Gold rugby ball on sale in Tokyo for £273,867

This 6.2lbs (2.8kg) golden rugby ball was created to pay homage to Japan's national rugby team after the side beat ex-world champions South Africa during the 2015 World Cup.

It was one of the greatest shocks in Rugby World Cup memory.

Hideaki Shimura, the organiser of the gold exhibition, said: "We made a rugby ball because we wanted a gold product that would inspire the same courage, and awe ahead of Japan's 2019 Rugby World Cup."

The gold rugby ball is on sale at Japan's oldest department store chain and it is priced at £273,867 and is part of the annual 'Large Gold Exhibition'.

The gold egg is the same size as the official rugby ball used for men's tournaments.

The Japanese rugby team had not won a World Cup match since 1991 when they beat South Africa last year, the BBC reports.

The Japanese team, also known as the 'Brave Blossoms' ended up third in their group in the pool stages, behind South Africa and Scotland.