It was not so much a case of losing your shirt, but your trousers, socks, shoes, wife, dog and house for one London broker. A fan of spread-betting, he fancied Tonga would lose to England by less than the 40 points offered by a London firm.

Having a few extra bob to wager he decided to sell England for £600 per point on the assumption that England would win by less than 40 points. The English actually won the match 101-10 and therefore the luckless punter was forced to hand over £30,600.