Arise, victorious Red Devils

In the 1973 FA Cup final in English football there was a monumental upset, when second division Sunderland beat first division giants and reigning cup holders Leeds United 1-0.

By an unusual coincidence, 1973 saw another upset half a world away and in a different sport – Ranfurly Shield rugby.

New Zealand rugby fans were shocked in 1973, when Marlborough took the Shield off Canterbury.

While Manchester United are universally known as ‘The Red Devils’, so were the Marlborough provincial rugby team before amalgamation in 2007 with Nelson Bays to become Tasman.

And on July 28 1973, these Red Devils won the Ranfurly Shield off provincial rugby giants, Canterbury. To those in the know, it wasn’t quite the shock it appeared to be. On the other hand, the vast majority of rugby fans at the time would have given Marlborough roughly what the iconic character of Fred Dagg might have termed as ‘‘not a s..tshow’’.

Marlborough had beaten Auckland and Otago the year before so were no bunnies, especially in the forwards. In Shield Fever, Lindsay Knight wrote: ‘‘The basis of Marlborough’s success lay with its pack and the three remarkable characters who were its key figures. They were the brothers, Alan and Ray Sutherland, and the prop Jim Joseph.’’ But for all that on paper Canterbury were far stronger, with long-term or soon-tobecome All Blacks of the calibre of Fergie Mccormick, Doug Bruce, Alex Wyllie, Bill Bush and Tane Norton.

The halftime score was 6-6. Canterbury had scored the game’s only try, to Duncan Hales – later to captain Manawatu¯ to a famous Shield victory over Auckland, in 1976. Lock Graeme Cocks had kicked two penalties in reply.

With around seven minutes remaining, Marlborough took a 9-6 lead through a drop goal to first-five, Tony Goddard. A rugby fairytale now seemed a distinct possibility.

With only three minutes left, when, from a ruck near the Red Devils’ 22m, a dropped ball was scooped up by their young, powerful wing Brian Ford, a noted sprinter. In a flash he was gone from the first lines of the cover defence, with ‘‘only’’ Mccormick to beat at fullback. Mccormick was known as a great last line of defence; it wouldn’t be easy. If he missed Ford, the Shield was leaving Christchurch for certain. Ford wasn’t about to be denied his shot at glory. As Mccormick got across to him, he shimmied just enough to allow Mccormick to hesitate. It turned out to be just enough for Ford to be gone, off to the Canterbury goal line and Red Devil immortality. The final score was 13-6.

Shield fever predictably gripped the province and the Red Devils saw off five challenges for the Log o’wood in the rest of the season and one more in 1974, before South Canterbury came to Lansdowne Park and won decisively, 18-6, only to lose it to Wellington shortly after.

But for a few glorious months in 1973, Blenheim was engulfed in a rugby party the likes of which it had never seen before.

Paul Montague is a regular writer for sportsfreak.co.nz (as ‘The Spotter’), and has previously contributed to Stuff and the NZ Herald. He has a passion for sports history and has been in love with the Ranfurly Shield for the best part of 40 years.