THE NEW ZEALAND 1995 RUGBY SEASON
| | _________________________ | | NZ RUGBY
| | /oooooooooooooooooooooooo/\ | | 1995
|____| /ooooooooooooooooooooooooo/ | |____| SEASON
| | /oooooooooooooooooooooooooo/ | | | SUMMARY
| | |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | | |
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
THE NEW ZEALAND 1995 RUGBY SEASON
A Summary put together by
Paul Waite, Bill Taylor, Alan Murray, Paul Kendall,
Tracey Nelson, Russell Brown, Dave Fisher,
and Ben Clegg
10th February 1996
Edited by Paul Waite
CONTENTS
{1} Looking Back at 1994
{2} Countdown to the 1995 Rugby World Cup
{3} The Super-10 Series
{4} The Hong Kong Sevens
{5} NZ vs CANADA
{6} The 1995 Rugby World Cup - A Match Too Far
{6.1} The All Black Squad
{6.2} Pool Game 1: vs Ireland
{6.3} Pool Game 2: vs Wales
{6.4} Pool Game 3: vs Japan
{6.5} Standings after pool play
{6.6} Quarter-Final: vs Scotland
{6.7} Semi-Final: vs England
{6.8} Final: vs South Africa
{6.9} Summing Up
{6.10} The Poisoning Incident
{7} The Bledisloe Cup
{7.1} 1st Test at Eden Park, Auckland
{7.2} 2nd Test at Sydney Football Stadium
{8} The 1995 National Provincial Championship
{8.1} The NPC First Division
{8.1.1} Canterbury
{8.1.2} Waikato
{8.1.3} Auckland
{8.1.4} Wellington
{8.1.5} Counties
{8.1.6} North Harbour
{8.1.7} King Country
{8.1.8} Southland
{8.1.9} Otago
{8.1.10} Final Standings
{8.1.11} NPC First Division Semi-Finals
{8.1.12} NPC First Division Final
{8.2} The NPC Second Division
{8.2.1} Final Standings
{8.2.2} NPC Second Division Semi-Finals
{8.2.3} NPC Second Division Final
{8.3} The NPC Third Division
{8.3.1} Final Standings
{8.3.2} NPC Third Division Semi-Finals
{8.3.3} NPC Third Division Final
{9} The Tour of Italy and France
{9.1} Italy
{9.2} France 1st Test at Toulouse
{9.3} France 2nd Test at Paris
{9.4} Tour Results and Individual Scoring
{10} New Zealand Rugby in 1995 - A Perspective from Abroad
{11} New Zealand Players & Personalities of the Year
{12} New Zealand Rugby - Looking to the Future
{12.1} The Players
{12.2} The Coach
{12.3} Pro Rugby
{12.4} The Rugby Super-12
{12.5} SANZAR
Acknowlegements
Article size
~~~~~~~~~~~~
First of all, there are no apologies for the length of this article. An
awful lot happened in this Rugby World Cup season, and to give everything
fair coverage requires space. Simply print it out, snuggle into a comfy
armchair with an appropriate beverage or two, and enjoy it!
The article is approximately 4320 lines, and 75 pages long (about 180
screens-full), comprising about 35,000 words in approximately 187Kb. To
search for section 9 (for example), search for "{9}". The curly brackets
will ensure only two matches, the index and the heading, apart from section
9 of course which will now have three :)
I hope you have as much enjoyment reading part or all of this Summary as
we all had in writing it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{1} LOOKING BACK AT 1994
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The previous season was certainly regarded with mixed feelings at best, and
despair at worst by rugby fans in New Zealand. With the World Cup fast
approaching, and very little in the way of top-level match play in which
to settle on the team to win it, 1994 seemed like it had been largely
wasted, exposing many problems and resolving none.
Key positions, such as first five-eighth and halfback were completely open
to conjecture. Simon Mannix, the form first five-eighth at the All Black
trials was dropped after the first test loss against France. In his place
Stephen Bachop was hoisted from the 'Not Wanted' dumpster into which he
had been deposited during the 1993 tour of England and Scotland by the
All Black selectors. He remained in place for all of the tests against
South Africa and frankly did not impress.
At halfback Otago mighty midget Stu Forster was played for both tests against
France, but was dropped in favour of Graeme Bachop for South Africa. To be
honest Bachop did not give us any hints during these games in 1994 as to how
tremendous his form was to be in 1995. In 1994 he performed adequately, but
without much distinction. Part of this was the total ineptitude of the All
Black backline.
From the very start of 1994, ignoring the first test against France, the
problem was mainly the inability of the backline to fire, and the overall
lack of inspiration when running the ball. The forwards, after the debacle
which was the first test against France, did play in the end with commendable
application, but the backs totally failed to impress. There were, it must be
said, two notable exceptions to this. The first occurred in the second test
against South Africa at Athletic Park, Wellington, where for the first half
the All Blacks performed really well, the backs playing with great inspiration
and looking as if they were capable of penetrating top defences. The second
was in the second half of the Bledisloe Cup match, but more of that later.
After the second test against South Africa, the final test was played at Eden
Park. During the buildup week, the country was hopeful of seeing further
development from the side and a 3-0 whitewash over 'the old enemy'. It was
not to be. The All Blacks played uninspired rugby, and did not deserve the
draw they obtained care of Shane Howarth's boot.
On then to the other 'old enemy' Australia. The Bledisloe Cup was played
in Sydney Football Stadium under lights. The first half was a story of
All Black forwards failing to 'front-up', and a backline which didn't
seem capable of stringing two successive passes together. Australia took
a deserved lead and changed ends in control. At this point, a strange
thing happened. The All Blacks started playing Sevens-style rugby, and
literally took the shocked Wallabies apart. The rock-solid Aussie
defence prevented the Black tide from breaking through and scoring numerous
tries, but there was no doubt as to who was playing the better rugby. As
it was, the sides were within a couple of points when Jeff Wilson broke
through to all but score the winner, prevented by 'That Tackle' from George
Gregan. It marked the end of a puzzling season for All Black fans, and
no-one felt good in their water about the World Cup prospects.
As the 1995 season arrived, and 1994 was receding into the memory's nether
regions where it belonged, the problems remained prominent. The defection
to rugby league of John Timu had left a large gap due to his exceptional
abilities at both fullback and on the wing, and exacerbated an already bad
situation.
A glimmer of hope did indeed exist at first five-eighth however. During
1994 a young Canterbury player by the name of Andrew Mehrtens had emerged
as a prospect with obvious class stamped all over him. His performances
with Canterbury during their Ranfurly Shield campaign that year, and in
other matches was enough to whet the appettite of any All Black supporter
with an eye for talent. In 1994 he did however seem to be a year short
of the kind of experience which is needed to step up to full international
level. The glimmer of hope was kindled by his inclusion in the 1994 summer
training camps for the All Black World Cup Squad. Would he be able to mature
enough to play a year early? The prospect was an exciting one, but the idea
of this gangly youngster steering the All Black backline against the best
in the World at the World Cup seemed to be real fairy tale stuff at this
point.
Halfback was still an open question, with Graeme Bachop the incumbent, and
having made arrangements with his Japanese employer to remain a fully
committed member of the All Black World Cup effort. His performances during
1994 had not exactly stimulated the imagination, however he was (and is)
one of the best halves around, as he had proved in the 1991 World Cup.
At lock great dependency still rested on Robin Brooke and Ian Jones, with an
uncomfortable lack of contenders pressing for their positions. The loose
forwards had looked very average during 1994, and with Michael Jones under
his usual injury cloud and unavailable for Sunday games, things looked bleak
in this department as well.
However, an interesting development over the summer of 1994 was the inclusion
of dynamic Otago opensider Josh Kronfeld in the squad. His performances
for his province had certainly taken a huge leap forwards in 1994, and his
inclusion was universally welcomed, although the first choice loose forward
makeup was not at all clear.
With John Timu gone, the fullback berth was in question. Auckland's Shane
Howarth had proved an admirable if uninspiring stop-gap in 1994, providing
the All Blacks with a reliable goal-kicker and a fullback with excellent
positional skills, if lacking in size and pace. The inclusion in the World
Cup squad of North Harbour ace Glen Osborne certainly had the mouths of most
New Zealanders fairly watering with anticipation, but the team make-up was
dependent on fielding a good goal-kicker.
The choices seemed to vary between picking a non-kicking first five-eighth
such as Stephen Bachop, and having Shane Howarth at fullback performing
these duties, or throwing Andrew Mehrtens in at the deep end, and then
being freed to play an exciting attacking fullback such as Osborne. Other
kicking options were Glen Osborne himself, and Jeff Wilson, however
neither could be considered as 'reliable' at test level.
A final question mark was embodied in the person of Jonah Lomu. Having
'flopped' badly in the tests against France in 1994, the youngster had
bags of raw potential, but seemingly too much to learn insofar as
playing at test level was concerned. News of his inclusion in the summer
training camps raised the eyebrows of some, and people were split over
whether he should be included in the final World Cup squad or not. It also
seemed that Jonah had question marks over his fitness level, and doubts
were cast over his ability to raise it to the high standard required by
Laurie Mains.
To summarise then, 1994 generated a lot of uncertainty and pessimistic
feeling in the rugby-following public in New Zealand. At a time when the
team and its style should have been largely settled important positions were
totally open. No-one in the country gave New Zealand much of a chance of
winning the World Cup based on the 1994 season's performances. These
feelings were obviously not restricted to fans either, since Laurie Mains
only just retained his grip on the coach's job at the election, narrowly
beating a strong challenge by John Hart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{2} COUNTDOWN TO THE 1995 RUGBY WORLD CUP by Tracey Nelson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the end of the 1994 season, a preliminary training squad had been
selected containing the majority of those who had worn the black jersey
that year, along with some up and coming provincial players such as Simon
Culhane. The squad had looked to be fairly predictable but conservative,
with no major suprises thrown in. When the final squad was announced at
the beginning of 1995 however, there were more than a few eyebrows
raised at the inclusion of players such as Andrew Mehrtens, Josh Kronfeld
and Glen Osborne.
These players, with no international experience at all, were being included
at the expense of some more seasoned campaigners such as Stephen Bachop and
Michael Jones. Mehrtens especially appeared to be a player plucked from
obscurity and thrown in at the deep end. Kronfeld and Osborne had been tipped
for possible selection but Mehrtens had only recently gained recognition
during the 1994 season, when Canterbury won the Ranfurly Shield.
First of all, a side note about the non-selection of Michael Jones whose
religious convictions concerning non-availability for Sunday games has long been
acknowledged. If New Zealand were to win their pool, they would play both the
quarter-final and semi-final on Sundays. Obviously although Jones is an
exceedingly gifted player, his non-availability for two such important games
made his inclusion in the squad an impossibility.
The final squad of 26 players (12 backs and 14 forwards) was:
Fullback Wings Halves Centres
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
Glen Osborne Jeff Wilson Graeme Bachop Marc Ellis
Jonah Lomu Ant Strachan Frank Bunce
Eric Rush Andrew Mehrtens Walter Little
Simon Culhane Alama Ieremia
Loose forwards Locks Props Hookers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
Zinzan Brooke Robin Brooke Richard Loe Sean Fitzpatrick
Mike Brewer Ian Jones Craig Dowd Norm Hewitt
Josh Kronfeld Blair Larsen Olo Brown
Kevin Schuler
Paul Henderson
Jamie Joseph
More information on this squad, and the rest of the touring party is to be
found in Section 6: The 1995 Rugby World Cup - A Match Too Far.
In the final lead-up to the World Cup, there were games against Waikato and
the Barbarians, and a home test-match against Canada on April 22nd. There
were three new test caps for the All Blacks - Andrew Mehrtens, Glen Osborne and
Josh Kronfeld. Mehrtens impressed many with his slick handling, long punts and
sheer pace about the field. Other favourable points were the continuity of
play from the tight five (with some impressive support play also displayed),
some glimpses of open, running back play and the overall fitness levels of
the team.
