Rugby World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio forced to sell medal following bankruptcy

Lawrence Dallaglio is selling off his Rugby World Cup winner's medal after being declared bankrupt last year following a divorce.

Dallaglio, 54, is putting medals, trophies and caps from his career up for auction, including the World Cup winner's medal he collected in Sydney in 2003.

The medal is the highest-valued item by auctioneer Budds, with an estimate of between £50,000 and £80,000, while the whole memorabilia set is expected to fetch around £180,000.

The 'Lawrence Dallaglio Collection', which goes under the hammer in Northamptonshire next month, is made up of 21 items "presented to World Cup-winning rugby union England international Lawrence Dallaglio," Budds said on its website.

It also includes a 2003 Six Nations winner's medal, medals from his successful club career with Wasps and a British and Irish Lions cap.

Earlier this year, Dallaglio spoke about his financial difficulties during an appearance on the High Performance podcast.

"As a result of getting divorced, I was made bankrupt so I had some financial problems," he said.

Dallaglio is not the first member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning side to sell his medal.

Former England winger Ben Cohen revealed in 2024 that he had been forced to sell his winner's medal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cohen told talkSPORT he "sold my World Cup medal to survive COVID. To survive."

He said: "I had nothing in COVID. Winning a World Cup medal is great - it's a story to leave your kids, something to talk about. But the reality is, I had no work."

(c) Sky News 2026: Rugby World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio forced to sell medal following bankruptcy