A RUGBY ball signed by European champions Wasps and Wales and British Lions shirts will be among items at a special auction at Swindon RFC tomorrow (7pm).

Tickets to see Swindon Town and Northampton Saints, plus a ball used in this year's Parker Pen rugby final are also up for grabs at the Greenbridge Road event.

The evening is being staged to help club scrum-half Jimmer Courtney, who was struck down with the debilitating ilness Guillain-Barre Syndrome late last season.

The condition, which affects the immune and nervous system, left him on a ventilator at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

But Courtney has since made progress and his plight has brought a huge response.

Last month, Courtney received a signed England shirt from World Cup-winning wing Josh Lewsey, while former Leicester and England No 8 Dean Richards chatted to him by telephone during the club's end-of-season dinner.

Between 100 and 200 tickets have already been snapped up by club members for the event, which will feature an auction and raffle. Tickets will also be available on the door at £5 a head.

Courtney, who has already started the long road to rehabilitation, may also make an appearance on the night.

The Guillain-Barre illness has also affected footballers such as Liverpool and Germany footballer Markus Babbel and Oxford United's James Brooks.

n Graham Henry has claimed that New Zealand face a task of "Everest" proportions to prise the World Cup away from England in three years' time.

But perhaps, most significantly of all, he has suggested a move away from the Super 12's "glorified sevens" style to rediscover hard-edged basic rugby rudiments.

Henry's comments came as he finalised preparations for his debut Test in charge against England at Carisbrook tomorrow.

The England squad flew into Dunedin from their Auckland training base, bidding to record a third successive victory over the All Blacks in 20 months.