9: CARLOs Gives CHRistCHURCH tHe FiNGeR

The people of Christchurch had never warmed to Carlos Spencer. The Blues No 10 had spent much of his professional life in competition for the All Blacks jersey with Canterbury’s Andrew Mehrtens and it was one of those divisive selection issues.

Spencer was seen as flash and flimsy down South and they used to give him heaps of verbal abuse which he played up to.

Having played brilliantly throughout 2003 to mastermind first a heavy round-robin victory against the Crusaders then another in the final, Spencer was up for the hat-trick when the two teams met in Christchurch early in 2004.