But at the end of the day, the All Blacks had not faced any hard competition
in 1995 as they set off to South Africa. This, combined with what was still
seen as some unproven selections in key positions and a lack of any
recognisable game plan, led many New Zealanders to abandon any hopes that
New Zealand might claim back the crown of the Rugby World Champions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{3} THE SUPER-10 SERIES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With the Rugby World Cup in the offing, the 1995 Super-10 was viewed by most
New Zealanders with mixed feelings. The advent of the season was welcomed,
as was the chance to see how key players developed as the World Cup was
approached, however this was also tinged with worries about injury to those
same key players. These worries were borne out when Zinzan and his brother
Robin Brooke both suffered injuries which, particularly in Zinzan's case,
caused them to perform below par for a good part of the World Cup tournament.
Overall, the teams representing New Zealand: Canterbury, Auckland, Otago,
and North Harbour, used the Super-10 as a limbering-up excercise for the
Rugby World Cup and the NPC season. The difference between the players who
had been included in All Black summer camps and those who had only followed
normal training patterns was quite marked.
As in previous seasons, the New Zealand teams looked off the pace as compared
with their South African and Australian counterparts, pointing to a difference
in preparation. As a result none of them reached the final.
Otago started well with a win over Western Province at Cape Town 33-21, but
then faltered being beaten 31-16 by New South Wales in Sydney. They then
beat North Harbour 35-12 at Carisbrook before going down 27-18 to
Transvaal, again at home in Dunedin.
Canterbury started their first game well against Queensland in Brisbane,
but eventually lost 24-6. They then went down in a close match against
Auckland at Eden Park 27-22, before thrashing Tonga 75-5 at Lancaster
Park. A final loss to Orange Free State 42-35 in front of their home
crowd marked the end of their campaign.
North Harbour started badly, losing 17-14 to Transvaal in Johannesburg.
A draw in the wet 6-6 against New South Wales at Takapuna also did them
no favours. Their fortunes continued in this vein as they succumbed
to Otago 35-12 at the 'brook, and in their final game they lost 42-37 to
Western Province at Takapuna.
Auckland also began badly, losing to Orange Free State 21-15 at
Bloemfontein. The next week they went down 31-15 to Queensland, but
bounced back with a 27-22 win over Canterbury. A final flourish 37-25
over Tonga marked the end of their Super-10 Pool games.
The standings after Pool Play were as follows.
Pool A P W D L For Against Pts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Transvaal 4 3 - 1 78 65 13
New South Wales 4 2 1 1 78 64 11
Western Province 4 2 - 2 99 106 9
Otago 4 2 - 2 102 91 8
North Harbour 4 - 1 3 69 100 4
Pool B P W D L For Against Pts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Queensland 4 4 - - 116 48 16
Orange Free State 4 3 - 1 85 91 12
Auckland 4 2 - 2 94 99 9
Canterbury 4 1 - 3 138 98 7
Tonga 4 - - 4 62 159 1
The Super-10 Final was played between Queensland and Transvaal at Ellis
Park, Johannesburg on April 8th 1995.
Queensland won this confrontation in a see-saw match which at first saw
them looking like being ground down by the altitude-acclimatized South
African side. With the score against them at half-time and players looking
very weary of trying to drag oxygen in from the rarified air, it looked
ominous. However a runaway try when Transvaal were pressurizing inside the
Queensland 22m saw the fortunes dramatically reversed. Transvaal heads
suddenly drooped, and Queensland legs found the ability to run on little or
no oxygen.
From that point it was all Queensland, and they deservedly finished up
by winning the 1995 Super-10 series Final by 30-16.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{4} THE HONG KONG SEVENS by Bill Taylor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Hong Kong sevens still seems to hold the premiere glamour and prestige
position in world sevens, in spite of the introduction of an "official"
world sevens competition, in 1994.
In 1995 it was in almost every respect an unqualified success for New Zealand.
Here are the bare bones results:
Pool results involving NZ, Saturday March 25
New Zealand 42 Kwang-Hua Taipei 5
New Zealand 40 USA 7
Quarter-finals results, Sunday, March 26
New Zealand 26 South Africa 0
Western Samoa 28 Tonga 5
Fiji 47 Namibia 0
Australia 26 England 0
Semi-finals
New Zealand 26 Western Samoa 0
Fiji 35 Australia 5
FINAL
New Zealand 35 Fiji 17
The New Zealand squad was:
Adrian Cashmore, Jonah Lomu, Joeli Vidiri, Joe Tauiwi, Christian
Cullen, Eric Rush(c), Dallas Seymour, Peter Woods, Bradley
Fleming, Andrew Blowers
There were eight pools of three, seeded so that each pool had a "top" team,
a middling one, and a minnow. As can be seen, NZ had no problems brushing
aside their minnows, though not as ruthlessly as some other top teams like
Fiji. Perhaps NZ were pacing themselves carefully. Interestingly, there was
an almost immediate upset when minnow Hong Kong knocked over top team France,
who for some reason have never taken well to sevens; oddly, because it seems
to be a game where their natural flair should excell - speed, running skill
and improvization being prime requirements; (and, of course, a dash of
extreme silliness always helps!) In fact Tonga made the top eight from this
group; as did dark horses Namibia who managed to dump Ireland in another
upset.
The bowl competition (for the losing eight) was dominated by Hong Kong and
Papua-New Guinea, two teams that had looked far better than the others.
Hong Kong seemed to consist entirely of European ex-pats, 5 of whom were
Kiwis. Hong Kong downed PNG in the final, to the delight of the home crowd
who thus witnessed this cheerful outcome for the second year running.
In the plate competition, (for the middling eight), there were a number of
promising teams - USA, Canada, Argentina, Korea, Japan, Ireland and France
had all shown promise, and could be regarded as co-favourites! There was
momentary promise of an all-Asia final, but alas, Canada proved too strong
for Japan in the semis, and a lack-lustre but dominant Argentina seemed
destined lose to Korea by a last second penalty kick, which was unaccountably
missed. In extra time Argentina managed to kick a penalty to win.
The final seemed predictably Canada's, but Argentina upped their pace and
went ahead by two tries! Looked bad, but Canada moved up a gear and cruised
past them, without further being troubled. Well done to Canada, who in the
end looked just too strong and accomplished for this group. And bad luck to
Argentina, who have now been the plate losing finalists four years in a row!
In the top section, Namibia and Tonga were not expected to do well, but any
of the other six were in with a chance, with New Zealand and Fiji looking
a shade better than the rest.
Sure enough, Samoa knocked over Tonga and Fiji Namibia without trouble. New
Zealand were expected to beat South Africa, but no-one expected the whitewash
that it was, 26-0. SA found out what the rest know - that Jonah Lomu is
almost unstoppable, and thus succumbed; the well-organized Kiwi defense
completing the rout.
In the remaining quarter, the battle looked very even on paper - and a
rematch of last year's official World Sevens final, Australia vs England. It
was great to see England sending a team to Hong Kong at last. After Ireland
and France's unceremonious exits they were the sole northerners. They had
been unconvincing 1994 World Sevens winners, though they'd well scuppered Oz
in the final, 21-0.
Maybe the Okkers had a grudge, or maybe they now knew what to expect; but
whatever - though England fielded a similar team, Oz managed to contain
them, and with devastating counter-attacking skill turned the tables, 26-0.
In the semis, NZ and Fiji were expected to win, but only after hard pushing.
Again, the events were a total surprise, with NZ downing Samoa 26-0, and
Fiji downing Oz 35-5 (effectively 35-0 with a last-second consolation).
No-one had realized how far ahead of the rest the two finalists were, pretty
much in a class of their own.
So the stage was set for a classic final. It would be New Zealand's well
disciplined defense, ball-retaining offense, and game-crashing Lomu, against
the natural athleticism and sheer speed of the Fijians, their uncompromising
tackling, and the incomparable wizardry of the unofficial king of sevens -
Fijian captain, kicker and creator extrordinaire, Waisale Serevi.
Both teams had points to prove. NZ had the cup to defend, and a poor effort
in the World Sevens to atone for; and Fiji had the HK7 as their last glamour
event to shine in, having been dumped from the WC15s. Though NZ had a better
defensive record from the early rounds, Fiji had by far the better offensive
one. It looked disturbingly like Fiji had the edge, with their magical flair
perhaps able to scythe through the NZ defensive screen.
As it turned out, the Fijian tackling was no more able to suppress Lomu
than anyone else; Serevi was kept quiet for the most part, and though their
speed and opportunism bore fruit, Fiji were ultimately starved of possession
by the well-drilled Kiwi method. Fiji did manage to come back from a 14-0
gap, to lead 17-14 at the half; and for a little while we supporters were
badly unsettled. But in the second half the Blacks never released their
relentless grip on the game, and cruised home by 5 tries to 3 in total; 35-17.
SUMMARY of the NZ Performance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the end the All Blacks proved too good for the rest, even the mighty
Fiji, (who nonetheless still have the record for the most ever HK7 cup wins
safely under their belts).
Perhaps three things emerged from this tournament.
One was, as mentioned above, how far New Zealand and Fiji have leapt ahead of
their main rivals in sevens, though this can hardly be expected to continue
as the others catch up with their methods.
Another was the NZ approach of fielding a team of sevens specialists. This is
clearly a sensible move, and though England and Australia also do this, it
didn't seem to pay off so well. It may be that NZ's long build-up of domestic
and foreign sevens tournaments, together with long-term specialist sevens
training did it - they probably spent a little more specialist time on it
than others.
But clearly the third and undoubtedly key feature of the NZ performance was
personnel. Eric Rush, though perhaps not the equal of Serevi, is a wily
player and inspirational leader; and his vast sevens experience was a key.
It was the first chance the world at large had had to see Osborne, a fast
and dangerous player at both forms of the game, as the world saw later
in SA. But most of all the difference was the incomparable Jonah Lomu.
Though the world had seen him before, it was as a brief flop against
France in the 15-man game. He had been at the 1994 HK 7's, but was badly
injured there and had not made such a stir. In the '95 HK 7's he dominated
affairs from start to finish, and was undoubtedly player of the tournament.
His speed, strength and often-overlooked stepping ability made him virtually
an irrestible force at this game, leaving only his ability at the 15-man
version of the game open to question; a question comprehensively and most
positively answered in South Africa.
[ Editor's Note: Coincidentally, New Zealand Sevens rookie Christian Cullen
scored the first try of the 1995 competition in the only match he got to play,
a feat he has just repeated in the 1996 Hong Kong Sevens. Although
obviously a gifted youngster with bags of potential, he gave no indication
that he would shoot to his present status as Player of the Tournament in
1996. ]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{5} NZ vs CANADA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday April 22nd 1995
at Eden Park, Auckland
Final Score: NEW ZEALAND 73 CANADA 7 (HT: 30-0)
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
G Osborne, J Wilson, F Bunce, W Little, M Ellis, A Mehrtens, G Bachop
M Brewer, J Kronfeld, J Joseph, R Brooke, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick, C Dowd
Canada
~~~~~~
D Stewart, D. Lougheed, B Ebl, S Gray, R Ross, G Rees(c), J Graf
C McKenzie, A Charron, G MacKinnon, G Ennis, M James, P le Blanc,
E Evans, M Cardinal
With the 1995 Rugby World Cup looming large on the horizon, and very little time
to get the All Black test team in order, this seemingly insignificant one-off
test against plucky Canada took on a greater importance.
With all the negative baggage following through from the 1994 season, and
an apparent lack of a settled side and gameplan, the All Black side which
was named caused quite a degree of excitement. At fullback was North
Harbour speedster Glen Osborne. Weighing in at first five-eighth,
Canterbury's talented youngster Andrew Mehrtens had all eyes turned his
way, as he attempted to show that he was the right man for this crucial
job at the World Cup.
At half-back, Graeme Bachop carried on from 1994, and he also had the
spotlight, since he still had to prove he was the right choice.
