THE ROAD TO GOLD
BROADCASTER GRANT NISBETT REVIEWS A BOOK ABOUT BILLY WALLACE, AN ALL BLACK ‘NISBO’ HAS A STRONG CONNECTION TOO.
AFTER THE HEARTBREAK OF THE BLACK FERNS RIO OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN A RESET WAS NEEDED AND “PEOPLE FIRST” WOULD BE AT THE HEART OF THAT CHANGE. IN SEVENS SISTERS, RIKKI SWANNELL EXPLAINS HOW NEW COACH ALLAN BUNTING AND A LARGE, DIVERSE LEADERSHIP GROUP SET THE BLACK FERNS SEVENS ON A PATH TO WINNING OLYMPIC GOLD IN TOKYO.
In pressure moments big decisions need to be made and two huge ones occurred before the whistle went to start extra time. The first was made by Allan Bunting. He was allowed to make one substitution to replace Kelly Brazier, and he had a choice: Portia Woodman, the all-time greatest scorer in women’s sevens who’d just made a chase back that effectively saved the game, or Gayle Broughton, the unpredictable, unorthodox player who’d so often provided impact off the bench and had perhaps been the Black Ferns Sevens’ best on field all week.
Bunting: ‘Portia was looking at me saying, “Put me on” and Gayle was looking at me saying, “Put Portia on”. But I knew we needed someone in the middle of the field at that moment, we needed Gayle to create something, and Portia had blown a gasket with that chase. I turned to Gayle and said, “You’re it” and when she questioned me, I told her I was dead sure.’ Broughton was wracked with anxiety. ‘I don’t know why, but I couldn’t shake the nerves in that game and I stood there thinking, Please don’t pick me Bunts, please don’t pick me. Shiray Kaka came over and gave me a pep talk, but I was just so bloody scared and didn’t believe in myself at that moment. I realised, though, that in choosing me, Bunts trusted and had faith. Before I went on the field he said, “No matter what happens I’m still going to love you,” and from that point I went from being absolutely scared to feeling: yeah, Shiray’s right, I am built for these moments. I’ve had so many moments in my life where I’ve continuously stood up, even when I’ve been pushed down.’
The restart is one of the most vital aspects of play in sevens rugby and
New Zealand would kick off in extra time in an attempt to execute one of their set plays and regain possession straight away. The second big decision was made by captain Sarah Hirini.
‘Normally, the first receiver calls the kick-off and maybe if the forwards want it we’ll overrule, but Fitzy [Theresa Fitzpatrick] made the call to go to Michaela’s [Blyde] side, which I agreed with as I trust her decisionmaking. I don’t know why, but I just had a feeling that I needed to change the call . . . Stacey [Fluhler] had come back onto the field prior to the fulltime whistle and she was on the far side, waving, and I knew what our best kick was when she was the receiver. I had an internal battle with myself — I trusted Fitzy, but why would we not go to Stacey? It must have been 30 seconds of thinking between the two options, and I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t change the call and Fiji went down the end to score.’
The call changed, Tyla Nathan-Wong put it on a dime and Fluhler soared.
‘I was super confident for the kick-off, I knew we needed possession and that Fiji would have the upper hand if we didn’t get it,’ Fluhler says. ‘I have my own little processes that I go through on kick-off so I never really thought of it as a pressure moment, and when it landed in my hands it was the best feeling ever.’
New Zealand poured upfield, holding possession for three minutes and, after a huge carry from Hirini the ball landed in the hands of the young woman from the wrong side of the tracks, a young woman with more skill and ability than she’d ever realised, who, if it weren’t for a push from her nan and a will to make something big of herself, could have been anywhere but on that field at that moment. With a bit of magic, a whirl and a twirl, Gayle Broughton scored the match-winning try. The way she describes it is like an Xbox game.
‘There are four defenders on my right, can’t go that way. Mini’s [Michaela Blyde] on my left, Tyla’s just behind me and there’s no defender on the post on my left: go that way. Defender comes across: spin; defender on my right: fend, push off, and put the ball down. It felt like everything physically slowed down and my brain went into an instinctive mode.’
As her teammates rushed at her in various states of elation and exhaustion, Broughton had a blank look on her face; she was ready to charge back to halfway and go again, before the realisation that she’d won the game and put New Zealand into the gold-medal match. Five years of grind on the field, of growing, trusting, testing and pushing the boundaries of team, culture and friendship to their absolute limits came down to a few critical moments.
‘Bunts and I had always said that the dream was to get to the Olympics and we could watch from the grandstand . . . that would mean that we’d done our job,’ says co-coach Cory Sweeney. ‘That kick-off [to start extra time] highlighted the calm, trust and leadership — Stacey takes it in full flight, Gossy [Sarah Hirini] making a last-minute change based on a picture that she saw, then boom: three phases and Gayle scores. In extra time, we could have been in the stands.’
