Based in the rugby stronghold of Neath, home to Wales’ oldest club and the birthplace of the Welsh Rugby Union. Rugby Relics has established itself as world leading experts in the field of Rugby Memorabilia, supplying information, photographs and memorabilia to amongst others the International Rugby Board, Rugby Football Union, Welsh Rugby Union, Irish Rugby Football Union, The National Library of Wales & The National Portrait Gallery. Rugby Relics are regular contributors of information and photographs to books and publications. Our aim is to provide an information source and celebrate the history of the game. The sales of rugby memorabilia help to source material, fund and promote this ongoing project.

WALES 1905 TEAM PRINT

They were the greatest team ever to visit the British Isles , the 1905 All Blacks, 'The Originals'.  They had played 27 matches having scored 801 points with just 32 points scored against. No team had scored a single point against them in the last 7 matches they had played. The had gone 600 minutes of rugby without conceding a point including the defeats of both England 15 – 0 & Ireland 15 – 0. Gallaher's team were dominant in 1905, they had also beaten Australia 14-3 & Scotland 12-7. Then they played Wales, we have produced this Limited edition 'signed' Welsh team print to celebrate the centenary of what is regarded as the greatest match. 

For more information on the Wales 1905 Team Print - CLICK HERE

For more information on the Wales v New Zealand 1905 match - CLICK HERE

1905 WALES & THE ALL BLACKS COLLECTION

This is a probably the finest collection relating to the most famous of rugby matches ever played. This was the first game to be billed as the ‘Championship of the World’ . The All Blacks had been together for nearly 5 months, training together, playing together, a complete unit, they had played 27 games on the tour and they were still unbeaten, scoring 801 points for with only 32 against. Up stepped 15 Welshmen to oppose the colonials, only 2 practices were held in the weeks leading up to the game, they had not played together for over 9 months and they also had a new cap, Percy Bush in the pivotal fly half position. In the practice sessions they moulded themselves together, again they were the team that had been defeating the best that the British Isles could throw at them, once more they were the Triple Crown conquerors………………… but this was something different, this was the place where no man had ever been. No-one had ever, ever, beaten the All Blacks in a test match or otherwise, they were INVINCIBLE. Their revolutionary 7 man pack swept all opposition aside, this was not a team, this was a machine. The scene was set at Cardiff Arms Park, the gates were shut well before kick off and the teams took to the field. The All Blacks performed their customary Haka before the kick off to the crowd’s delight, the Welsh players retaliated with the National Anthem, “Mae hen wlad fy nhadau”…………the crowd joined in and 45,000 Welshmen gave their all, such singing had never been heard before, it un-nerved the All Blacks, it put them under pressure, the atmosphere was intense. The match kicked off and the Welsh team were to match the ingenuity of the Kiwis with their scrum formation. Brains not brawn were the order of the day, outfield manoeuvres found a chink in the All Blacks armour, Teddy Morgan crossed to score the only try of the match, Wales were to win 3 – 0……………………… The All Blacks maintain to this day that they were robbed, having scored a try through Bob Deans…………………and the arguments still rage. Our 1905 collection contains all the post tour books, books by Dixon, Gallaher & Nicholls, modern books on the tour, articles and newspaper reports from publications, this is a comprehensive collection, items of memorabilia include……………… a shirt which was worn by an All Black during the game and swapped with Welsh player Cliff Pritchard post-match. After the game, Gallaher the NZ captain led his men to the Welsh dressing room and both teams swapped jerseys en-masse, the New Zealander’s although bitterly disappointed were magnamanous in defeat. Our collection also includes signed photographs of the All Black tour party and the Welsh team. This collection is offered as part of the World Rugby Museum ‘Partners Programme’.

For information on the complete 1905 Wales & The All Blacks Collection - CLICK HERE

For more information on the Wales v New Zealand 1905 match - CLICK HERE

For more information on the WORLD RUGBY MUSEUM  PARTNER PROGRAMME - CLICK HERE

WALES GRAND SLAM 2005

MAGIC MOMENTS - TURF PAPERWEIGHTS

Rugby Relics are proud to be able to offer the actual turf on which Shane Williams touched down for his try against England and the very piece of ground from which Gavin Henson launched his penalty kick that won the game for Wales. The pitch cut up badly during the game and the Millennium Stadium and Welsh Rugby Union decided a new pitch was needed. To do this the whole pitch needed to be removed and re-laid. These two important pieces of turf were pinpointed by stadium staff and removed from the main pitch on Tuesday 15th of February. We have turned these two pieces of historical turf into a series of limited edition paperweights.