On the day the All Black performance, with hindsight, showed a lot of
the traits that we came to recognize during the World Cup. They performed
with tremendous pace, stretching Canada to breaking point over and over
again, but also made a huge number of errors, a large proportion of which
were unforced.
The All Blacks had a wealth of possession with which to attack their
opponents, and bagged 10 tries, 7 conversions and 3 penalties. Andrew
Mehrtens set a new World record for points on test debut, scoring 28 of
them comprising 1 try, 7 conversions and 3 penalties.
The remainder of the points were scored as tries to Frank Bunce(2), Marc
Ellis(2), Glen Osborne(2), Graeme Bachop, Jeff Wilson, and Olo Brown.
As an initial outing it was certainly a satisfactory one, although the
test was not severe enough for anyone to relate it to how well the
All Blacks were going to go at the World Cup.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6} THE 1995 RUGBY WORLD CUP - A Match Too Far by Tracey Nelson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the All Blacks arrived in South Africa, they were only fifth favourites
to win with the bookmakers. Many were looking at Australia and England to
make it through to the final, with France and South Africa also being seen
as better odds than the All Blacks.
The All Black supporters were feeling edgy as the All Blacks' lead-up to the
World Cup hadn't really involved playing any hard competition - 73 points
against Canada could hardly be called test rugby. So it was with some alarm
that New Zealanders watched the pre-tournament favourite, Australia, being
beaten by the host team South Africa in the tournament opener.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6.1} The All Black Squad
The squad size for every Rugby World Cup participant was limited to 26,
plus the administrative, coaching and ancillary staff. The All Black
contingent for the 1995 Rugby World Cup was as follows.
Player by position Union Age Height Weight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
Fullback
G.M. Osborne North Harbour 23 1.85 76
Threequaters
F.E. Bunce North Harbour 33 1.83 94
M.C.G. Ellis Otago 23 1.78 87
J.T. Lomu Counties 20 1.95 118
E.J. Rush North Harbour 30 1.81 88
J.W. Wilson Otago 21 1.81 91
Five-eighths
S.D. Culhane Southland 27 1.75 75
A. Ieremia Wellington 24 1.87 98
W.K. Little North Harbour 25 1.78 76
A.P. Mehrtens Canterbury 22 1.78 77
Halfbacks
G.T.M. Bachop Canterbury 27 1.77 82
A.D. Strachan North Harbour 28 1.75 82
Loose forwards
M.R. Brewer Canterbury 30 1.95 97
Z.V. Brooke Auckland 30 1.93 112
P.W. Henderson Southland 30 1.89 101
J.W. Joseph Otago 25 1.96 110
J.A. Kronfeld Otago 23 1.85 94
K.J. Schuler North Harbour 28 1.89 102
Locks
R.M. Brooke Auckland 28 1.97 114
I.D. Jones North Harbour 28 1.98 104
B.P. Larsen North Harbour 26 1.98 107
Props
O.M. Brown Auckland 27 1.85 110
C.W. Dowd Auckland 25 1.91 114
R.W. Loe Canterbury 35 1.87 110
Hookers
S.B.T. Fitzpatrick(c) Auckland 31 1.83 105
N.J. Hewitt Hawkes Bay 26 1.78 108
World Cup Campaign Manager: B.J. Lochore
Manager: Colin Meads
Coach: Laurie Mains
Assistant coach: E.W. Kirton
Doctor: M. Bowen
Physiotherapist: B. Donaldson
Masseur: D. Cameron
Media liason officer: R. Salizzo
Fitness consultant: M. Toomey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6.2} POOL GAME 1: New Zealand 43 Ireland 19 (HT: 20-12)
Saturday 27th May 1995
at Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Referee: B Leask (Australia)
Attendance: 38,000
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
G Osborne, J Wilson, F Bunce, W Little, J Lomu, A Mehrtens, G Bachop,
M Brewer, J Kronfeld, J Joseph, B Larsen, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick(c), C Dowd
Reserves: M Ellis, S Culhane, A Strachan, K Schuler, R Loe, N Hewitt
Ireland
~~~~~~~
J Staples, R Wallace, B Mullin, J Bell, S Geoghegan, E Elwood, M Bradley,
P Johns, W McBride, S Corkery, G Fulcher, N Francis, N Popplewell,
T Kingston, G Halpin
The All Blacks were amongst the last few teams to begin pool play, with
their first up game against Ireland being played under lights at Ellis Park
in Johannesburg. Mains included his three new players, Osborne, Mehrtens
and Kronfeld along with the recalled Lomu for this game, and they certainly
didn't disappoint the crowd. In fact, this game could well be summed up with
the words "Hello World, meet Jonah Lomu!"
The All Blacks started this game in the manner which had become the norm for
them over the past few years, by sitting back and waiting to see what the
opposition came up with first before really starting to play. The Irish
began as they thought they meant to carry on, and scored a try in the first
five minutes of the game. Then the All Black backs hit their straps and by
the end of the game had scored five tries - two going to Lomu, who had also
charged 80m down field on a brilliant solo run to set up a try for Kronfeld.
This signalled the start of what was to be an outstanding combination
between the giant left winger and the openside flanker throughout the
tournament.
Scoring: New Zealand Ireland
Tries: Lomu(2), Bunce, Kronfeld Halpin, McBride, Corkery
Osborne
Conv: Mehrtens(3) Elwood(2)
Pen: Mehrtens(4)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6.3} POOL GAME 2: New Zealand 34 Wales 9 (HT: 20-6)
Wednesday 31st May 1995
at Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Referee: B Leask (Australia)
Attendance: 45,000
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
G Osborne, J Lomu, F Bunce, W Little, M Ellis, A Mehrtens, G Bachop,
M Brewer, J Kronfeld, J Joseph, B Larsen, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick(c), C Dowd
Reserves: E Rush, S Culhane, A Strachan, K Schuler, R Loe, N Hewitt
Wales
~~~~~
A Clement, I Evans, M Hall, G Thomas, W Proctor, N Jenkins, R Jones,
H Taylor, G Llewellyn, A Bennett, D Jones, G Prosser, R Evans,
J Humphreys, J Davies
Welsh coach, Alex Evans, claimed that Wales would beat New Zealand because
they were bigger, faster and better. Unfortunately for Evans and Wales,
nobody had told the All Blacks this. Wales were probably fortunate that the
All Blacks appeared to stray away from the tactical game plan of expansive,
running rugby they had displayed against Ireland, preferring to rely upon
Mehrtens' large punts up the sideline to make play in the second half.
Although some very good lineout ball was secured, and better service and
protection was given to Bachop during the game, the All Blacks appeared to
muddle their way through the second half after running the ball in the
first.
Although play didn't run towards Lomu in this game, much to the
disappointment of the spectators, he still managed a strong run late in the
game to set up a try for Kronfeld. Good performances came from Little,
Bachop and Larsen who filled in at lock for the injured Robin Brooke.
Brooke's injury was becoming a major concern by this stage, with Richard
Fromont being flown out to be on standby in South Africa.
Scoring: New Zealand Wales
Tries: Little, Ellis, Kronfeld
Conv: Mehrtens(2)
Pen: Mehrtens(4) Jenkins(2)
Drop goal: Mehrtens Jenkins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6.4} POOL GAME 3: New Zealand 145 Japan 17 (HT: 84-3)
Sunday 4th June 1995
at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Referee: G. Gadjovich (Canada)
Attendance: 25,000
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
G Osborne, E Rush, M Ellis, A Ieremia, J Wilson, S Culhane, A Strachan,
Z Brooke, P Henderson(c), K Schuler, R Brooke, B Larsen, R Loe,
N Hewitt, C Dowd
Reserves: G Bachop, A Mehrtens, W Little, S Fitzpatrick, O Brown, J Joseph
Japan
~~~~~
T Matsuda, L Oto, A Yoshida, Y Motoki, Y Yoshida, K Hirose, W Murata,
Sinali Latu, H Kajihara, K Izawa, Y Sakuraba, B Ferguson, O Ota,
M Kunda(c), K Takahashi
For this game the All Blacks fielded all their second string players, which
was probably just as well for Japan when looking at the final score! First
five eighth Simon Culhane created a new World Cup points record with a
personal tally of 45 points, comprising of one try and 20 conversions. Marc
Ellis, playing at centre, also set a new try scoring record for the World
Cup with an overall total of six.
This was the only World Cup appearance for Ieremia, Rush, Culhane, Strachan,
Schuler, Hewitt and Henderson (who was captain for the day). Although they
had not played together before and had no established combinations, the
dirt-trackers turned in a very strong performance to clock up an 84-3 point
advantage by half time. However, the major highlight for the All Black camp
was the appearance of the Brooke brothers, who both managed to last through
the game without any problems from the injuries that had kept them sidelined
thus far in the tournament.
The All Blacks scored 21 tries in this whitewash win over Japan - a rate of
almost two points a minute. While it was no doubt entertaining for the
crowd of 25,000, it is questionable if there is much or any merit in such
mis-matches at a tournament where all games are accorded test match status -
something that may need to be reconsidered for future World Cup tournaments.
Scoring: New Zealand Japan
Tries: Ellis(6), Rush(3), Wilson(3), Kajihara(2)
Osborne(2), R Brooke(2), Loe,
Ieremia, Culhane, Dowd, Henderson
Conv: Culhane(20)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6.5} Standings after pool play
_____________________________________________
POOL A
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
South Africa 3 3 0 0 68 26 9
Australia 3 2 0 1 87 41 7
Canada 3 1 0 2 45 50 5
Romania 3 0 0 3 14 97 3
_____________________________________________
POOL B
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
England 3 3 0 0 95 60 9
Western Samoa 3 2 0 1 96 88 7
Italy 3 1 0 2 69 94 5
Argentina 3 0 0 3 69 87 3
_____________________________________________
POOL C
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
New Zealand 3 3 0 0 222 45 9
Ireland 3 2 0 1 93 94 7
Wales 3 1 0 2 89 68 5
Japan 3 0 0 3 55 252 3
_____________________________________________
POOL D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
France 3 3 0 0 114 47 9
Scotland 3 2 0 1 149 27 7
Tonga 3 1 0 2 44 90 5
Ivory Coast 3 0 0 3 29 172 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6.6} QUARTER FINAL: New Zealand 48 Scotland 30 (HT: 17-9)
Sunday 11th June 1995
at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee: W.D. Bevan (Wales)
Attendance: 28,000
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
J Wilson, M Ellis, F Bunce, W Little, J Lomu, A Mehrtens, G Bachop,
Z Brooke, J Kronfeld, J Joseph, R Brooke, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick(c), R Loe
Reserves: A Ieremia, S Culhane, A Strachan, M Brewer, C Dowd, N Hewitt
Scotland
~~~~~~~~
G Hastings(c), C Joiner, S Hastings, A Shiel, K Logan, C Chalmers,
B Redpath, E Peters, I Morrison, R Wainwright, D Cronin, G Weir, D Hilton,
K Milne, P Wright
Scotland have never beaten New Zealand, and they left the 1995 Rugby World
Cup with this record intact. This was a make or break game - whoever lost
was out of the tournament and on a plane back home. Because of this, the
nerves from both sides showed up early on in the game, with many handling
errors from Scotland and a missed penalty attempt from Mehrtens. Eventually
the All Blacks managed to spin the ball out left where Lomu received it on
his own 10 metre line. He then powered down the field through three tackles
before finally being held around the ankles a metre out from the tryline,
where he passed on to Little who went over for the try. Mehrtens converted.
Scotland answered with two penalty goals, the All Blacks making far too
many mistakes and giving away penalties in their own half. The first half
was 30 minutes old when the ball was finally swung Lomu's way again and he
obliged by scoring a try which was again converted by Mehrtens. A penalty
apiece was exchanged before the halftime break, Mehrtens having an off-day
with the boot scoring only three out of eight attempts at goal in the first
half. The half time score was 17-9 to New Zealand.
Straight from the second half restart, the ball was won by the All Blacks.
Mehrtens put up a perfectly placed high kick into Scotland's 22 that fell
through everyone's hands to be snatched by Little who raced in for the try.
