Amazing how well a night on the lash works for Baa-baas!
As the Barbarians-All Blacks fixture resumes on Saturday, BRENDAN GALLAGHER looks at its rich history
“Victory in 2009 was a timely reminder of what wit, wisdom talent and desire can achieve in a short space of time”
In ten matches against New Zealand spanning 63 years the Barbarians have won two, drawn one and lost seven which in percentage terms is a better success rate than any Test nation save for South Africa. So, against the odds, they have done rather better than some give them credit for. Not bad for an invitation team who spend the first couple of days together on the lash.
The first Barbarians fixture against the All Blacks came in 1954 in front of a 60,000 crowd at Cardiff Arms Park, notable not only for the first haka of that tour, but the first recorded singing of Now Is The Hour, the Maori farewell hymn.
Rex Willis and Cliff Morgan, notably successful for Cardiff and Wales against the Blacks earlier in the tour, were reunited but couldn’t pull off a hat-trick of wins, although contributing well in an entertaining 19-5 defeat.
Incoming tours were less frequent in those days, and it was ten years before New Zealand lined up against the Barbarians again. On that occasion it was all one-way traffic with All Blacks’ captain Wilson Whineray dummying his way over for one of his side’s eight tries and famously being chaired off by the Baa-baas.
It was much closer in 1967, New Zealand scraping home 11-6 at Twickenham thanks to a try from the New Zealand 100m and 200m champion, Tony Steel. Initially the Barbarians weren’t on the fixture list but an outbreak of foot and mouth on the British mainland resulted in the Irish government imposed a short-term ban on anybody entering the country from Britain so one or two matches needed to be arranged to plug the gaps. And pay the bills.
This match was my first ever rugby memory – Stewart Wilson’s 45-yard dropped goal to be precise – and was described at the time as a classic but that description was left looking pretty lame when the two sides really did serve up something very special at Cardiff six year later. Both sides slipped the leash that day and laid on an exhibition in a game that still burns bright in most memories. The Barbarians won 23-11 but it is the action you remember not the scoreline.
“There were a few sub-plots going on before that game,’’ recalls Barbarians president Micky Steele-Bodger. ‘’The New Zealand tour had not been entirely happy, with one or two incidents on and off the field, and the All Blacks had secured the reputation, rightly or wrongly, of being a bit dour, although they possessed some very fine players indeed.
“Then there was the hangover from the 1971 Lions’ tour, with the media portraying the Barbarians game as a rematch. There was a lot of hype, and when the Barbarians started like a train with that marvellous try, I thought the All Blacks would immediately try to close down the game.
“They didn’t have to come to the Barbarians ‘party’, but their skipper Ian Kirkpatrick sensed the mood and sensed also that perhaps a gesture by the Blacks would be appreciated and timely. Even after going 17-0 down, they still responded with some magnificent flowing rugby of their own. We should never forget the role played by New Zealand in that game.”
The following year at Twickenham, with many of the same players involved, was a flinty affair, a full blown Test match from the off with plenty going on as I recall from my spot on the terraces.
Despite calling up the likes of Gerald Davies and Mervyn Davies, who both missed out with the flu in 1973, the Barbarians were hanging on desperately for most of a game dominated by Sid Going, Grant Batty and Kirkpatrick who were on top form and clearly intent on a little revenge.
The Barbarians – with a good percentage of ’74 Lions who were still easing their way back after the rigours of the summer – looked off the pace a little but did somehow manage to salvage a draw at the death when they finally summonsed up the spirit of Cardiff and produced a cracker
Gareth Edwards sent the ball pinging down the backline after Davies won the ball on half way for Andy Irvine to hoist a bomb. Davies was following up and seized on the ball after Joe Karam had fumbled. When Davies was tackled the ball broke lose to Mervyn Davies – tracking the action as every good No.8 should – who scooped it up with one hand and reached mightily for the line. Try-time.
In 1978, after a tempestuous tour, the game was played amidst much acrimony. Wales had been in ferment for a month after Andy Haden and Frank Oliver duped the hapless Roger Quittenton into awarding the All Blacks a match-winning penalty against the Welsh at the Arms Park
Matters went from bad to worse when the Kiwis arrived back in Cardiff for the tour’s final week. God, rugby was contentious back then!
Against Bridgend at the Brewery Field on the Wednesday All Blacks prop John Ashworth viciously stamped on JPR Williams cheek and inflicted a wound that required 30 stitches and left the Wales full-back scarred for life.
It was one off the ugliest incidents in the game’s modern history and the large Welsh contingent in the crowd were not impressed when they saw Ashworth’s name on the list of replacements and let their feelings be known when the New Zealand prop came on after half-time. There was no such things as citings back then. If an incident wasn’t dealt with on the pitch there was no redress unless his own team banned a player.
As for the rugby that day in Cardiff it was a goodish game although clearly nothing could compare with 1973. The legendary French backrow duo of Jean-Pierre Rives and Jean-Claude Skrela donned the Barbarians shirt and England wing Mike Slemen scored two tries, the first from a beautifully-judged kick ahead which showcased his excellent all-round skills.
New Zealand, with Dave Loveridge and Eddie Dunn pulling the strings, were just too strong, however, although it needed Dunn’s injury time dropped goal to see them home.
Years later it emerged that at one stage skipper Graham Mourie shouted a pre-arranged call when they were awarded a penalty when his team were meant to gather for an impromptu flash haka during which one of the All Blacks was to tap the penalty and waltz in for a try.
Come the moment the Kiwis got stage fright and just four of the New Zealand pack remembered to start the haka routine and then Loveridge knocked on anyway. Which was probably well given the ugly mood of the crowd that day. Such a move would cause a diplomatic incident these days.
In 1989, two sets of brothers turned out for the Barbarians, Gavin and Scott Hastings and Rory and Tony Underwood, while 1993 was notable mainly for the performance of a young openside called Neil Back, who England, at that stage, refused to consider seriously at international level. Ten years later, he was a World Cupwinner.
New Zealand were totally dominant in 2004 and handed out a 47-19 battering, an early warning of the annus mirabilis that was to follow in 2005, when they marched to victory in the Tri-Nations, dismissed the Lions and stormed their way to an autumn
Grand Slam over the Home Unions. Given that hammering there were many who began to chunter about the relevance of a Barbarians fixture against New Zealand and in 2009 you felt that perhaps the famous club might even be playing for their very existence, at least in terms of these showpiece matches. Backs to wall challenges is what they like best and, pulling in all sorts of favours and using high placed contacts around the world, they gathered a mighty strong looking team to face Graham Henry’s all-conquering side. What was amazing about their 25-18 win at Twickenham, apart from a blazing hat-trick from Bryan Habana who was then at the height of his powers, is the way a disparate squad put together such a polished and coherent performance in a full on game off the back of a couple of sessions, a night on the lash and two or three team meals. It was a very timely reminder for Twickenham next Saturday of what wit and wisdom, talent and desire, can achieve in a short time and makes you ponder if some national teams spend too much time together and in camp. It’s what the Barbarians do and hopefully there’ll always be room for them in our calendar.