The Originals photographed in 1905 © Hulton Archive

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The "Holy Grail" of All Black jerseys has smashed the world record price for a rugby shirt at an auction in Cardiff.

The jersey All Blacks captain Dave Gallaher wore during the famous 1905 Test against Wales sold for STG180,000 ($NZ414,316).

The previous world record was STG22,000. ITV says the telephone buyer who won the auction was buying on behalf of Nigel Wray, chairman of English club Saracens.

Dave Gallaher 1905 All Blacks jersey sells for £180,000. http://t.co/52MTlYjw74 pic.twitter.com/gnlc1RStJj

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The winner saw off five other telephone bidders from New Zealand, media report.

The auctioneer said he felt dizzy as the bidding got higher and higher.

Auctioneers Rogers Jones and Co described the jersey as the "Holy Grail of New Zealand rugby shirts", and ahead of the auction it was expected to fetch as much as STG40,000, based on sales of previous All Blacks jerseys.

Earlier this year, another of the jerseys worn by the "Originals" side sold for STG22,000 when put up for auction by Mumbles RFC, a record price for a rugby jersey.

The 1905 Test at Cardiff Arms Park is regarded as pivotal in New Zealand rugby history, where Bob Deans claimed he was pulled back from the tryline after scoring what could have been the match-winner.

The 3-0 loss was the All Blacks' only defeat of 35 matches against Wales and sparked a famous rivalry between the two sides for much of the 20th Century.

Gallaher, who was later killed at Passchendaele in World War I, exchanged his jersey after the match with Welsh captain Gwynn Nicholls, who stored it at his Cardiff laundry business.

Nicholls then gave the jersey to the company's sports mad "van boy" Thomas Mahoney, whose family have now decided to sell it, Rogers Jones says.

New Zealand and Wales have both qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.