There may have been a sense of calm about the team and coaches in those final pulsating moments, but those around the stadium and back in New Zealand who could have absolutely no influence on the outcome were in various states of despair, nerves frayed, fingernails bitten down with hearts pounding out of their chests. Dr Deb Robinson and high performance manager Tony Philp had refused to move from the spot they’d sat in for the entire tournament, high up in the stands on the far side of the stadium, while strength and conditioning coach Brad Anderson hid down in a corner to the side of the pitch.
Anderson: ‘Usually I’m quite calm, but I was swearing and kicking chairs and the poor Japanese volunteer near me looked so scared and upset, I started bowing and apologising. To be honest, I’m glad we didn’t have a crowd there, because the Fijians’ supporters and the neutrals would have drowned out the Kiwis and it might have been the piece they needed to get over the line.’
Back home, the team’s highly regarded personal development manager, Nikita Hall, was juggling a Farah Palmer Cup match, featuring some of the extended squad, with watching what was unfolding in Tokyo. Hall’s role within the team means she connects with players on a very holistic level, helping them develop as individuals and rugby players; she’s made a huge impact on the group since taking on the job in 2019 and in most of the players’ minds is the unsung hero of their support staff. They put her through the wringer.
Says Hall: ‘It was thrilling viewing — it genuinely felt like a rollercoaster ride of emotions, from the pride of seeing our wāhine toa in that black jersey in an Olympic semi-final, to the crushing realisation they may fall one short of achieving their golden dream. Suffice to say my nauseous stomach, after a bit of a night out, was put to the test watching the match clock tick down. I don’t think a better finish could have been scripted — to witness Gayle at her absolute authentic best dot down with complete confidence, capitalising on Sarah’s brilliance, in a move no doubt employed many a time as a young Taranaki kid taking on the local Hāwera lads . . . The relief and euphoria was overwhelming, coupled with “**** that was too close”.’
And Niall Williams, who should have been in the thick of the action but was instead preparing to travel to a TV studio in Auckland.
‘I went through every emotion you could think of. I paced the house, went back and forth to the lounge to look at the TV, I was screaming, crying, my kids thought I was crazy.
I never really understood what it was like for friends and family watching us, but after that, I never want to see that game again.’
The book is called Billy Wallace – A True Rugby Legend, so the first thing I wanted to know was, is Billy Wallace a rugby legend ? I challenged author Denis Dwyer to convince me in 200 pages whether his assertion was true or not and to be honest I’m still not sure.
When we talk about legends of New Zealand rugby names like Sir Colin Meads, Dan Carter and Richie McCaw readily spring to mind but rarely have I heard Billy Wallace mentioned in that category. Seeing players in the flesh, and most of us saw Meads, Carter and McCaw, obviously gives them a massive advantage, one not enjoyed by the likes of George Nepia and Billy Wallace, their exploits unseen by most of us who rely heavily on the observations of others.
I have to declare my hand early here – Billy Wallace was a Wellingtonian and a member of the famous Poneke club, my club, so two institutions dear to my heart, and so I attacked the book with much relish as it readily focused on my parochialism.
Billy Wallace was born in 1878 and his All Black career spanned just six seasons, 1903-08, with 51 games including 11 tests. But his contribution to the game was far greater than that. He played club rugby for the best part of 20 years, provincial rugby for almost as long, excelled in coaching for both Wellington and the All Blacks and was a much respected administrator to boot. However, the question must be asked – can you regard a player as a legend on the evidence of just 11 tests? As we know the All Blacks today can belt out 11 tests, or more, in a season, whereas 120 years ago very few internationals were played.
This is a book which has been put together with massive research and the author has been meticulous in his attention to detail. It’s also a book that reveals many interesting and previously, to me anyway, unknown facts. Do you know that in 1903 for the All Black tour to Australia the New Zealand selectors “forgot” to pick a fullback. On that same tour the New Zealand manager, Jack Norris, refereed the game against North Queensland, won 29-0 by the visitors. When Wellington took the Ranfurly Shield off Auckland in 1904 Auckland had been so confident of retaining it that hadn’t bothered to remove the Shield from the bank vault where it was held for security reasons. It arrived in Wellington a week later. On the famous and arduous 1905 tour to the United Kingdom Wallace wore a soft tweed hat in the match against Cornwall to negate the glare of the sun. On that same tour the All Blacks played Devonport Albion and at halftime, with the All Blacks ahead 5-0, the sides sat down and had afternoon tea together.
This is the book for the rugby tragic. It follows the life of Wallace from day dot to his passing at the grand old age of 93 in 1972. It’s also a wonderful history of the early days of All Black rugby and the city of Wellington and it readily portrays the massive differences between the way the game was played, refereed and administered back in those early days compared to what we are used to over a century later.
I’m not entirely certain though that I know the real Billy Wallace after reading the book – what was his true character ? What we do know is that he was a brilliant rugby player, a fearless and often-injured competitor and a great team and family man. But a legend?