Then followed a remarkable period of play. Four minutes later following
what was supposed to have been an advantage to Scotland, Mehrtens scooped
the ball up from the ground in his own half and, with a scintillating run
down the sideline, beat the Scottish defence to score in the corner. From
the restart, the Scottish forwards claimed the ball and drove quickly
towards the All Blacks line, seemingly catching them off guard, with Dodie
Weir going over to score. From the ensuing restart the All Blacks came
straight back and Bunce scored as the Scottish defence appeared to be
holding off to cover Lomu. All the tries were converted and a combined
total of 28 points had been scored in the first ten minutes of the second
half.
Perhaps predictably after this scoring explosion, play then see-sawed
between both teams, with many handling errors from both sides beginning to
creep back into the game. Eventually a try came to captain Fitzpatrick
(clocking up 100 appearances for the All Blacks with this game), who scored
his trademark try floating out on the wing. Dodie Weir scored a second try
for Scotland shortly after, following a communication hiccup between Bachop
and his forwards on the goal line. Mehrtens slotted a final penalty before
the Scots finally broke the All Black backline defence across the field,
sending Scott Hastings over for the final try of the game.
At times the All Blacks' game was incoherent as compared to their three
pool games, and it was marred by a couple of first half late charges that
were swiftly penalised by referee Derek Bevan. With an injury to Osborne,
Jeff Wilson assumed the fullback berth and appeared to look slightly out of
position with numerous knock-ons and kicking errors entering his game.
Jamie Joseph played blindside flanker in place of Mike Brewer who was
relegated to the reserve bench for this game. Rumour has it that Brewer was
dropped as punishment for his part in changing Mains' game plan on field
during the pool game against Wales.
Scoring: New Zealand Scotland
Tries: Little(2), Lomu, Mehrtens, Weir(2), S Hastings
Bunce, Fitzpatrick
Conv: Mehrtens(6) G Hastings(3)
Pen: Mehrtens(2) G Hastings(3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6.7} SEMI FINAL: New Zealand 45 England 29 (HT: 25-3)
Sunday 18th June 1995
at Newlands, Capetown
Referee: S.R. Hilditch (Ireland)
Attendance: 51,000
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
G Osborne, J Wilson, F Bunce, W Little, J Lomu, A Mehrtens, G Bachop,
Z Brooke, J Kronfeld, M Brewer, R Brooke, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick(c), C Dowd
Reserves: M Ellis, S Culhane, A Strachan, B Larsen, R Loe, N Hewitt
England
~~~~~~~
M Catt, T Underwood, W Carling(c), J Guscott, R Underwood, C Andrew,
C Morris, D Richards, T Rodber, B Clarke, M Johnson, M Bayfield,
J Leonard, B Moore, V Ubogu
New Zealanders were probably justified in feeling more than a bit nervous as
they dragged themselves out of bed in the wee small hours to watch the All
Blacks take on the Five Nations Champion at Cape Town. The English boasted
what was probably the strongest forward pack at the tournament and were full
of confidence following their last minute victory over Australia in the
quarter-finals.
What eventuated will probably go down in history as one of the most
spectacular displays of rugby ever seen. The All Blacks went out with a
tactical plan of playing unconventional rugby at great pace, and that is
exactly what they did. From the opening kick-off, instead of the standard
starting kick for the forwards to run on to, Mehrtens placed his kick down
the left wing for Lomu to chase. One could have forgiven England's
fullback, Mike Catt, if he had simply run off the field there and then with
Lomu charging down the sideline - and he probably wishes he had. Barely two
minutes after this charge, with the All Blacks hot on attack over on the
right hand side of the field, Bachop cleared a long pass left to Lomu. In
what became the footage of the tournament, Lomu ran around both Underwood
and Carling before trampling straight over Catt to go in for the try.
From the restart of play, the ball ended up in the All Blacks' 22. Instead
of a clearing kick to touch, Walter Little dummied and ran the ball out. He
and Osborne put together a sizzling movement downfield, the latter showing
some blistering speed before handing on to Kronfeld who scored in nearly the
same spot Lomu had just minutes before. Seven minutes of play had passed,
and the All Blacks were ahead 12-0.
If the English players' heads weren't bowing yet, worse was to come. Lomu
ran in another try with barely a hand laid on him, and then, as if to cap
things off, came one of the most amazing sights yet. A seemingly aimless
kick was sent into the England 22, and was gathered unchallenged by captain
Will Carling. Inexplicably, he missed touch with his kick, sending it
straight into the arms of No.8 Zinzan Brooke, who was standing on the halfway
line. Quite calmly, Brooke dropped the ball to the ground and drop-kicked
it between the uprights to score an unbelievable goal from almost 50 metres
out.
At halftime the All Blacks were ahead 25-3, and the majority of those
watching were probably pinching themselves to make sure they had really
witnessed that first 40 minutes. The second half produced some more
brilliant tries to Lomu once again, and to halfback Graeme Bachop, who
probably played his best game of the tournament. Perhaps understandably,
with the game obviously won, the All Blacks began to let up, allowing England
to come back and score four late tries and thus lessen the degree of
humiliation on the scoreboard.
This game was nothing short of spectacular - a marvellous display of fast,
powerful, skilful and cohesive rugby. Lomu with 4 tries to his name, was
once again the stand-out individual - after the game Carling branded him "a
freak" - but it was a total team effort on the day that carried the All
Backs through to this most comprehensive semi-final victory.
Scoring: New Zealand England
Tries: Lomu(4), Kronfeld, Bachop Carling(2), R Underwood(2)
Conv: Mehrtens(3) Andrew(3)
Pen: Mehrtens Andrew
Drop goal: Z Brooke, Mehrtens
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6.8} THE FINAL: New Zealand 9 South Africa 9 (HT: 6-9)
Extra time: New Zealand 12 South Africa 15
Saturday 24th June 1995
at Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Referee: E Morrison (England)
Attendance: 62,000
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
G Osborne, J Wilson, F Bunce, W Little, J Lomu, A Mehrtens, G Bachop,
Z Brooke, J Kronfeld, M Brewer, R Brooke, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick(c), C Dowd
Reserves: M Ellis, S Culhane, A Strachan, J Joseph, R Loe, N Hewitt
South Africa
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Joubert, J Small, J Mulder, H le Roux, C Williams, J Stransky,
J van der Westhuizen, M Andrews, F Pienaar(c), R Kruger, J Weise,
J Strydom, J du Randt, C Rossouw, I Swart
It was a hard game. And it was a long game. At the end of 80 minutes, the
scores were tied at 9 all, so for the first time in the history of a Rugby
World Cup final, extra time was played. At the end of the day neither team
deserved to lose, but a definite result was required and when the final
whistle blew it was the South Africans who emerged victorious.
So was it a case of food poisoning? Twenty three out of the twenty-six man
All Black squad were stricken with a severe stomach upset on the Thursday
before the game, and were still ill when they took the field for the final.
But when all was said and done, the Springboks were the only team to shut
down the All Blacks' tactical game and the tournament powerman, Jonah Lomu.
There will always be the ifs, buts and maybes over the physical state of the
All Blacks on this day, but it will go down in the history books as a win to
the Springboks in their first appearance at a World Cup tournament. The
fact that they managed to keep the All Blacks try-less for the only time in
the tournament and actually shut down their game, made the Boks worthy foes
for the final. While it may not have been an open, running spectacle, it
was a true test match - hard forward play and little opportunity for back
play, with some strong defence from both sides. No tries were scored in the
final, which was a reflection of the grim determination both teams showed on
defence.
So the new rainbow nation was united in celebrations over their win, while
the All Blacks returned home despondent that they had come so tantilizingly
close, yet tripped at the last hurdle.
Although the All Blacks didn't win the final, they can take heart in the
knowledge that they produced some of the finest and most exciting rugby ever
to grace a Rugby World Cup tournament, and that the memory of the way they
played the game will long outlast the memory of who actually won the
final trophy.
Scoring: New Zealand South Africa
Pen: Mehrtens(3) Stransky(3)
Drop goal: Mehrtens Stransky(2)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6.9} Summing Up
Perhaps the most frustrating thing for New Zealand rugby supporters was how
a team of this skill and calibre could have emerged from the often patchy
and sometimes inept All Black teams in the four years leading up to the
World Cup. There had long been criticism of the high turnover of players
and many inconsistencies in selections (notably in the backs) over the two
seasons leading up to 1995. Many players and supporters were leftwondering
whether there was any reasoning at all behind some of the selections which
had been made.
One of the most irritating traits of the Mains' coaching era was the ever
increasing tendancy to field players out of position, and often in more than
one position. One prime example of this was Marc Ellis, who was played at
centre, first five and on the wing during his All Black career under Laurie
Mains.
After the World Cup, Mains confessed that the large turnover of players
and the positional chopping and changing, was all part of a four year plan
that would not allow major rivals to realise that what the All Blacks were
really building towards - a style far away from their traditional game plan.
With this in mind, Mains had ordered a conservative game plan for the 1994
season to con other nations into believing the All Blacks would be playing
traditional All Black rugby at the World Cup tournament. If all this is
indeed true, then Mains certainly managed to confuse not only the other
nations, but also the majority of rugby followers in New Zealand. However,
his plan almost failed at the eleventh hour when he narrowly missed being
defeated by John Hart in the election for the coaching position in 1994.
Whether it was by good management or good luck (one tends to feel it was
probably the latter), Mains' plans worked. The selections of untested
players such as Mehrtens, Osborne and Kronfeld paid off, with these three
being integral to the development of the All Blacks' new running game. In
Mehrtens, New Zealand rugby found something that had been missing in the
previous years - not only is he a fairly reliable goal kicker, but he is a
player with the passing and running skills to set a backline alight.
The recall of Graeme Bachop to halfback, having seemingly been cast aside
previously, was the added icing on the cake as far as the link between
forwards and backs went. Osborne at fullback gave the All Blacks added
pace in the three quarters, and of course the recall of Lomu onto the wing
paid off in ways that would have been unimaginable in 1994. Little and
Bunce stood out as a fearsome combination in the midfield, while the All
Black loose forwards really put it together with some outstanding support
play from Kronfeld. In the tight five, Ian Jones and Robin Brooke provided
some of the best lineout work of their careers, with Jones' brilliant
lineout takes in the final being the outstanding feature of the All Blacks'
play in that game.
So whether Laurie Mains really had anything to do with how we now find the
All Black team will probably remain one of the great mysteries of life.
But if one thing is certain, it is that All Black Rugby has rediscovered
itself, and that the future can only hold bigger and better things.
Individual scoring
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEW ZEALAND Tries Con PG DG Total
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Mehrtens 1 14 14 3 84
S Culhane 1 20 - - 45
M Ellis 7 - - - 35
J Lomu 7 - - - 35
J Kronfeld 3 - - - 15
W Little 3 - - - 15
E Rush 3 - - - 15
J Wilson 3 - - - 15
G Osborne 3 - - - 15
R Brooke 2 - - - 10
F Bunce 2 - - - 10
G Bachop 1 - - - 5
C Dowd 1 - - - 5
P Henderson 1 - - - 5
A Ieremia 1 - - - 5
R Loe 1 - - - 5
S Fitzpatrick 1 - - - 5
Z Brooke - - - 1 3
____________________________________________
TOTALS 41 34 14 4 327
OPPOSITION Tries Con PG DG Total
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12 10 10 3 119
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{6.10} The Poisoning Incident by Paul Waite
No review of the 1995 World Cup from a New Zealand perspective would be
complete without at least touching briefly on this subject.
South Africa won the 1995 Rugby World Cup. They were, by the smallest of
margins, the better team on the day, and the result went their way. Any
discussion of whether or not the All Blacks squad were poisoned before this
most crucial of games, and whether or not it had an effect on the outcome
are of course quite irrelevant to the result, which will stand for all
time. South Africa are the 1995 Rugby World Cup Champions, and deserved
the victory on the day.
