For me this is the best National anthem or sporting anthem in the world. Every time I hear it sung it sens shivers down my spine and touches every part of my body. It is just unlike anything else out there.
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I have been too many sporting events where anthems are sung and I haven't heard this one live. It is on my bucket list though and one day I will have to go and watch a game at Murrayfield between England and Scotland. They are seen as the old enemy and play for the Calcutta Cup.
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A really classy looking trophy with an interesting history. Who would have thought disbanding a free bar would chase the members away resulting in this fine trophy.
I had to look that one up as Calcutta is miles away from Twickenham and Murrayfield so where did it get it's name for the trophy. Actually it is an interesting story on it's own and one that Lord Boom would love.
In 1872 20 players from England and 20 players from Scotland played a game of rugby in Calcutta. Having had so much fun they repeated it the following week and formed the Calcutta Rugby Club in 1873.
In 1874 the club prospered and joined the Rugby Football Union. The weather wasn't great for rugby however and when the free bar was discontinued membership took a serious hit. I wonder why lol. The club disbanded and withdrew the funds from the bank which were silver Rupees. They had them melted down into a trophy and presented it to the RFU in 1878 for a competition between England and Scotland which would be competed for annually.
The trophy has 3 King Cobras for handles and was made in India. The trophy has the first international date on it as 1879 and has been played for ever since. The cup was damaged in 1988 by Dean Richards (England) and John Jeffrey (Scotland) after playing football with it late one night down Princes Street in Edinburgh. Richards received a one match ban and Jeffrey a 6 month ban. Today the original is on display in the museum at Twickenham and the replicas are used for trophy presentations.