handles so it appears easy to hold, and room for a decent amount of beer to pour in and drink out of. Every winner also got a tankard in case the line of teammates waiting to drink out of the cup was too long (don’t think I didn’t search TradeMe to find one).
The trophy also featured plenty of room to write the winner’s name each year (14 champions per side of the trophy). The makers obviously thought Super 12 would live for at least 56 years. They got 10 seasons out of it.
For style consistency reasons, I really wish the engraver put “Auckland Blues” as the 2003 winner, despite the team’s rebrand.
It now lives at Crusaders HQ. Where many trophies spend their retirement years.
First team to lift it: Auckland Blues
Last team to lift it: Crusaders
Trophy’s whereabouts: Crusaders HQ, Rugby Park, St Albans.
Two new teams entered in 2006 (the Western Force and the Cheetahs) and the competition needed a new trophy because the old one said “Super 12″ on it. Can you Twink out an engraving? Maybe not.
The new trophy was made of sterling silver with the competition logo on a globe sitting atop a four-sided twisted spiral.
It’s not pretty and not entirely geographically accurate – it looks like Cape Reinga is at the same latitude as Port Moresby.
Fans might not have seen the trophy at the first final as that was the year of the infamous fog in Christchurch when the Crusaders beat the Hurricanes.
Jens Hansen Gold and Silversmith in Nelson, makers of the ring from Lord of the Rings, handmade the trophy, which took more than two months to complete. These days it might take a few hours on a 3D printer (more on that soon).
“We also wanted to move away from the traditional cup-style trophy and have a dynamic trophy to reflect the spirit of the Super 14,” the NZRU’s sponsorship and marketing manager said at the time. “I think the designers have certainly achieved that – it’s a superbly crafted, iconic trophy with a definite international look about it.”
It’s the only trophy that doesn’t still live on New Zealand shores. Classic case of went on OE and never returned.
First team to lift it: Crusaders
Last team to lift it: Bulls
Trophy’s whereabouts: Trophy cabinet, Bulls HQ, Loftus Versfeld Stadium
One extra team and rebranding meant it was out with the old trophy and in with whatever this is.
According to a press release at the time, the trophy was “crafted from solid stainless steel and polished to a mirror finish”. Which means it’s hard to take a photo without showing a reflection of yourself.
It was 65cm high and weighed 18 kilograms (roughly 126 bananas). The trophy was designed by Blue Sky Design of Sydney.
Sanzar chief executive Greg Peters said at the time: “The shape of the trophy is centred around three curved legs, each representing the conferences involved in the Super Rugby competition ... The champions’ trophy is the ‘big one’ and will become the ultimate symbol of Super Rugby supremacy in the years to come.” Years to come actually meant five years.
“The colour on each leg corresponds to the conferences with gold for Australia, black for New Zealand and green for South Africa.” Which was great – until teams from Japan and Argentina were added to the competition in 2016.
There were also three tiny trophies for the New Zealand, Australia and South Africa conference winners.
First team to lift it: Reds
Last team to lift it: Highlanders
Trophy’s whereabouts: Trophy cabinet, Highlanders HQ, Forsyth Barr Stadium
Organisers wanted to launch the new season and trophy with a bang in 2016, so they adopted a hashtag #SuperBangBang. Looks like the hashtag was last used on X in 2019.
Once again, this one was made by Blue Sky Design. According to the designers, “the eight blade legs represent the eight teams that qualify for the finals series”. Aha. That explains why the post-season was never reduced from eight teams. Just like Indiana Jones reading an ancient hieroglyphic inscription – it is foretold.
It’s meant to be “an iconic representation of a rugby ball”. I keep seeing a fancy cheese grater.
This version was reduced to 13.5kg (so at least 18 bananas lighter).
First team to lift it: Hurricanes
Last team to lift it: Crusaders
Trophy’s whereabouts: Crusaders HQ, Rugby Park, St. Albans. (Shocking twist: the Crusaders also have replica trophies from 2017, 2018 and 2019.)
We now head into the Covid world of Super Rugby Transtasman, Super Rugby Aotearoa, Super Rugby AU and Super Rugby Unlocked. A time many would like to forget, especially the Crusaders, who damaged Tū Kōtahi Aotearoa (which has been fixed and is behind reception at Crusaders HQ).
I don’t want to get into all of those trophies handed out at the time but let’s just say Super Rugby Unlocked had a gold ball and, despite the visible screws, still ruled.
This is it: the current silverware handed out to the winners of Super Rugby Pacific.
It was designed by New Zealand artist Dave Burke and is certainly a stronger “representation of a rugby ball” than its predecessor.
“The 54cm tall Super Rugby Pacific trophy is the result of about 1000 hours of 3D printing, believed to be a first for an international professional rugby tournament,” a press release said in 2022.
“The metallic gloss finish is the result of a chrome dipping process, while the Pacific-blue cloak which wraps around the Super Rugby Pacific logo-embossed ball is representative of a Pacific Ocean wave reflecting the entry of Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua to the competition for the first time in 2022.”
That year also saw the end of the tankards, replaced with medals.
Maybe a blue trophy for the Blues seems a little too obvious for Saturday’s final. Their three previous Super 12 titles were four trophies ago while the Chiefs titles in 2012-13 with trophy no.3.
First team to lift it: Crusaders
Trophy’s whereabouts: TBC this Saturday
Cameron McMillan has been a sports journalist since 2003 and is NZME’s Deputy Head of Sport. A career highlight was live blogging the 2011 Rugby World Cup final from Eden Park (in a media box surrounded by French journalists).
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