STU WILSON

Stu Wilson scored three tries against the Lions in the final test at Eden Park in 1983 to become the All Blacks’ leading test try scorer.

“I was 12 when the Lions came to New Zealand in 1966 and they visited my school in Masterton. It was closed for the afternoon so we could watch them play Wairarapa-Bush.

“They were here for months and in school we had to do a project on them. You had to cut things out of the paper and highlight a player. The whole country went into a meltdown. If you weren’t talking about the Lions it was because you were dead.

“In 1971 wing David Duckham came to Wairarapa College but what I remember the most about that tour is watching Mike Gibson [the Irish back]. He was just outstanding. I played against him in ’78 and shook his hand after the match. I was completely lost for words.”

Injury had kept Wilson out of the All Blacks in 1977, a series New Zealand won 3-1, but in 1983 he was able to write himself into the record books with a hattrick of tries in the fourth test at Eden Park, securing his spot as New Zealand’s leading test try scorer.

“I hadn’t scored a try for a year and the harder I tried, the worse I got. I tried too hard in the first two tests but in Dunedin I got one, to go equal with Kirky [the great loose forward Ian Kirkpatrick who had scored a record 16 test tries]. Then in Auckland I got three. It’s funny how it goes; you go a year without scoring and then you get three in a test against the Lions.”

The All Blacks won the series 4-0 in 1983, with Wilson feeling a measure of sympathy for the touring Lions.

“To come here in our winter for a couple of months and play almost every provincial team we’ve got and the All Blacks – you’ve got to be brave to do that.

“By the time they got to Eden Park [for the fourth test] they were fairly ragged. The provincial sides had got stuck into them and when they got to Eden Park a lot of the guys just wanted to get on the plane and go home. And we heard that [coach] Jim Telfer smashed them on the Friday before the test, we loved it when we heard that.”

WHAT I REMEMBER THE MOST ABOUT THAT TOUR IS WATCHING MIKE GIBSON [THE IRISH BACK]. HE WAS JUST OUTSTANDING. I PLAYED AGAINST HIM IN ’78 AND SHOOK HIS HAND AFTER THE MATCH. I WAS COMPLETELY LOST FOR WORDS.’ STU WILSON