Sporting & General Medals, Badges & Awards - Rugby &

Lot 3199    SESSION 12 (4.30PM WEDNESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER)    Sporting & General Medals, Badges & Awards - Rugby & Ru

Estimate $6,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au

RUGBY, handcrafted in gold (15ct, 7.4g, 33x33mm), by Williamson, ring top suspension, reverse inscribed 'To/E.E.Booth/from Members & Supporters of/Kaikorai F.C./on his inclusion in/N.Z. Team/For/Great Britain/1905'. Very fine and an excessively rare piece of early rugby memorabilia.

Ernest (Ernie) Edward Booth, nicknamed 'General' after the Salvation Army founder (born 24 February 1876 in Teschemakers, New Zealand) was a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He was a member of the 1905 'Original' All Blacks. He won his first Test cap for New Zealand on 1 January 1906 against France. In total he played 3 Tests over a period from 1906 to 1907. He died in Christchurch in 1935.

(The following courtesy of Wikipedia): The Original All Blacks (also known simply as 'The Originals') were the first New Zealand national rugby union team to tour outside Australasia. They toured the British Isles, France and the United States of America during 1905-1906. Their opening game was against Devon on 16 September 1905 whom they defeated 55-4. Such was the surprise that some newspapers in Britain printed that Devon had scored 55 points and not the All Blacks. They went on to defeat every English side that they faced, including a 16-3 victory over English county champions Durham, and a 32-0 victory over Blackheath. They defeated Scotland, Ireland and England with the closest of the three matches their 12-7 victory over Scotland. The team's only loss of the tour was a 3-0 defeat by Wales at Cardiff Arms Park. The loss was highly controversial wing Bob Deans claimed to have scored a try that would have brought them level. However, in truth Wales were generally considered the better team with the All Blacks playing particularly poorly in the first half of the game. They managed narrow wins against the Welsh club teams and went on to play France in France's first ever Test match. They returned to New Zealand via North America where they played two matches against Canadian teams. Overall they played a total of thirty-five matches, which included five Tests, and only lost once-the defeat by Wales.

With research.