Rugby relics rewrite rulebook at auction
RUGBY fans can show they’re Wales’ number one supporter – by splashing out on a £30,000 car number plate to prove it.
The personalised 1 WRU plate, which has gone up for sale for the first time in 20 years, has been described as a “dream gift” by auctioneers.
It is just one of many pieces of rugby memorabilia going under the hammer in Cardiff next month, in a sale which also includes one of the earliest published versions of the rules of rugby.
The rare booklet of rules – dated 1851 and measuring just 8.4cm by 5cm – is entitled The Laws of Football as Played at Rugby School.
The early rulebook makes it clear: “No-one wearing projecting nails, iron plates, or gutta percha (a tough form of latex), on the soles or heels of his boots or shoes, shall be allowed to play.”
The book – signed ned 20 years prior to the forormation of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) – is believed to have been owned by William Henry Wad- dington, a formermer prime minister of France, who attended ttended Rugby School in Warwickshire,rwickshire, where the game was founded.
Printed by Crossley and Billington, of Rugby, and bound in red card, it was discovered by a former bookshop owner among thousands of tomes in an old depository.
Auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones said: “We don’t believe that an original copy or later printed copy from the mid19th century has ever been brought to auction.
“The Rugby School museum concur that H Waddington (who autographed the booklet) is highly likely to be William Henry Waddington, as there were no other associates of the school with the name Waddington at that time.”
The booklet has a guide price of £1,000-£2,000. By comparison, the number plate has a guide price of £20,000-£30,000.
Former Wales star Tom Shanklin said he would like to buy it – but wasn’t sure his wife would let him.
The double Grand Slam winner said: “When I heard about this, I was keen to take a look. I can think of a few who this would suit – what about Gethin Jenkins, with him being number 1?
“You’d really be top rugby dog on the roads with this. I’d love to get my hands on it, but I think my wife would hit the roof!” Mr Rogers Jones added: “This is surely the dream gift for any players or fansfan of our national sp sport.
“I can’t think of a b better place to sell it t than the Welsh rugby c capital and hope it s stays in Wales.” The number plate and rulebook will be part of the Sweat, Mud & Blood rugby a auction conducted by Rogers Jon Jones & Co in Cardiff on May 13.
Also up for grabs is the oldest international rugby jersey offered for sale publicly – an 1894 shirt worn by Welsh international Fred Hutchinson. With a guide price of £10,000-£20,000, the lot also includes Hutchinson’s International cap, Neath RFC cap and Glamorgan County cap dated to 1894.
Maesteg-born Frederick Osborne Hutchinson was a railwayman who played back-row for Maesteg, Bridgend and Neath, picking up three International caps, all in the Home Nations Championship, against Ireland in 1894 and against Scotland and Ireland again in 1896.