The Constellation Cup is an international
netball
Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...
competition contested by
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. The competition features a series of
test matches. The two teams have competed for the trophy since
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
. Australia won the inaugural series and have gone on to become the competition's dominant team.
Between
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
and
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, Australia won the series on seven successive occasions.
New Zealand won the trophy for the first time in
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
and for a second time in
2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
.
History
Background

The Constellation Cup was introduced by
Netball Australia
Netball Australia is the main governing body for netball in Australia. It is affiliated to World Netball. It is responsible for organising and administering the Australia national netball team, Suncorp Super Netball, Australian National Netba ...
and
Netball New Zealand with the support of the offices of the
Governor-General of Australia and the
Governor-General of New Zealand
The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...
. The concept was inspired by the
Bledisloe Cup, a similar competition featuring the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
New Zealand national rugby union team
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
s.
The Governor-General of New Zealand,
Sir Anand Satyanand, stated:
Almost 80 years ago, Lord Bledisloe, one of
my predecessors as Governor-General gifted the cup that bears his name and which has come to symbolise rivalry on the rugby field between Australia and New Zealand. The Constellation Cup will provide an equally enduring focus for netballers on both sides of the Tasman and recognise the wide participation in the sport.
On 29 August 2010, both governors-general, Sir Anand Satyanand and
Quentin Bryce AC, attended the first test of the inaugural
2010 Constellation Cup series played at the
Adelaide Entertainment Centre. On 5 September 2010, Anand Satyanand also presented the Constellation Cup to the first winning captain, Australia's
Sharelle McMahon.
Trophy

The Constellation Cup is named after the
Southern Cross constellation which is featured on both the
flag of Australia
The national flag of Australia is based on the British Blue Ensign—a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter—augmented with a large white seven-pointed star (the Commonwealth Star) and a representation of the Crux, Southe ...
and the
flag of New Zealand
The flag of New Zealand (), also known as the New Zealand Ensign, is based on the British maritime Blue Ensigna blue field with the Union Jack in the ''canton (flag), canton'' or upper hoist corneraugmented or ''Defacement (flag), defaced'' wit ...
. The trophy itself consists of a 3 kilogram
sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy composed mass fraction (chemistry), by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver silver standards, standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.
''Fineness, Fine silver'' ...
cup encrusted with 101
diamonds
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insol ...
, which equates to 3.38
carats. The display case is crafted from
black maire. Its design was a collaboration between
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n designer Michael Wilson, who made the Cup, and the
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
master craftsman Vic Matthews, who made the display case. The base of the trophy is made out of 5,000 year old ancient
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...
red gum and in total it stands at 47.3 cm tall. The transportation box, which houses the Constellation Cup and display case, includes leather from the Distinguished Visitor's chair from the
Australian Senate Chamber.
The following words are inscribed on the display case of the Constellation Cup:
The great constellation of the southern sky, the Crux, or Southern Cross, shines down
on Australians and New Zealanders, and has provided guidance and inspiration to
them across the ages. A source of pride to both nations, its bright
stars have come to represent achievement, optimism, aspiration and timelessness.
Both countries claim the Southern Cross as their own, and it adorns the national
flags of each. In netball, there is no fiercer rivalry than that between the Australian Diamonds and New Zealand’s Silver Ferns. The battle for supremacy on the court has been waged since 1938. This Constellation Cup is the perpetual trophy and symbol of that intense rivalry and the respect between these two great netballing nations. Forged from silver, to represent New Zealand’s Silver Ferns, and studded with diamonds to represent the Australian Netball Diamonds, this cup represents the pinnacle of Australian and
New Zealand netball. It is a symbol worth fighting for, with the pride of each nation at stake. To hold this cup is a privilege.
Series
;Notes
* In
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
, Australia won 202–200 on
aggregate.
* In
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, Australia won 206–195 on aggregate.
* The 2020 series was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
* In
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
, Australia won 215–208 on aggregate.
* In
2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
, Australia won 208–195 on aggregate.
References
{{Netball in Oceania
Australia national netball team series
New Zealand national netball team series
Australian sports trophies and awards
New Zealand sports trophies and awards
International netball competitions hosted by Australia
International netball competitions hosted by New Zealand
Australia–New Zealand sports relations
Recurring sporting events established in 2010