The Ganbatte Trophy is a silver cup presented to the winner of any rugby union match between the Melbourne Rebels team from Australia and the Sunwolves team from Japan. The word Ganbatte (Japanese: 頑張って, "Do your best") is often used as an exhortation at Japanese sporting events meaning to "Go for it!" or to strive.
History
The Melbourne Rebels recruited Japanese international players Shota Horie in 2013, followed by Keita Inagaki, Male Sau, and Kotaro Matsushima. The club was the first in Australia to launch a website in the Japanese language. In 2016, following the introduction of the Sunwolves team to the Super Rugby competition, the Ganbatte Trophy was inaugurated to mark the relationship between the Rebels and Japanese rugby.
References
Ganbatte Trophy Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA