For the first time this season the winners of rugby union's Triple Crown will receive a trophy, the organisers of the tournament have announced.
The Triple Crown is 'won' if either England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland beats all the others during the course of a Six Nations Championship.
But up until now it has been something of a mythic prize, however this season a new silver dish will be on offer be on offer during the tournament.
"For such a long-running and much contested prize in rugby, it may seem quite surprising that no physical trophy for the Triple
Crown has ever been adopted by the Home Unions," said Six Nations chief executive John Feehan.
"To now have something that is tangible and so impressive will
add greatly to the already ultra-competitive environment of the Six Nations Championship."
Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll added: "When we won the Triple Crown in 2004 for the first time in 19 years, it was a fantastic occasion and one of the most memorable days in my career so far, but to have been handed a trophy would have been the icing on the cake."
The trophy has been commissioned by Six Nations sponsors the
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) who announced that they had agreed a four-year contract extension of their support for Europe's leading Rugby union tournament.
