What is rugby’s ‘Calcutta Cup’ and why is it played in the UK?
Al Jazeera
The trophy, steeped in colonial history, is at the heart of a bitter rugby rivalry between Scotland and England.
It is the oldest trophy in international rugby and the subject of a fierce sporting rivalry dating back to Britain’s Victorian age.
The Calcutta Cup, which Scotland and England compete for every year, became the focus of the rugby world on Saturday when the two old foes battled it out at Murrayfield Stadium in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, in front of nearly 70,000 rugby fans.
The clash was part of European rugby’s annual Six Nations Championship, which sees England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales compete for the right to be called the best men’s international rugby team in the northern hemisphere, and saw Scotland run out 30-21 winners, sending the home support into raptures.
The trophy is called this because it was made in Calcutta (now Kolkata) by Indian silversmiths in 1878 during British colonial rule over the Indian subcontinent.
In January 1873, Calcutta Rugby Football Club was established by, among others, soldiers from the Royal East Kent Regiment 1st Battalion who were stationed in Calcutta, the then-capital of British India. However, due to the rise in popularity of polo and the departure from the area of many of its founding members, the club disbanded four years later.