However human nature being what it is, there is still quite a high degree
of interest in discussing this particular incident, with feeling running
very high at times.
Some have questioned whether the incident actually took place, claiming
it may have simply been a case of post-loss 'sour grapes'. In this at
least I can offer something in the way of substance, if not absolute
proof.
Brian Lochore, the All Black coach for the 1987 World Cup, and Campaign
Manager for 1995 is a former All Black who's stature in the game springs
not only from his tremendous career, but also from his complete integrity.
One only has to listen to the man speak to understand this. Here are a
few words written by Lochore for the 1996 Rugby Almanack of New Zealand.
"We were in great shape going into the last week. There were no
serious injuries and we were ready for the final both physically
and psychologically. Although I have no intention of taking anything
away from South Africa's win in what was a dramatic final, what
happened to us in the last 48 hours had a significant effect on
our preparation."
That was all that he had to say on the matter, in a piece which focussed
primarily on comparisons between the 1987 and 1995 campaigns.
This, together with the coverage in the form of interviews conducted by
New Zealand TV current affairs and news programs at the time is enough to
convince me that most of the squad did become ill, and that it did affect
their preparation and their performance. Incidently, for those who still
labour under the misconception that New Zealand only released this news
after the final, it was in fact first reported on the Thursday before.
However, at least with me, that is where it stops. Too many positive things
came out of what in my opinion, was the best Rugby World Cup so far, to
continue reflecting on these negative aspects. Despite the result, which
could in the end have gone either way, New Zealand rugby showed itself
to be in excellent health, and redefined for the rest of the World what
the term "open, running rugby" really means.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{7} THE BLEDISLOE CUP by Dave Fisher and Paul Waite
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having missed out on the World Cup by a whisker, the All Blacks were very
hungry to regain the Bledisloe Cup, and take revenge for the loss last season
in the cliff-hanger match which saw George Gregan snatch victory from New
Zealand with a miracle tackle in the dying minutes of the game.
In order to field his strongest side, Laurie Mains and the NZRFU managed to
negotiate with Graeme Bachop's Japanese employers to retain his services at
halfback for the Bledisloe Series prior to returning to Japan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{7.1} NEW ZEALAND vs AUSTRALIA 1st Bledisloe Cup test
Saturday July 22nd 1995
at Eden Park, Auckland
Referee: R.J Megson (Scotland)
Attendance: 50,000
Final Score: NEW ZEALAND 28 AUSTRALIA 16 (HT: 9-10)
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
G Osborne, J Wilson, F Bunce, W Little, J Lomu, A Mehrtens, G Bachop
Z Brooke, J Kronfeld, M Brewer, R Brooke, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick, C Dowd
Reserves: M Ellis, S Culhane, A Strachan, M Jones, R Loe, N Hewitt
Australia
~~~~~~~~~
M Burke, D Smith, J Little, T Horan, J Roff, S Bowen, S Merrick
B T Gavin, V Ofahengaue, D Manu, W Waugh, J Eales, D Crowley,
P Kearns, M Hartill
On the verge of a shock upset, the All Blacks rolled back the Wallabies
to win the first match of a two-test Bledisloe Cup series 28-16.
It was an open affair that was far closer than the scoreline indicates;
in fact the outcome could easily have gone the other way.
Bledisloe Cup matches are always amongst the sternest of challenges, but
New Zealand was expected to win this test handily. Their form throughout
the World Cup tournament was for the most part a revelation and the side
chosen for the first Bledisloe test was the exact same as that fielded in
the World Cup final. This game was also the first chance for home fans to
see the All Black team that the rest of the world had looked upon in awe.
The Australians, conversely, were going into the series with a fistful of
fresh faces at critical positions. Long-time match-winner Michael Lynagh had
just retired, and David Campese was controversially dropped from selection
following a terrible World Cup campaign. Wallaby World Cup halfback George
Gregan was likewise replaced, so the new halfback/first-five combination of
Steven Merrick and Scott Bowen looked to have their work cut out for them.
Lynagh's kicking duties were replaced by the boot of inexperienced winger
Joe Roff, the imposing youngster brought in for Campese.
Needless to say, almost everybody was anticipating the All Blacks to stick
it to the Okkers. It wasn't to be, as the Wallabies opened the match at a
furious pace, blasting into the All Blacks with everything their attack
could muster. Tremendous defence and a perfectly timed professional foul
relieved the early pressure, and the All Blacks could count themselves
lucky in recovering to be only three points down.
With ball in hand, New Zealand then started creating space and many scoring
opportunities, displaying some remarkably slick ball-handling in the wet and
slippery conditions. The Wallabies defence was equally resolute however,
preventing any tries, but the All Blacks slotted a pair of penalties and a
drop-goal (all via the boot of Andrew Mehrtens) and appeared to be comfortable
moving toward the half-time whistle leading 9-3. Even better, the Blacks
could cruise into the break knowing the strong wind would be at their tails
for the second half.
The Wallabies had other things in mind. Immediately prior to the 40 minute
whistle, Australia's rugged flanker Willie Ofahengaue worked hard for a try,
being knocked firmly at the line by Frank Bunce before letting his momentum
carry him over.
The try was converted and the Wallabies led 10-9 at the half, somewhat
demoralizing to the kiwis, but turned around with the wind in the second the
All Blacks looked in good shape. Shockingly, the vaunted offense the All
Blacks displayed in South Africa never really materialized and the Wallabies
did most of the second half's attacking. The Australians looked hungrier,
so the All Blacks had difficulty gaining possession, and when they did win
the ball looked to be rudderless, misfiring without any thought of a plan or
invention.
Andrew Merhtens had a terrible day kicking for touch, consistently missing
the line and putting the ball back into the hands of numerous Wallaby counter-
attacks. His goal kicking was otherwise impeccable.
Jonah Lomu, for his part, rarely saw the ball, and when receiving it was
typically deprived of any running space and muzzled by two or three determined
Wallaby defenders.
An exchange of penalties brought the game to 16-15 in favour of Oz who were
bringing the play consistently into the All Blacks half. Again, solid kiwi
defence was required to thwart the upstart Wallabies, particularly noteworthy
was the pressure applied by Josh Kronfeld who made the debut partnership of
Merrick and Bowen a bit of a nightmare at times. The Iceman Michael Jones
came on to the pitch late to tremendous applause replacing an injured Zinzan
Brooke, but had little noticeable effect thereafter.
A shocker of a call from Scottish referee Ray Megson awarded a crucial penalty
to the Wallabies in a kickable position moving well into the game's latter
stages. It could have crushed New Zealand, but Wallaby captain Phil Kearns had
what he'd later credit as a "brain explosion" and elected to play the ball for
a line-out. It was a goal attempt that most observers felt should have been
attempted and was quite possibly the game's critical tactical mistake.
Gaining themselves no advantage from the penalty, a sigh of relief and a
subtle momentum shift put the game back into the Blacks' hands. Mehrtens
made a successful penalty kick to take the All Blacks back out front 18-16,
but the Wallabies refused to fold. The game then became a frantic, open and
exciting affair.
At this point, most kiwis would have taken the scoreline victory, but the
All Blacks had been outscored at the try-line so a prevailing feeling was that
of a victory undeserved.
Mehrtens then drop-kicked a beautiful goal to give New Zealand some clearance
at 21-16, dictating that Australia open things up in desperation. The All
Blacks seized the chance and at the game's dying conclusion were rewarded
with a nifty try to Lomu. A desperate run by Frank Bunce broke the line
through a trio of Wallabies, their only poor tackling all day, and the
surprised Bunce worked into the clear, flinging a wide pass which was
artfully deflected by Mike Brewer to Jeff Wilson, who then put Lomu in to
score.
In the end, a 28-16 victory which might have looked convincing on paper but
wasn't a win which the All Blacks or the New Zealand public could feel too
proud about. The widespread post-game analyses said the team was going to have
to greatly sharpen and improve matters if they were to retain the Cup a week
later in Sydney.
Scoring: New Zealand Australia
Tries: Lomu Ofahengaue
Conv: Mehrtens Roff
Pen: Mehrtens(5) Roff(2), Burke
Drop goal: Mehrtens(2)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{7.2} AUSTRALIA vs NEW ZEALAND 2nd Bledisloe Cup test
Saturday 29th July 1995
at Sydney Football Stadium
Referee: B Stirling (Ireland)
Attendance: 39,327
Final Score: NEW ZEALAND 34 AUSTRALIA 23 (HT: 12-13)
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
G Osborne, J Wilson, F Bunce, W Little, J Lomu, A Mehrtens, G Bachop
Z Brooke, M Jones, M Brewer, R Brooke, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick, C Dowd
Reserves: M Ellis, S Culhane, A Strachan, J Kronfeld, R Loe, A Oliver
Australia
~~~~~~~~~
M Burke, D Smith, J Little, T Horan, J Roff, S Bowen, S Merrick
B T Gavin, V Ofahengaue, D Manu, W Waugh, J Eales, E McKenzie,
P Kearns, M Hartill
With the rugby pot bubbling and building up to boiling point over leaked
rumours that the vast majority of the game's top players were to turn fully
professional during the lead-up to this 100th Bledisloe Cup match, the
occasion was inevitably one to stir a powerful mixture of emotions.
Just before the teams ran out onto the field, a large number of famous
All Blacks and Wallabies of yesteryear formed a guard of honour for today's
players, and in a rather ironic twist, the opening ceremony also involved
the playing of "The Last Post", in the event a wholly appropriate melody
to herald the passing of a great era of the game, and the beginning of a
new and uncertain one.
That aside, the Sydney Football Stadium, bathed in bright and warm Saturday
afternoon sunshine, looked absolutely splendid, and a fitting venue for
such a match. With the ground hard and dry, the setting was perfect for
running rugby, and that was provided aplenty.
Coming from an indifferent and somewhat ill-deserved win last week in
Auckland, the All Blacks had much to prove, and they went a good way to
doing that by beating the Wallabies on their home turf by 5 tries to 2,
producing a scoreline of 34-23.
Although the result was brought about by a general sharpening of performance
across the whole team, it was chiefly the result of a much better effort
from the tight five. Tackles which were missed last week were made, and
the lineouts were much more secure providing enough quality ball for the
All Black backline, which must by now be regarded as the best in the World,
to run in the tries.
Not that it was a one-sided match. The difference between scoring a try
and not, is sometimes a very slim one indeed. The difference on this
occasion was one man: Jonah Lomu. Justifiably recieving the Man of the
Match award, Lomu featured significantly in four of the All Black tries,
and scored one himself slipping the despairing tackle of the man he
admires so much, David Campese, before going around another defender to
cross the line. Although being a substitute meant that Campo was not
wearing his famous No.14 this time, Jonah was still immensely proud to
swap shirts with Campese after the match, and managed to get it
autographed into the bargain.
Lomu is certainly maturing as a winger very quickly. He showed in this
match that he is already improved over his World Cup performances, by
needing much less prompting about positioning, and his general play on
the ball shows greater awareness of the options as they develop around
him. The Australian defence is still one of the hardest ones in the
World to crack, however Lomu allowed the All Blacks to do it in this
match, whereas conversely, the All Black defence, in the forwards, and
particularly in mid-field where Frank Bunce had a towering game, held
the Australians largely at bay throughout.
The first try was reminiscent of the World Cup. Robin Brooke won the
lineout on an Australian throw on the right hand side of the field near
halfway. A superb long flat pass by Bachop went through only two sets
of hands and was straight out to Lomu in enough space to set sail for
the line. Fending at Damien Smith, who made the mistake of going high
at him he tried to go around him but two other Wallabies joined in.
Stopping and shrugging them off he surged forward and brought a few
more defenders in before looking to unload. Frank Bunce took the
infield-pass to topple over the line in the company of two or three
Wallabies. Mehrtens failed to convert.
