This was a concept I worked on for Canterbury that ultimately got left on the cutting-room floor.
The idea was to celebrate one of the great moments in New Zealand rugby history: Michael Jones scoring the first-ever try at a Rugby World Cup, against Italy at Eden Park in 1987.
With the 2027 Rugby World Cup marking 40 years since that inaugural tournament, the idea was to bring Canterbury, Mitre and Michael Jones together around a special commemorative match-ball release.
I wanted the ball to feel less like standard anniversary merchandise and more like a genuine piece of rugby history. The concept referenced the original 1987 match ball and the moment Jones crossed the line, then brought that story into a collectible object.
The re-release of the original 1997 official ball - I imagined was limited to just 100 balls. Each one would be individually hand -signed by Michael Jones and then finished with his inked handprint, placed in the same position on every ball where his hand was as he put it down over the try line 40years earlier.
Because every signature and every handprint would be applied by hand, no two balls would ever be exactly the same. The imperfections and differences would be the point - 100 individually made pieces, each with its own direct physical connection to Michael and that moment in 1987.
I also saw the making of the balls as part of the campaign. The signing and hand-printing process could have been filmed and photographed as social content, showing Michael physically creating each piece rather than simply signing a finished product.
The idea was then to launch the edition around the opening day of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia connecting the first try of the first Rugby World Cup, 40 years earlier, with the beginning of another tournament.
A simple idea that never made it through, but one I still think could have made a pretty special piece of rugby history.