Dave Gallaher Trophy

Dave Gallaher Trophy

Sport	Rugby union
Founded	2000
No. of teams	2
Country	France  New Zealand
Most recent champion(s)	New Zealand

The Dave Gallaher Trophy is a rugby union trophy, contested between France and New Zealand and named after Dave Gallaher, the famous 1905–06 All Black captain who was killed in Belgium during World War I.

History

When it comes to rugby, France and New Zealand have a very rich common history. France played their first ever test match in 1906 against the famous "Originals" New Zealand team, on their way home after an eventful tour of the British Isles.

Between 1906 and 1999 both teams met a total of 34 times, New Zealand winning 25 times and France 9, including two games in the Rugby World Cup with New Zealand winning the 1987 final and France taking their revenge in the semi-final 12 years later in what remains one of the most famous upsets in the sport's history.

In 2000 it was decided that a new trophy would be created to emphasize the two teams' great rivalry. The trophy would be named after Dave Gallaher, the charismatic captain of the 1906 New Zealand team, who died 11 years later on French soil during World War I.

Challenges and defences

The Dave Gallaher Trophy is based on a challenge system, the holding union must defend the trophy in challenge matches, and if the other union defeats them, they become the new holder of the trophy. If both teams draw then the holder retains the trophy.

Rugby World Cup games between both teams - such as the 2003 RWC 3rd place play-off won by New Zealand or the 2007 RWC quarter final won by France - do not qualify as challenge matches.

France won the 2009 challenge 37–36 on aggregate score over two matches, having won the first test 27–22 and lost the second 10–14. The New Zealand team had assumed the series would be drawn if each team won one test, and were upset to discover that aggregate was taken into account, which their coaching staff had deliberately withheld from them.^[1]

Results

Year	Date	Venue	Home	Score	Away	Match Winner	Trophy Winner
2013	9 November	Stade de France, Paris	France	19 – 26	New Zealand	New Zealand
2013	22 June	Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth	New Zealand	24 – 9	France	New Zealand
	15 June	Rugby League Park, Christchurch		30 – 0		New Zealand
	8 June	Eden Park, Auckland		23 – 13		New Zealand
2009	28 November	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille	France	12 – 39	New Zealand	New Zealand
2009	20 June	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	14 – 10	France	New Zealand
	13 June	Carisbrook, Dunedin		22 – 27		France
2007	9 June	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	61 – 10	France	New Zealand
	2 June	Eden Park, Auckland		42 – 11		New Zealand
2006	18 November	Stade de France, Paris	France	11 – 23	New Zealand	New Zealand
	11 November	Stade de Gerland, Lyon		3 – 47		New Zealand
2004	27 November	Stade de France, Paris	France	6 – 45	New Zealand	New Zealand
2003	28 June	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	New Zealand	31 – 23	France	New Zealand
2002	16 November	Stade de France, Paris	France	20 – 20	New Zealand	Draw
2001	30 June	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	New Zealand	37 – 12	France	New Zealand
2000	18 November	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille	France	42 – 33	New Zealand	France
	11 November	Stade de France, Paris		26 – 39		New Zealand

Other trophies

The All Blacks compete with three other nations for the attribution of a similar kind of trophy. The Bledisloe Cup, versus Australia, being the most famous. The other two are the Freedom Cup against South Africa and the Hillary Shield against England.

As for France, they compete with Australia for the Trophée des Bicentenaires and with Italy for the Garibaldi Trophy.

Notes and references

1. ↑ Robson, Toby (22 June 2009). "When a win's not a win". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 

External links

• The Dave Gallaher Trophy results