Michael Jones, controversially brought into the All Blacks at the expense
of Josh Kronfeld showed that he could still foot it at the very top. His
defensive contribution was outstanding, with several crunching tackles
being made to stop Australian momentum. On attack he was always there,
supporting the ball-carrier. Unfortunately his comeback was truncated
when he was substituted at half-time for Josh Kronfeld due to injury,
however the dynamic Kronfeld certainly did not disappoint, and turned in
a superb effort all round. Of course comparisons can be made between them,
but I have a feeling that given the chance The Iceman could still show
them a thing or two. As it was, with little in the way of hard matches
under his belt, he performed very well.
After about 20 minutes in the first half, New Zealand scored their second
try. A Jonah Lomu break, again down the wing taking on Damien Smith, led
to Robin Brooke taking an in-pass. Looking in-field Brooke saw Andrew
Mehrtens in full flight and gave him the ball. No-one could touch this
flying first five-eighth with the speed of a winger as he dotted down
under the posts.
There then followed a frustrating passage of play by the All Blacks which
took them until half-time, and presumably a talking-to by Laurie Mains,
to shrug off. Time and again they gave away silly penalties through
over-zealous play in the rucks and general ill discipline. This let the
Australians back into the match, although it would do them a disservice
to imply that they were just waiting for this to happen. To a great extent
the All Black infringements were instigated by the pressure they exerted,
however this cannot be used as an excuse. The end result was that territory
was continually given away by missed touches or penalty touch-finders, as
the game swung Australia's way.
The culmination of this was a superb solo-effort by Wallaby winger Damien
Smith to score an excellent try after 32 minutes played. Having won the
ball from a lineout on the right just outside the All Black's 22m, Smith
brushed off three fairly strong tackles before crashing down just short
having been tackled by Glen Osborne. Momentum carried him the required
couple of inches, and although some might accuse him of a double movement,
it would be churlish to do so indeed, given the superb effort that the try
represented, and the final result of the match itself.
New Zealand were still leading, but the match was still in the hands of the
Australian side, with the All Blacks finding it impossible to develop their
own game. Yet another penalty at ruck time allowed the Wallabies to go to
the half-time break with a deserved lead 13-12.
After half-time, the All Blacks obviously heeded Laurie Mains' request for
more discipline, and they started the half off on the right foot with a
super try to Frank Bunce. Winning a 5m scrum after pressuring the Wallabies,
they moved it right to Bunce who fended off Matthew Burke and showing his
tremendous stength whilst on the run, shrugged his way through two other
would-be tacklers before cutting across the goal-line to force. The
conversion was added, and the game had swung back to Black.
Exerting good, clean pressure, the All Blacks looked generally more capable
of scoring than the Australians, who were more likely to try running the
ball up the middle through their excellent tight-five and loosies than
spread it wide most of the time as preferred by their opponents. The crisp,
fast passing and high speed understanding which was the hall-mark of the All
Blacks at the World Cup was beginning to re-appear, although it might be
argued that they are still at least one more test away from being at the
level they showed in South Africa.
After two-thirds of the match had gone at about the 60 minute mark Jonah Lomu
finally scored a try of his own. Some excellent play by Glen Osborne and
Mike Brewer going down the right of the field was followed by the ball being
quickly passed in-field, and then a long floater by Mehrtens out to Lomu again
in space. Chasing and despairingly trying to stop him was David Campese, who
had come on for an injured Damien Smith. Lomu's big legs simply knocked the
attempt out of the way, and he then skipped around another defender to force
midway between touch and the posts. The try was converted, and New Zealand
were firmly in control.
The Australians never looked dejected or lost for ideas going forward
throughout the whole match. Halfback Steve Merrick had an outstanding game
when running, although he perhaps went a little too far ahead of support
sometimes, and tended to neglect the first requirements of a halfback - to
supply the ball to the back-line. A standout amongst many Wallaby attacking
weapons was Warwick Waugh. The big lock made some towering runs which more
than matched those of Willie O, and he always required some determined
tackling by one or two All Black forwards to stop.
The main difference between the sides though was that the All Blacks always
looked to have that something extra which would break the game open. Standing
head and shoulders above the rest in this respect was Jonah Lomu. The final
try the All Blacks scored was the best of the match. A nifty scissors by
Andrew Mehrtens running to the right ended with the ball in big Jonah's
hands at full steam going straight towards the Wallaby line in midfield
about 30m out. An Australian defender (which may have been Bowen)
unfortunately tried to take him on head-on, and was bounced backwards out
of the way without noticably slowing the big winger. Surging through two
more tackles Jonah flicked a low pass out to the right to Bunce and Little,
who rapidly found Jeff Wilson. Wilson exorcised the Gregan 'ghost' to some
extent by running in and diving over in a classic if a little hammed-up
style. Mehrtens failed to convert.
Many teams would have been demoralized by the scoreline at 34-16, but as has
been stated, in general play there was not actually a lot of difference
between the teams. The Wallabies were determined to score, and the All Blacks
equally as determined to keep them out. The final 10 minutes were all
Australia, with a little help from some inadvertent fumbling by New Zealand
at one or two stages.
Acute pressure on the All Black line saw the ball come to Willie O 5m out.
The 'Tongan Torpedo' rammed himself at the line and was stopped dead but was
not held and managed to step sideways and maintain the drive until he found
a gap to go over and score a well deserved consolation try. The conversion
brought the score to one more indicative of the difference between the sides.
In mid-field the names of Horan, Little, and Little were not really mentioned
as standing out. To a large extent Bunce and Walter Little once again proved
that they can nullify Tim Horan and Jason Little, whereas Frank Bunce had
an immense game, and found the space to score his try. Bunce was a good
candidate for Man of the Match, although none could argue with Lomu getting
that particular honour.
Once again Andrew Mehrtens had a good game overall, although he continues
to blot his copybook by missing simple touch-finders and putting his team
under unwanted pressure.
In general this performance exhibited all the characteristics we have come
to expect from Laurie Mains' tenure. It had some glorious moments on attack,
accompanied by a predilection towards fluffing the basics of the game at times,
and a more than occasional lack of discipline.
Thus ended the last Bledisloe Cup match, fittingly the 100th, to be played
under 'The Old Regime' where players played for Country, Honour, and the Glory
of The Game. What the future holds for this fixture which has, over the last
100 years, produced some of the most entertaining rugby to be seen, no-one
can foretell.
Scoring: New Zealand Australia
Tries: Bunce(2), J Lomu, A Mehrtens, Ofahengaue, Smith
J Wilson
Conv: Mehrtens(3) Burke(2)
Pen: Mehrtens(1) Burke(3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8} The 1995 National Provincial Championship
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 1995 National Provincial Championship carried on from the previous
season's success, showing that the competition format continues to be a
successful and entertaining one.
Despite having to follow the 'act' of the Rugby World Cup, it seemed that
far from being disadvantaged by this situation, the NPC was actually
boosted by it, with the crowds turning up in larger than ever numbers to
see the world cup heroes in action. The background deliberations over
professionalism and player contracts also seemed to act as a spur, giving
further credence to the old adage that there is no such thing as bad
publicity.
Detailed results tables and match reports for the NPC can be found on Paul
Bickerstaff's excellent WWW server at the following URL:
http://rugby.phys.uidaho.edu/rugby/Countries/NZ/Results/1995/npc.html
The following sections are views, some long some short, of how the 1995
season progressed for the provinces, with special focus on the NPC
itself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1} NPC First Division
The NPC first division season started with contract negotiations with the
NZRFU being expedited by Jock Hobbs. The first few weeks saw a strange
mixture of excitement and lack of concentration, as the professional era
got underway.
It's true to say that as a result, this season did not reach the heights
of the previous one, however it did give us some very good rugby indeed,
and the fans flocked to the grounds in larger numbers than before, keen
to see the heroes of the World Cup in action.
The following sections, in the main, give brief details of each team's
games during the season.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.1} Canterbury by Alan Murray
It can be justly said that Canterbury played a very important part in
the 1995 rugby season in New Zealand. They were Ranfurly Shield holders,
and they also provided the pivotal All Black halfback partnership of Andrew
Mehrtens and Graeme Bachop, a partnership viewed rightly by many as being the
well-spring of the Blacks style and zest as displayed at the Rugby World
Cup. It should also be remembered that they also provided the new All Black
test halfback in Justin Marshall, with Bachop returning to his committments
in Japan.
The Ranfurly Shield
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This section details games played for the Ranfurly Shield prior to the
start of the National Provincial Championship.
vs Mid Canterbury at Ashburton Domain - June 24
The shock death of Canterbury team manager, Murray Cooper, on the night of
this match cast a shadow over the first defence of the new season; it was
also the first time Canterbury had taken the shield on the road to defend it.
Both sides entered into the spirit of this match and made light of a sticky
surface to provide some very entertaining football. Paula Bale had three
tries by halftime and added another in the second spell. Bale showed his
worth as a finisher but owed much of his success to the strong running of
Adrian Tukaki from full back. The midfield pair of Mark Mayerhofler and
Jamie Connolly managed to create a lot of space and there was some fine
counter-attacking, particularly in the second spell when Canterbury ran in
six tries.
Mid Canterbury's enterprising approach was not without rewards either as
they managed to pick up three second half tries.
The match was also notable for the departure of Wellington referee Rod Hill
who limped off with a broken tibia after being accidentally tripped by a
player. He was replaced by local touch judge Ian Sawyers who said later that
he never dreamed he'd get to referee a Ranfurly Shield match, especially on
his home ground. Sawyers did a good job, even if he followed up two
penalties to Canterbury with a remarkable 17 in a row to Mid.
Canterbury 64 (Paula Bale 4, Adrian Tukaki, Con Barrell, Ivan Morgan,
Tabai Matson, Mark Mayerhofler tries; Shayne Philpott 5 conversions,
3 penalties)
Mid Canterbury 19 (John Smitheram, Mark Wareing, Dave McCrea tries;
Paul Treves 2 conversions)
Halftime 26-0; referee Rod Hill (replaced by Ian Sawyers)
vs Nelson Bays at Lancaster Park - July 1
Vance Stewart coined the term "puddling" to describe this effort against
Nelson Bays. This was expected to be another big win for Canterbury but the
challengers earned much praise for their doughty defence and expansive style
for which they were rewarded by a superb late try to winger Craig Sim.
It was evident from the early stages that the Bays were prepared to run the
ball, if only to keep warm on another bitterly cold day, and often spurned
goal kicking opportunities in the quest for tries. They were rewarded with
two in all but in between time Canterbury managed to run in six to earn a
comfortable win in the end.
Sim's try was undoubtedly the best of the game. Halfback Bryan Calder
mounted an attack from deep within his own 22. Winger Bill Havili kept the
momentum up and Sim was equal to the task of outstripping the cover with a
final 40m sprint to the line. In contrast Canterbury's tries were more
rewards for persistent pressure.
Canterbury 43 (Adrian Tukaki 2, Jamie Connolly, Tabai Matson,
Todd Blackadder, Andrew Elvidge tries; Shayne Philpott 5 conversions,
penalty)
Nelson Bays 17 (Bill Havili, Craig Sim, tries; Colin Lott 2 conversions,
penalty)
Halftime 22-10; referee Peter Boyden
vs Marlborough at Lancaster Park - July 15
Again Canterbury were confronted by a challenger determined to run the ball
and commit themselves wholeheartedly in defence. Poor finishing cost
Canterbury a number of tries in the first spell but when the ball did stick
in the second half, the class of the backs shone through.
Justin Marshall partnered Andrew Mehrtens for the first time since his move
from Southland and silenced a number of his Canterbury critics with a more
assertive game showing an ability to stand in the tackle and off-load the
ball. He scored two tries in the game, one when he literally stole the ball
from a colleague's hands and dashed through a gap 20m from the line.
Marlborough were simply unable to secure any possession and even three
penalty attempts from reasonable positions were missed as they failed to
get on the scoreboard.
Canterbury 79 (Simon Forrest 3, Justin Marshall 2, Mike Brewer 2, Hamish
Coakley 2, Richard Loe, Adrian Tukaki tries; Andrew Mehrtens 9 conversions,
2 penalties)
Marlborough 0
Halftime 32-0; referee Paul Honiss
vs South Canterbury at Lancaster Park - July 29
This was the last challenge for the year from a non first division side and
both sides contributed to a sparkling game which yielded 15 tries in all.
