William Webb Ellis Cup
| Webb Ellis Cup | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Given for | Winning the Rugby World Cup |
| Presented by | World Rugby |
| History | |
| First award | 1987 |
| Most recent |
 New Zealand
|
| Website | www |
The Webb Ellis Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the Rugby World Cup, the premier competition in men's international rugby union. The Cup is named after William Webb Ellis, who is often credited as the inventor of rugby football. The trophy is silver gilt and has been presented to the winner of the Rugby World Cup since the first competition in 1987. It has been held thrice by New Zealand (1987, 2011 & 2015), twice by Australia (1991 & 1999) and South Africa (1995 & 2007), and once by England in 2003.
The 38 centimetre trophy weighs 4.5 kg, is gilded silver and is supported by two cast scroll handles. On one handle there is a head of a satyr, on the other there is the head of a nymph. On the face of the trophy, the words International Rugby Football Board and below that arch The Webb Ellis Cup are engraved. The Webb Ellis Cup is also referred to (incorrectly) as the "Webb Ellis Trophy" or colloquially as "Bill", a nickname coined by the 1991 Rugby World Cup winners, the Wallabies.
There are two official Webb Ellis Cups, which are used interchangeably. One cup is a 1906 trophy made by Carrington and Co. of London, which was a Victorian design of a 1740s cup by Paul de Lamerie, while the other is a 1986 replica.
John Kendall-Carpenter, former England forward and the organiser of the first Rugby World Cup and Bob Weighill, the secretary of the International Rugby Board also a former England forward, visited Garrard & Co, the crown jeweller in Regent Street, London. Director Richard Jarvis, brought the particular cup down from the vault and showed it to both of them.
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