Rugby

A shirt from the first time the famed All Blacks played in all white is going up for auction next week.

The rugby jersey worn by Sir Gareth Edwards when he scored what is generally considered the game’s greatest ever try set an auction record when it was knocked down at £240,000 today.

Welsh auction house Rogers Jones has been instructed to sell the rugby jersey collection of Sir Gareth Edwards.

Welsh rugby is on a high with their 12th Grand Slam secured on March 16 with a 25-7 win over Ireland – so it’s a perfect time for a special memorabilia auction to be held at the venue for Welsh home international games.

Sport shirts at regional auction houses in Cardiff and Surrey win fans.

Three and a half years ago Welsh saleroom Rogers Jones set a world record for a rugby shirt at auction when a jersey from the 1905-06 New Zealand tour to the UK made £180,000 – and now another All Blacks shirt from that era is on offer from the same auction house.

Saturday’s last-gasp, nail-biting England victory was hailed as one of the greatest games of the Six Nations championship. Talking of rugby ‘greats’, a jersey coming up at auction on February 18 is a reminder of an earlier international player who falls into the ‘legend’ sports category.

An early printed copy of the laws of rugby appeared at Rogers Jones in Cardiff as part of a themed sale titled Sweat, Mud & Blood. Auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones said: ”In 25 years of our business, it is the most valuable book we have sold and probably the smallest.”

Lot number one in Rogers Jones’ latest sale provided both a world record result and a house record for the Welsh auctioneers.

Timing is everything in sport and at auction. With New Zealand firm favourites to retain the Webb Ellis Cup on October 31, this is surely the moment to sell the jersey of a legendary All Black.