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Canterbury
Crusaders captain Rueben Thorne already has his hands on the Super
12 trophy - days before the final match is to be played in Auckland. |
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An
exact replica of Thorne's hands holding the cup has pride of place
on the wall at the Holy Grail. It was commissioned by the bar in
honour of last year's win from Immortaleyes - a Christchurch company
specialising in creating original life casting sculptures. |
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Artists
Delia Riley, 33, and Jo-Lyn Arbuckle, 32, both of Queenspark, said
the replica was a lot of fun to make. |
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They
had started it about two months ago, creating it in three, parts. |
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First
they had taken the mould of Thorne's hands, secondly the trophy and
lastly the handles of the cup. They then put all the pieces together
and hand-painted it. |
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The
model was framed and placed at the bar in time for the semi-final
against the Hurricanes at the weekend. |
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Both
Delia and Jo-Lyn said they were keen rugby fans and would be
watching the final with their husbands, probably back at the Grail. |
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The
pair started their life casting business just over a year ago. It
had been growing steadily as more people knew they were around. |
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One
of their next big projects, also for the Holy Grail, would be making
life castings of other rugby legends' hands, holding onto
charicatures of themselves. |
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The
Crusaders play off against the Auckland Blues on Saturday night at
Eden Park. If they win it will be the fifth time they have held the
trophy since the Super 12 started in 1996. |
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