The ball was presented to Michael Scott (45), of Lake Hayes, for his 15th birthday in 1977 by Arthur (Art) Marslin, an All Blacks selector, assistant manager and coach during the 1953-54 tour of Britain.
Marslin, who lived in Alexandra, was given the ball signed by the team as a Christmas present.
Although he was not related to the Scott family, Marslin and his wife Edie had taken a keen interest in the two Scott children as they had had no children of their own, Scott's mother Margaret Scott (73) explained.
In fact, the Scott family lovingly referred to Marslin as their "adopted" godfather.
He had also given Michael a tour jersey for his 8th birthday that had been worn by Sean Fitzpatrick's father, Brian, in Australia during the All Blacks' 1951 tour.
Her son had been asked on several occasions to have the memorabilia put in the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in Dunedin, but he did not want to part with it, Mrs Scott said.
Michael Scott now lives at Lake Hayes Estate and his two children, Ben (9) and Lauren (11), play in the Wakatipu under 10s rugby team.
"I would like to put [the ball] somewhere where it can be seen, as it seems silly leaving it in a cupboard, but if I want to hand it on to my kids, that could make it a bit more difficult," he said.
The ball was also very special as it was the only one used for the whole game, Scott said.
"Perhaps I might consider giving the Welsh back the ball if they paid for me and my family to take it back there," he chuckled.