For more information on the Magic Moments - Turf Paperweights - CLICK HERE

"Charlotte Church has revealed that boyfriend Gavin Henson has banned her from buying him a present for Christmas this year - and she’s quite glad because it’s hard to find the perfect gift for the rugby star.

She told Reveal magazine: “Gavin’s a nightmare to buy for.”

“Apparently, even as a child, he didn’t want any presents - can you imagine that - a child who didn’t want presents?”

She added though that Gavin will be attending her family’s Christmas dinner: “We’re all going to my nan’s for Christmas. We do it every year - it’s brilliant. Gavin will be there this year.”

“We might have a bit of a gathering at our house as well, but there’s is no way I’d cook Christmas dinner.”

.............Post Christmas and the papers are up for stories on what the stars bought each other. The Mirror carried a story and then the South Wales Evening Post ran...........

"Forget saying it with flowers - Charlotte Church wished her beau Gavin Henson merry Christmas with a lump of earth. But, not surprisingly, this was no ordinary piece of dirt.

The singer and TV star scoured internet site eBay for offbeat gifts to keep her Ospreys and Wales star man happy at Christmas.

One present she tracked down was the patch of turf on which he kicked a penalty for Wales when they beat England 11-9 at the Millennium Stadium last year.

Another was a paperweight bearing the signature of Henson's hero David Campese.

Charlotte's mum Maria said the turf was in a beautiful presentation box.

"She has been looking on eBay for months now, bidding like mad," she said of her daughter's Christmas shopping habits.

We can reveal that Charlotte actually bought Gavin the Number 1 paperweight for Christmas from Rugby Relics. Several publications were quite derogatory and despite the stories that Charlotte was actually too mean to buy Gav something nice for Xmas she was keen to obtain memorabilia relating to Gavin's hero David Campese (she bought a signed Campese print), and what do you give the man who has everything for Xmas. That special piece of grass of course courtesy of Rugby Relics, suppliers to the stars !    

RUGBY RELICS - BACKGROUND INFORMATION

World Rugby Museum

Part of the Rugby Relics website is dedicated to the history of the game, it’s players and teams, in fact anything associated with rugby football can be found on our Museum. The museum is also accessible from the website www.world-rugby-museum.com . Because the museum is on-line and therefore physically viewing the items is impossible over the internet we are actively searching for partners who can display our collection. Our first partner was the William Webb-Ellis pub near Rugby School, a fitting ally for our project. After kitting out the Webb-Ellis we added a train frontispiece from the 1956 Springbok tour of New Zealand as their main display.  

For more information on the WORLD RUGBY MUSEUM  - CLICK HERE

For more information on the WORLD RUGBY MUSEUM  PARTNER PROGRAMME - CLICK HERE

For more information on the WILLIAM WEBB ELLIS PUB IN RUGBY - CLICK HERE

Rugby Relics Personnel - Dai Richards – Director

Rugby Relics is a family business founded by director Dai Richards in 1991. A keen rugby historian, Dai is currently researching the history of rugby in the Town of Neath. No stranger himself to competitive sport, Dai’s sporting life is a catalogue of the ups and downs of sport. A recurring shoulder injury meant that Dai’s rugby career came to an abrupt end at the age of 21, but this was not to be an end of his sporting career. He swapped his togs for running spikes and went on to represent Wales in six different sports at senior level (Triathlon, Mountain Biking, Cyclo Cross, Marathon Kayaking, Mountain Running and Duathlon). The pinnacle of his sporting life was when in consecutive weekends he won the European and the World Veteran Quadrathlon titles (kayak, swim, cycle and run) in the year 2000. In 2001 he was honoured as the Neath-Port Talbot sports personality of the Year.  

For more information on DAI RICHARDS - CLICK HERE

RUGBY RELICS - CONTACT INFO

CLICK HERE

Background illustrations - left Arthur Gould - captain of Wales' first ever Triple Crown team 1893. large illustration in centre Gerald Davies, leading try scorer up until 1990s. Right Maurice Richards, scored 4 tries against England in 1969, further down JPR Williams, legend, Pontypool front row, the Viet-Gwent