With star flanker from 1994, Angus Gardiner, being ruled out of rugby for
the season following a knee injury whilst playing for his Marist club side,
much interest centred around the return of Gregg Smith who was only back
from Japan for a week when Vance Stewart rushed him into the side. Smith did
not disappoint showing pace and imagination on attack and giving his backs
solid defensive cover. Smith was named player of the day by All Black
selector Ross Cooper
New Zealand Colt Daryl Gibson, filling in at second five eighth for the
injured Mark Mayerhofler, was another to impress showing deft ball skills
and silky running.
For the visitors inside backs Barry Matthews and Graeme Dempster had stand
out games.
Canterbury 72 (Simon Forrest 2, Adrian Tukaki 2, Aaron Flynn 2, Paula Bale,
Tabai Matson, Todd Blackadder, Chris England, Grant Kelly tries; Shayne
Philpott 7 conversions, penalty)
South Canterbury 27 (Gareth Burgess, Mark Dodd, David Hunter, Graeme
Dempster tries; Dempster 2 conversions)
Halftime 36-16; referee Steve Walsh
This was the end of the "easy" challenges with the rest all to come from
first division sides. While Canterbury had made improvements they still
had some way to go before they could face some of the future challenges
with any confidence.
The NPC
~~~~~~~
This section covers the National Provincial Championship, and also the
remaining Ranfurly Shield matches.
vs North Harbour at Onewa Domain - August 4
This was the first NPC game ever played under lights and most considered it
to be a hard first up one for Canterbury being against last year's
finalists away from home. In the event Canterbury had a strong first 40
minutes. Harbour started well and looked as though they could score at any
time they wished but strong defence kept the Canterbury line intact until
the Harbour forwards carried a movement through five phases of play and
No.8 Steve Smith went over for the try. Mehrtens then gave Canterbury the
lead with two penalty goals before Simon Forrest went over for Canterbury's
only try in the 27th minute. Mehrtens converted from the sideline and
Canterbury went to the break leading 13-5.
Harbour had the wind in the second spell and repeatedly mounted raids
against the Canterbury line but their only reward was a solitary penalty
goal - that is until four minutes from time. Mehrtens missed touch and the
ball was taken by Eric Rush. He moved it 40 metres downfield and right
wing, Peter Woods, finished off with a great try in the corner. Warren
Burton missed the conversion and the game finished in a 13-13 draw which
was not an unfair result. However this would not be the last time this
season a Mehrtens' missed touch would prove costly to Canterbury.
Canterbury 13 (Simon Forrest try; Andrew Mehrtens conversion, 2 penalties)
North Harbour 13 (Steve Smith, Peter Woods tries; Warren Burton penalty)
Halftime 13-5; Referee Glenn Wahlstrom.
vs Southland at Lancaster Park - August 12
The first Ranfurly Shield challenge from a first division team came from
newly promoted Southland who had given a strong account of themselves the
previous week when earning a bonus point against Otago at Carisbrook.
Canterbury may have given the first division newcomers a lesson in
scrummaging but in all other facets of the game it was Southland who made
most of the play. Canterbury were restricted to two tries, one in the 18th
minute when Forrest squeezed between defenders to go over in the corner and
the second being the all-important first points in the second half when
Todd Blackadder scored from a pushover. Andrew Mehrtens scored 17 points,
including a record equalling three drop goals while for Southland their
points came from a try to Englishman Damien Hopley with the other All Black
first five, Simon Culhane, equalling Mehrtens effort of 17 points.
Southland were unlucky missing two tries when firstly To'o Vaega dropped a
difficult pass and then later a desperate tackle by Mehrtens lowered the
other English import Adedayo Adedayo just short of the line and neither
Vaega nor second-five, Mark Seymour, could pick up the loose ball. Instead
they collided and Canterbury was able to scramble the ball clear.
Canterbury 27 (Simon Forrest, Todd Blackadder tries; Andrew Mehrtens
2 penalties, 3 dropped goals)
Southland 22 (Damien Hopley try; Simon Culhane conversion, 5 penalties)
Halftime 14-9; Referee Steve Walsh
vs Waikato at Lancaster Park - August 19
It's a pity that this game will be remembered as much for the "cheerleader"
shouting over the public address system as for the sparkling rugby provided
by both sides - especially the Canterbury effort in the first 40.
Canterbury started as though this was a cricket match in danger of being
curtailed by the weather and had their first try within a minute when
Justin Marshall and Andrew Mehrtens combined to put Simon Forrest into a
gap and he sprinted the 40 metres to the line. Waikato regrouped well after
this setback and scored the only other points, a penalty, in the first
quarter. However the second quarter belonged entirely to Canterbury as
Daryl Gibson and Mark Mayerhofler ran in tries. Mehrtens converted both
and kicked three penalties in this period and with Canterbury leading 30-6
at halftime the game, as a contest, was virtually over.
Waikato certainly played their part in the second half romp and whilst they
were still outscored on the points board they managed to run in 4 tries
matching the Canterbury effort.
Canterbury 58 (Simon Forrest 2, Dayrl Gibson, Mark Mayerhofler, Mike Brewer,
Justin Marshall, Tabai Matson tries; Andrew Mehrtens 7 conversions,
3 penalties)
Waikato 30 (Scott McLeod 2, Deon Muir, Craig Stevenson tries;
Matthew Cooper 2 conversions, 2 penalties)
Halftime 30-6; Referee Paddy O'Brien
vs Counties at Pukekohe Stadium - August 27
This game marked the first instance of crowd violence against players since
the day a lady walked on to the field at Timaru during the 1956 Springbok
tour and belted one of their forwards with a handbag. This time the object
of the assault was New Zealand's favourite son, Jonah Lomu, and the country
was shocked such an incident occurred.
The game itself was a see-saw affair with both sides seeming to get the
upper hand only to see handy leads whittled away. Unfortunately for
Canterbury another missed touch by Andrew Mehrtens in the last minute of
the game proved to be the final turning point. Counties rattled up 10
points in the first 13 minutes only to see Canterbury get the next 16 and
lead 16-10 after 25 minutes. By halftime though Counties were back in front
with a 23-16 advantage.
Counties stretched the lead with a Lomu try to 30-19 before the Canterbury
backs sprung into life, aided by some ordinary Counties defence, and
narrowed the gap before committing a defensive lapse of their own which
Counties second-five, Tony Marsh, took advantage of to score what looked
like the decisive try. Canterbury stormed back and Justin Marshall turned
a half chance into a try before some inventive backplay gave Daryl Gibson
a long sprint to the corner and Canterbury the lead 39-38 in the last
minute. However from the kick-off Mehrtens missed touch and from an ensuing
ruck an unidentified (to this day) Canterbury forward infringed and Danny
Love kicked the winning penalty from 40 metres.
Despite the closeness of the scores and some fine tries, Canterbury did not
play well in this match and worse was to come the following week.
Canterbury 39 (Chris England, Tabai Matson, Justin Marshall, Dayrl Gibson
tries; Andrew Mehrtens 2 conversions, 5 penalties)
Counties 41 (Jim Coe, Joeli Vidiri, Jonah Lomu, Tony Marsh tries;
Danny Love 3 conversions, 5 penalties)
Halftime 16-23; Referee Mike Hoffman
vs King Country at Te Kuiti - September 2
If the loss against Counties was somewhat disappointing, this effort was
downright disastrous. In fact it was so bad Andrew Mehrtens was moved to
apologise to the Canterbury supporters. King Country scored 7 tries to 4
to hand Canterbury an old-fashioned hiding and Vance Stewart's decision to
rest 6 front-line players backfired badly. There was no denying Canterbury
played badly, especially in defence; for example in the first 20 minutes
King Country hardly saw the ball but on the two occasions it got a roll on
the backs finished off with tries. The danger man was Fijian international
Phillipe Rayasi whose surging runs into the backline created havoc in the
Canterbury defence. Canterbury did play into a very strong wind in the
first half and looked to be weathering the storm at 21-6 down 10 minutes
out from halftime but a penalty and a converted try saw them turn around
31-6 down. A quick try to Tabai Matson early in the second spell raised
some hopes of a revival but a four minute spell in which King Country
scored two more tries put them beyond the reach of Canterbury who achieved
some respectability with a couple of well taken tries to Paula Bale and
Daryl Gibson.
Canterbury 28 (Tabai Matson, Shayne Philpott, Paula Bale, Daryl Gibson
tries; Andrew Mehrtens conversion, 2 penalties)
King Country 48 (doug Wilson 2, Phillipe Rayasi 2, Paul Mitchell, Jason
Rika, Henry Morgan tries; Michael Blank 5 conversions, penalty)
Halftime 6-31; Referee Paddy O'Brien
vs Wellington at Lancaster Park - September 10
After an unsuccessful northern tour and up against a competitive Wellington
side the portents did not look good for Canterbury. Wellington had been
making much of their chances to regain the shield including a well
publicised mid-week BBQ in which the television cameras made much of big
prop Bill Cabuvati devouring Canterbury lamb. However this turned out to be
Canterbury's best performance of the year. Wellington started at 500 mph
but were unable to turn pressure into points whereas Canterbury had Richard
Loe over for a try the first time they entered Wellington territory. The
Canterbury forwards also managed to impose their will on the Wellington
pack in the first scrum when, for whatever reason, Mark Hammett came up
swinging and whilst he was lucky to stay on the field the message had been
given and virtually nothing was seen of the Wellington front row after this.
Although Canterbury's first try was scored in the fifth minute it took
almost another 20 before Simon Forrest scored the second. From there the
floodgates opened and a further three tries - two to Daryl Gibson and one
to Mike Brewer - coupled with steady kicking from Andrew Mehrtens, had
Canterbury virtually beyond reach at 36-6 at halftime.
There was more to follow in the second spell with Blackadder, Forrest, Adrian
Tukaki (who replaced an injured Gibson) and Brewer all scoring tries. Halfback
Justin Marshall obviously relished the platform provided by his forwards and
finally won over the Lancaster Park crowd with a man of the match winning
performance.
Canterbury 66 (Daryl Gibson 2, Simon Forrest 2, Mike Brewer 2, Richard Loe,
Todd Blackadder, Adrian Tukaki tries; Andrew Mehrtens 6 conversions,
2 penalties, dropped goal)
Wellington 17 (Tana Umaga, Alex Telea tries; Jon Preston 2 conversions,
penalty)
Halftime 36-6; Referee Glenn Wahlstrom
vs Otago at Carisbrook - September 16
This was to be Mike Brewer's last appearance at Carisbrook and Canterbury
wished to make it a winning one. Otago, somewhat against the norm, had been
struggling at the 'brook all season winning most of their games in 1995 on
the road. Canterbury were 18-6 up at halftime and looked to be doing it in
a canter but Otago improved dramatically in the second half.
Canterbury controlled the first half through the impressive work of the
forwards and scored two tries to which Otago's only reply was a couple of
penalties. The second try, on the stroke of halftime, was especially
valuable and was scored by left wing Adrian Tukaki. But if Canterbury felt
confident at the break they soon had a battle on their hands. Inspirational
play by dynamic flanker Josh Kronfeld resulted in terrific solo try which,
on the back of two Tony Brown penalties, took Otago to a 19-18 lead.
Canterbury hardly touched the ball in the third quarter but when Otago had
a momentary lapse Brewer swooped on the ball. Mark Hammett and Chris
England kept the movement alive before Mehrtens quickened the pace and then
a perfectly timed pass from Tabai Matson allowed Paula Bale the space to
get around Jeff Wilson and score in the corner. Mehrtens' second sideline
conversion took the score to 28-19. Otago weren't finished yet, though.
Jason Wright and Kronfeld combined to put Paul Cooke over in the corner and
Tony Brown kicked the sideline conversion. In the last minute Brown had the
chance to steal the game for Otago but he was unable to convert the penalty
opportunity.
