Victoria graduate designs RWC souvenir

A Victoria University graduate designed the man-of-the-match trophies handed out to each games best player during the Rugby World Cup.
Master of design graduate Dave Hakaraia worked with artist Rangi Kipa to create the trophies, which are made from heart rimu and feature a mangopare (hammerhead shark) design, and a pounamu (greenstone) adze.
Dave says the idea was to come up with something uniquely New Zealand.
He used Google maps to work out the topography of the area surrounding each rugby ground used during the tournament and the base of the trophies is cut in the same shape.The trophy presented after the opening game in Auckland, for example, has a base shaped like the area around Eden Park, says Dave.
While the pounamu can be lifted off and worn around the neck, the mangopare design signifies the strength of the rugby players.
Dave says using indigenous materials means each player will take a little bit of NZ away with them and the form of the trophy is a reminder of exactly where they played the match.
His trophy idea came from his focus area in his studies at Victoria, which looked at contemporary ways to express Maori narratives.