Dick English’s grandson Duncan Johnstone with the Peace Cup (in its case) in 2020.
A couple of weeks ago The News reported that Maniapoto had lifted the Peace Cup after a one-off challenge against Central Bay of Plenty in Rotorua. But the old trophy – a symbol of rugby sub-union supremacy which has enjoyed – or endured – a colourful life for more than a century, was never presented. Today Jesse Wood reveals why – and reports that there is a school of thought that suggests the battered old cup should be gracefully retired.
Many are calling for the historic Peace Cup trophy to be retired following a lack of competition teams and broken competition rules.
The “ugliest trophy in New Zealand sport” has been through the mill in its century of existence.
Hamilton accountant Richard “Dick” English donated the trophy to his local team after the culmination of World War I.
Sub-union rugby teams have competed for the cup since the start.
Thames were the first winners in 1920.
According to the New Zealand Rugby History website run by rugby historian Keith Gordon, “sub-unions are areas within a provincial union that join for matches against other sub-unions or play each other within that sub-union for local supremacy. It is a step up from neighbouring rivalry.”
The Peace Cup has been contested by sub-unions between from Taupō to south to Auckland in the north.
Previous winners include Te Awamutu, Hamilton, Morrinsville, Rotorua, Central Bay of Plenty, Thames, South Waikato, Matamata, Maniapoto, Tauranga, Pukekohe, Hauraki Plains, Paeroa, Western Bay of Plenty, Ōtorohanga, Waihi, Cambridge and Te Puke.
Hamilton were 2024 champions but chose not to field a team this season due to only two other teams putting their hands up – a Maniapoto team and Central Bay of Plenty sub-union.
“At the beginning of the year, there was a meeting of what should have been sub-union representatives and parties interested in the Peace Cup,” Hamilton Rugby Union chairman Doug Hawkings said.
“Hamilton made it clear, that if there weren’t four teams, we wouldn’t enter a team.
“The Peace Cup is on its last legs and it’s been on life support for the last few years.
“Whoever participates in it plays on the proviso they are a sub-union or a combination of sub-unions.
“Piako and Matamata had joined together in the past. They didn’t have enough players, they hate each other but played Peace Cup together.
“The last three years we’ve had four teams at max and it’s just not financially viable.”
The Maniapoto side faced Central Bay of Plenty for the Peace Cup last month.
Hawkings said the collective sub-union representatives believed the Maniapoto team represented the Maniapoto sub-union team – but then learned it was a Maniapoto iwi team.
Founded in 1907, Maniapoto sub-union haven’t had a squad in many years and Waitete and Piopio are the last two senior clubs in their area.
“The game became null and voided – they weren’t a sub-union, and the players who played in their team weren’t all registered to sub-unions in the King Country,” Hawkings said.
“In the rules it says you can bring in four outside players who have connections, five wouldn’t really matter, but when it’s half the team, it’s not in the spirit of what the Peace Cup is about.
“At least seven players came from the Hamilton sub-union in 2025. They may have an enduring relationship with the iwi, but they’re not part of a sub-union team within the King Country.
“It was about the integrity of the Peace Cup, so that’s effectively what it came down to.”
As the competition dwindles, Peace Cup tragics and representatives are calling for the trophy to be retired and put on display at the New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North.
“If we want to start a competition with other teams involved, I’d have no problem with that, but the Peace Cup should be retired and given the respect it deserves,” Hawkings said.
“I don’t have any qualms from where I sit with Hamilton playing against the Maniapoto iwi team or the like, but the Peace Cup has been a sub-union competition for 105 years.
“If we had known beforehand, we would have had a meeting to discuss that and made a decision at that point as to whether the game should have gone ahead or not.”
Hawkings said if the team was a combination of North King Country and Maniapoto sub-unions, it would have been fine.
“It might have been representative of the King Country but it wasn’t representative of those two clubs involved in that sub-union, so the team shouldn’t have been in the competition.”
To be eligible to play in the competition, a player must have played or been registered to a club or team from within their team’s union/sub-union catchment area, during the current year.
Teams can play up to four non local club players. The understanding is that these players have a connection to the host sub-union. If a loan player comes from a sub-union within the current competition, the host sub-union must seek clearance from that players’ sub-union, to play.
