Former England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio is to sell his 2003 Rugby World Cup winner’s medal at auction after being declared bankrupt.
The medal is expected to raise between £50,000 and £80,000 when it is sold at Budd’s in Northamptonshire on 13 October, BBC Sport reported. It is one of a number of medals, trophies and caps from the 54-year-old’s playing career being offered in the sale, with the collection carrying a combined estimated value of £180,000.
Dallaglio was one of the leading players in the England side that beat Australia to win the World Cup in 2003.
Alongside the World Cup medal, the items for sale include a British and Irish Lions cap, his winner’s medal from the 1993 World Cup Sevens and a 2003 Six Nations Championship winner’s medal.
Divorce and bankruptcy
Dallaglio spoke about his bankruptcy during an appearance on The High Performance podcast earlier this month.
He said: “As a result of getting divorced, I was made bankrupt.
“I had some financial problems, I could’ve done things a lot better.”
He also said on the podcast that he sought therapy after his divorce and bankruptcy left him wallowing in “self-pity”.
BBC Sport’s report does not state how the proceeds of the auction will be used.
How bankruptcy works
In England and Wales, a bankruptcy case is handled by an official receiver or a trustee. Under government guidance on bankruptcy, the trustee decides whether the things a bankrupt person owns could be sold to pay their bankruptcy debts, and the person must hand them over if the trustee decides to sell.
The guidance states that people can usually keep things they need for their job, such as tools or a vehicle, and essential household items such as clothing, bedding and furniture. Bankruptcy restrictions and debts are usually discharged automatically after 12 months, although the official receiver or trustee continues to deal with the case after discharge.
Figures from the Insolvency Service show there were 725 bankruptcies in August, 14 per cent more than in August 2025 and 5 per cent more than in July. Of those, 564 resulted from debtors’ own applications and 161 from creditors’ petitions.
The Insolvency Service said 11,644 individuals entered some form of insolvency in England and Wales in August, 3 per cent more than a year earlier. Bankruptcies made up 6 per cent of individual insolvencies in the 12 months to the end of August, with individual voluntary arrangements accounting for 59 per cent and debt relief orders for 35 per cent. One in 360 adults in England and Wales entered insolvency in the 12 months to the end of August, compared with one in 408 in the previous 12 months, the figures show.
Other recent personal bankruptcy cases have involved prominent business figures. Recruitment entrepreneur David Spencer-Percival is appealing against a bankruptcy petition brought after his firm Life Science People was wound up, while HSBC lodged bankruptcy petitions against Aidan and Howard Barclay in December last year after recovering about £1.1m of a £143.5m loan to their collapsed logistics business.
The Dallaglio collection will be sold at Budd’s on 13 October.
