LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO SELLS RUGBY WORLD CUP MEDAL FOR £54,000

Lawrence Dallaglio has sold the medal he won with England's Rugby World Cup-winning squad at auction for £54,000, according to reports. Reports said most of the rest of his memorabilia collection failed to sell at the same auction. The sale took place amid Dallaglio's bankruptcy, reports said. That bankruptcy followed a divorce that reports described as bitter. Reports also cited "excessive spending" alongside the divorce as a factor in his financial position.

According to reports, Dallaglio had already sold the home he once shared with his former wife before the medal went under the hammer. Reports described the £54,000 achieved for the medal as a modest sum given its significance as a Rugby World Cup winner's medal. Most of the other items in his collection reportedly failed to attract a buyer at the auction. Reports linked the outcome to the wider financial pressures created by the divorce and the bankruptcy. The reported reference to "excessive spending" was presented as part of the explanation for Dallaglio's financial difficulties.

The auction result adds to a series of reported setbacks for Dallaglio since the breakdown of his marriage. Reports presented the sale of the medal, the earlier sale of the family home and the unsold items from the collection as connected to the same financial circumstances. No detail on the terms of the bankruptcy or on what will happen to the unsold memorabilia was included in reports. The medal itself is reported to be one of the most significant items from Dallaglio's playing career to have changed hands. Reports gave no further information on any future sale of the remaining collection.