London Irish ARFC
6 Nations Forecast Competition
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Takes 7 minutes
History
The London Irish 6 Nations forecast competition was started by Charles Byrne in the 60s (as 5 Nations). There are in fact two competitions, one for professional rugby writers and the main competition which is open to all interested rugby supporters.
The winning rugby writer is awarded with the Leprechaun Trophy (see picture below). The trophy was created by the renowned New Zealand sculptor, Bonar Dunlop. It shows a leprechaun stylishly place-kicking a glass rugby ball and was on display at the Museum of Rugby, Twickenham in 2003 together with many other pieces of Dunlop’s work.
The first winner of the Trophy was Peter Robbins, former England rugby international and rugby correspondent for the Financial Times. Other winners have included Alastair Hignell and Peter Jackson.
The Trophy is awarded at the ‘Leprechaun Lunch’ which normally takes place the Friday after the last round of 6 Nations fixtures. For the past 20 years the lunch has been held in central London at Trinity House, Tower Hill.
The second competition open to all rugby supporters is run in conjunction with the rugby writers' competition and follows the exact same format. Each match of the competition has four possible results with points allocated to entries with the correct forecast.
