Young rugby enthusiasts often find themselves knocking on a neighbour's door to ask for the return of a lost ball. But now the English rugby authorities have found themselves in a similar bind, after the ovoid which Jonny Wilkinson used to win the World Cup went missing.
Ten balls embossed with the words "Rugby World Cup Final, Stadium Australia, Sydney 2003" were made for the clash. Four of them have already been sold by a memorabilia agency, but the whereabouts of the one which Jonny booted to victory remains a mystery. And Sotheby's auction house says it could be worth up to £30,000.
Despite the fact that Aussie TV had 24 cameras following the match, none recorded the final destination of the sought-after piece of pigskin. And a controversy is now raging over whether it was taken home by a member of the crowd, a match official or indeed one of the players.
"We know that four of the World Cup balls were under license to be sold and the remaining six are retained by us," said Chris Rea of the International Rugby Board. "I can't tell you whether the Wilkinson ball got kicked into the crowd. I just don't know."
It remains to be seen whether the coveted prize will be found. The last time such a controversy surrounded a missing ball was in 1966, when German soccer star Helmut Haller managed to snaffle the ball with which Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick to win the soccer World Cup. That particular piece of sporting history wasn't seen again until 30 years later, when the ball was found in the cellar of Helmut's son.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
