Stylish New Trophies Launched for European Rugby

European Professional Club Rugby have launched two new European Club Competitions for 2014-15 and with it have created two beautiful new trophies.

The European Rugby Champions Cup will take over from the Heinieken Cup, which ran from 1995 and saw seven French winners, six English and six Irish, the most successful club in that time was Toulouse.  20 teams will compete in the new European Rugby Champions Cup and the Final will take place at Twickenham in May 2015.

The trophy itself was created by famous London silversmiths Thomas Lyte.  The silver cup is a unique five handle design, made from Sterling Silver and 18 carat gold.  It is 70cm high and weighs 13.5kg.  The star trophy has a gold star, representing Europe, at the centre of the design.  It also incorporates a coronet effect to reflect the ‘Kings’ of Europe.

The European Rugby Challenge Cup has been created as a second tier competition, similar to the Europa League in football.  It will also be competed for by 20 teams, being primarily the mid placed teams in the top European divisions, but also the Champions from some Second Divisions, which is quite a nice touch to recognise the emerging clubs. The Final of the inaugural competition will also take place at Twickenham, the day before the Champions Cup Final.

This trophy is 60cm high and weighs 10kg.  It has a Sterling Silver rugby ball held by silver rods topped with the stars of Europe.  It’s a striking design but at Challenge Trophies we feel that it’s too close in design to American Footballs prestigious Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Nevertheless, we feel these two trophies will become the iconic rugby trophies across Europe and maybe the world.  Recent history has shown us that new trophy design has overshadowed heritage.  Think of the iconic English Premier League Trophy compared  to its predecessor the Football League Trophy.  These two new trophies will soon cement their place in the minds of sports fans.