The Six Nations trophy has been damaged beyond repair in a vehicle fire in Ireland.
No one was harmed during the incident, which happened after the third round of matches, but the trophy cannot be restored to “full presentation standard”.
It was in Ireland as part of a roadshow, where it is presented at various events across the competing nations.
It means the winners of the trophy this year will be presented with a replica instead.
The materials from the damaged trophy, which was made in 2015, will be used to create another, identical, version from scratch.
That will take approximately 365 hours of work (15 days) but the new trophy will not be unveiled until the 2027 championship.
An identical replica of the original is always ready to be deployed in instances where two sides are capable of winning the Six Nations on the final day.
So the 2026 championship winners are scheduled to lift the replica, but should the current leaders France be defeated by second-placed Scotland at Murrayfield next weekend, organisers might be left sweating on which location would be best for the trophy on the final day.
Six Nations Rugby is intending to document the full creation process, from design to build of the new trophy, to share alongside the unveiling of the new one.
Looking at this week, Ireland will take on Wales at 8.10am Saturday, Scotland will face France at 2.10am Sunday and Italy will meet England at 4.40am Sunday.
Source: The Telegraph
