Getting close to the Webb Ellis Cup [1]
Friday, September 9, 2011 - 09:50. Updated on Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 09:54.
Auckland, New Zealand:
Getting close to the Rugby World Cup, Matangi Tonga Online editor Pesi Fonua is following the 'Ikale Tahi in Auckland today.
This morning the 'Ikale Tahi will have an audience with the King of Tonga at Atalanga.
This evening Tongan fans are planning to march along Queen Street and K. Road all the way to the Mt Eden stadium. They will gather at the lower end of Queen Street after the Maori vaka ceremony which is scheduled to take place at 4:30pm at the wharf.
The countdown is underway to the opening ceremony (8:30pm Tongan time) and kick off at 9:30 pm Tonga time to be shown on Television Tonga.
How close can Tonga get to the Rugby World Cup? Wrapping Tonga's name around the Webb Ellis Cup on display in Auckland yesterday was 'Ikale Tahi fan Lano Fonua. The cup attracted queues of people at a Queen Street RWC fan centre.
The Webb Ellis Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the Rugby World Cup. 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 by Australia (twice, in 1991 and 1999), South Africa (twice, in 1995 and 2007), New Zealand (1987) and England (2003).
The 38 centimetre trophy 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 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 engravedThe 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.