The Six Nations Championship trophy is just one of 11 different trophies that teams can be awarded during a single Six Nations tournament.
While all teams are vying to become overall champions, a number of other ‘rivalry cups’ are up for grabs, which tend to mark the yearly encounter between certain nations.
The Grand Slam is awarded to any team who records victories over all of their opponents in a single campaign.
Whilst it is the most prestigious honour other than winning the overall the Six Nations Championship, it is not the longest-serving.
That title goes to the Calcutta Cup, which was first contested in 1879 – before the tournament was even formed – when England played Scotland in the first ever international rugby game.
The Cup is now played for every year between England and Scotland in the Six Nations – the winner of which is awarded a trophy, which has been in use since the first match, making it rugby’s oldest international trophy.
The Triple Crown contest in 1883, the inaugural year of the competition, when it was then known as the Home Nations Championship. Back then, only England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales competed, until France were included in 1909 and the Five Nations was born.
This title was given to any nation who defeated all three of those other teams in a single campaign, and is still up for grabs as a tournament honour, despite the competition’s expansion. A physical trophy was introduced in 2006.
Next to be introduced was the Grand Slam, launched in 1909 and first won by Wales. Although the tournament was expanded in the year 2000 to include Italy, becoming the Six instead of Five Nations, it was not until 2002 that France became the first modern Grand Slam winners – as no team managed to defeat all five other teams for the first two years of the new competition.
The next two awards to be launched were the Millennium Trophy in 1988 and the Centenary Quaich in 1989.
The Millennium Trophy is awarded to the winner of the yearly fixture between England and Ireland, while the Centenary Quaich is contested between Ireland and Scotland.
All of the remaining extra honours have been in use since the start of the Six Nations in 2000.
The Wooden Spoon started immediately following that expansion, and in its first edition was won by Italy. This title is given to the team who finishes last at that year’s Six Nations – though no actual spoon is presented.
Next, the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy is given to the yearly winner of the match between France and Italy, first launching in 2007.
In 2018, the Auld Alliance Trophy launched to be contested between Scotland and France, with the Doddie Weir Cup launching a year later between Scotland and Wales.
The most recent trophy to be launched was the Cuttitta Cup in 2022, played between Scotland and Italy.
