The Calcutta Cup is a rotating trophy awarded to the winner of an annual rugby union match between the national teams of England and Scotland.

It was presented to the RFU by the disbanded Calcutta Rugby Football Club in 1878. The cup is of Indian workmanship and is made entirely from melted-down silver rupees. 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 and is complete with a howdah.

The RFU refused to turn the Calcutta Cup into a knock-out competition for English club sides (since they believed that ‘competitiveness’ ran against the amateur ethos) but instead decided that a game should be played each year between England and Scotland and whoever wins will keep it for that year. It was first played for in 1879. Currently, this game is the annual match between the two nations in the Six Nations Championship.

In 1988 the cup was damaged by the antics of some drunken players, including England number eight Dean Richards and Scotland flanker John Jeffrey.

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 of the Six Nations. The second fixture would be hosted by the away nation in the Six Nations fixture. Under that plan, one nation would have to win both matches to take the Cup off its current holder. Due to a largely unfavorable reaction, the proposal soon disappeared from view.

See also

• England national team
• Scotland national team
• Six nations

External link

• The Calcutta Cup explained on the website of the Scottish Rugby Union.