Canterbury 28 (Justin Marshall, Adrian Tukaki, Paula Bale tries; Andrew
Mehrtens 2 conversions, 2 penalties, dropped goal)
Otago 26 (Josh Kronfeld, Paul Cooke tries; Tony Brown 2 conversions,
4 penalties)
Halftime 18-6; Referee Steve Walsh.
vs Auckland at Lancaster Park - September 23
This was supposed to be the climax of the Canterbury season but it turned
into a bit of a fizzer as they were played off the park by a much superior
team. In reality there really was only one team in the game as Auckland
dominated possession and territory. Richard Fromont and Robin Brooke were
awesome in the lineouts and it was only due to resolute Canterbury defence
that the score stayed as close as it did for much of the game. However the
inevitable finally happened and in the last quarter Auckland ran in three
tries two of which were converted by Adrian Cashmore.
Canterbury 0
Auckland 35 (James Kerr 2, Eroni Clarke, Tus Nu'uali'ita tries; Adrian
Cashmore 3 conversions, 3 penalties)
Halftime 7-0; Referee Colin Hawke
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.2} Waikato by Paul Kendall
After the disappointments of 1994 no one quite knew what to expect from
Waikato during the 1995 season. Further retirements, a new coach in former
All Black John Boe, and a new captain (Steve Gordon) suggested that 1995 was
to be nothing more than a rebuilding year. Surprisingly Boe was more
optimistic and had emphasized he was in favour of a involving all fifteen
players by playing expansive rugby which was a change from the past.
A pre-season trip to South Africa after Waikato's failure to make the
Super-10 tournament proved to be very important. Despite losing to both
Natal and Northern Transvaal, Waikato were at least competitive. But more
importantly the tour provided the necessary climate to promote team unity
and cohesiveness with so many new players in the squad. On return Waikato
suffered heavy losses to the All Blacks disguised as the Harlequins XV and
the NZ Maoris but showed enough commitment and enterprise to provide the
followers with some hope for the season ahead.
In somewhat of a surprise Waikato won the pre-season Coronation Shield
Championship with wins over Northland, North Harbour and Thames Valley
culminating in a big win over King Country in the final. Unfortunately this
game was also notable for the loss of first choice halfback Rhys Duggan who
suffered a season-ending knee injury - a problem that was to plague Waikato
throughout the season.
Waikato started the NPC with an unconvincing win over King Country in a
forgettable match.
This was followed by a last-minute loss to Counties 23-21 at home. For the
first 40 minutes Waikato could do no wrong and led 21-3 at the break, however
it was a "game of two halves" as Counties dominated the second half. This was
somewhat prophetic, since Waikato's next match - their Ranfurly Shield
challenge against Canterbury - followed a similar trend.
If there was ever a game which highlighted the undoubtable fact that
experience is an essential component of top level rugby this was it. In the
weeks leading up to this game John Boe commented that Waikato was going to
take the game to Canterbury. This was an admirable attitude to adopt despite
fielding a side with nearly half the team playing in their first full NPC
season.
Unfortunately for Waikato a Simon Forrest try just 90 seconds into the match
rocked them and set the tone for the first half. The Cantabrians produced
a sparkling display of running rugby to which Waikato had no answer. In
fact, Waikato's role was reduced to little more than restarting play, such was
the dominance Canterbury had with possession. The game was never in doubt
after Waikato trailed 30-6 at halftime but they did emerge with some credit
scoring four second-half tries. Ironically, the players who impressed the
most were rookie players No.8 Deon Muir and midfield back Scott McLeod.
These two players continued to perform throughout the season with McLeod
forcing his way into the All Black contention later in the year.
A return to form saw Waikato convincingly beat Southland 42-15 in an
entertaining game followed by what was perhaps Waikato's best performance of
the season against North Harbour. Although the final scoreline was only 29-28
to Waikato after Burton missed a last-second conversion this was a match which
Waikato would have been extremely unlucky to lose.
A committed team effort and solid backline defence shut down the classy North
Harbour backline and paved the way for a deserved win. Only a year ago the
lack of defence from the midfield backs had proved to be Waikato's achilles
heel.
A loss to Otago followed when Waikato was effectively starved of possession
and seemed to have undone all the good work achieved the previous game.
Undoubtedly Waikato's thrilling win over Wellington probably summed up the
season for Waikato. Waikato raced to a 20-0 lead only to see Wellington score
three tries in the last five minutes of the first half to lead 21-20 at the
break. Was this match to be a repeat of the Counties performance?
Fortunately Waikato had learnt their lesson and eventually won 36-28 thanks
largely to a late Rhys Ellison try. The emotion shown by Ellison was shared
by all the players and supporters alike. Scott McLeod had a huge game while
Aaron Hopa made a big impression in his debut.
The final game of the season was against the new Ranfurly Shield holders
Auckland on a rain-soaked Eden Park. As usual thousands of Mooloo supporters
painted in red, yellow and black made the pilgrimage north expecting nothing
less than another Waikato win in Auckland. While the final scoreboard read
26-17 to Auckland it was Waikato who emerged with all the credit and actually
led 10-0 before the Auckland machine got into gear. The star of the game was
Aaron Hopa who comprehensively outplayed his rival Zinzan Brooke with his
punishing tackling and was rewarded with a late try.
If I was to summarise Waikato's 1995 season in one word it would be
inconsistent. For every highlight like wins over North Harbour and Wellington
and a creditable loss to Auckland there were forgettable performances against
the likes of King Country, Canterbury and Otago. Season-ending injuries to
halfbacks Rhys Duggan and Simon Crabb before the season had even started, and
later those to Matthew Cooper and Deon Muir didn't help but can't be used as
an excuse. Inexperience in key positions probably played the major role in
Waikato's up and down season in which they finished sixth.
The player of the year was without doubt Scott McLeod who John Boe had likened
to former great All Black Bruce Robertson. Ironically if it wasn't for a
phone call from Boe to Japan early in the year, McLeod would not have even
been playing rugby in NZ. Surely he can't be too far away from All Black
honours if he continues to display such form. Other standouts were number
eights Deon Muir and Aaron Hopa. Hopa, like McLeod, was coached by Boe in the
Waikato Colts. He impressed in his only two matches and was originally Boe's
choice as No.8 before making himself unavailable. A special mention must also
go to Steve Gordon who should be commended for his captaincy in what was at
times a difficult season for all.
Looking ahead we can be optimistic about the coming NPC season. The new
players will have had a season of NPC rugby under their belts and will be
fully aware of the inherent pressures that this rugby brings and the
commitment needed to succeed. One would expect Waikato to continue to adopt
an expansive style of play under Boe and they should continue to improve.
A top four finish is not unrealistic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.3} Auckland by Russell Brown
If Auckland's first home game of the 1995 season was an omen, it was a very
bad one indeed. Encapsulated in its Super-10 game against Queensland was
every bad cliche to which Auckland could lay claim. For a start, Auckland
found themselves playing to a thin crowd at, of all places, Ericsson
Stadium - and only days after the place had been packed for the razzamataz
of the Auckland Warriors' Winfield Cup debut.
What happened on the field wasn't much better. In a messy forward battle,
Auckland eventually took the upper hand, its pack supplying a stream of
ball to a backline which looked disorganised and bereft of enterprise.
Meanwhile, the Queensland centres Daniel Herbert and Craig Little were on
fire - scything through gaps and providing what joy there was to be had
from a meagre spectacle.
The Super 10 passed, mercifully, to be followed by the ill-advised
Coronation Shield competition, which served largely as an opportunity for
Auckland, bereft of its World Cup All Blacks, to lose at home to King
Country. Almost nobody went to the games.
Surely the NPC would bear more fruit? Not just yet. A 13-10 win over
Wellington was flattering in the extreme, and was followed by a tense 11-12
loss to North Harbour - the first time Harbour had beaten Auckland on Onewa
Domain. A flood of ball late in the piece was wasted on a series of hapless
drop-goal attempts, which pretty much said it all.
A little more came from a still-wobbly 46-15 win over King Country. Zinzan
Brooke showed fine form in scoring two tries and Charles Reichelmann's
trojan effort at lock showed that Auckland had depth behind its "All Black
pack". Heading south, Auckland outmuscled Otago 25-21 at Carisbrook - and
looked pretty good in doing so. Muscle (in the shape of two pushover tries)
again did the job against a stout Southland side which discovered, as
others did that season, that beating Auckland on the field is one thing,
and beating them on the scoreboard quite another. 21-19 to the Auks.
It was a relief when Auckland finally got back to Eden Park - and to form -
against Counties. Mark Carter and Robin Brooke came back from injury,
Brooke soared to claim the ball from almost every restart and Carlos
Spencer was on fire, scoring three tries.
Halback Junior Tonu'u left the field late in the game with a foot injury
which ended his NPC season - and some suggested that his absence in
subsequent matches was the key to a more coherent Auckland backline. But
with Spencer standing wider at first five eighths (to take advantage of
Tonu'u's length of pass), things had already begun to click.
What really made the difference was the fortuitous injury of John Ngaumo,
which brought the old campaigner Eroni Clarke back to his rightful place at
centre. Clarke provided the fibre the Auckland backs had been lacking - and
made room on the wing for the exciting youngster James Kerr. A Lomu-less
Counties could do little with the slight ration of ball it got. Final
score: 59-24.
Then south, to reclaim the Ranfurly Shield. And only the shield could have
procured the kind of intensity that Auckland took into the game. Canterbury
never gave up, but they were blasted out of the game. Andrew Mehrtens, a
star after the World Cup, was simply buried by the Auckland loose forwards.
Canterbury's lack of forward power, which had been hitherto covered up by
sheer grit, was cruelly exposed. 28 of Auckland's 35 unanswered points were
scored in the second half, by which time its forwards had done their job. A
powerful, if not pretty, performance.
Waikato provided a sterner first challange for the shield than most had
expected and, although they went down 26-17, Aucklanders had much for which
to thank the educated boots of Carlos Spencer and Adrian Cashmore. No such
praise for North Harbour, Auckland's opponents in the NPC semi-finals -
weakened by injury and looking out of sorts, Harbour were trampled 60-26 in
Auckland's best performance of the season. It was no coincidence that
Auckland's formidable loose forward trio all had huge games - and even
replacement Dylan Mika looked better than anyone in the Harbour pack.
And so to the final. Did I say how hard it was to beat Auckland on the
scoreboard? Otago did everything but, confounding all the pundits in the
process. Unlike of a few of early season spectacles, this was not a
particularly poor performance from Auckland - just a raging one from Otago.
But how ironic it was that the strengthened penalty try rule, introduced to
counter the "professional fouls" of which Auckland were said to be the
masters, was what did Otago in. Stu Forster, in a rush of blood rather than
a bit of guile, tried to kick the ball out of the back of an Auckland scrum
on the line. Peep went Colin Hawke's whistle - and with it, Otago's
deserved victory. Auckland 23, Otago 19. Phew.
Auckland took back the Ranfurly Shield and won the NPC again - but just as
important was the rise in stature of young players like Carlos Spencer,
Adrian Cashmore, James Kerr and the back-up locks, Charles Reichelmann and
Jason Chandler. Auckland's strength and depth in the tight-five was unmatched,
but the backline conundrum remains only partially solved. Two loosies,
Carter and Tatupu, were lured to league, the former somewhat reluctantly in
the end. The ARFU must have wondered if it was going to permanently lose a
fair chunk of its crowds to t'other code as well. But, then, we all know
what happened to rugby league ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.4} Wellington
Wellington started their National Provincial Championship campaign with
what must have looked on paper as the toughest opener they could have had;
away at Auckland. The date was August 5th 1995.
In the event Wellington performed well, and came away from the game with
a lot of credit but only one point, having lost 13-10. One of the standouts
was openside flanker Gordon Simpson who was hungry for the ball, and
made several impressive bursts, one of which should have resulted in a
match-winning try near the end of the match.
Coming back home the following Saturday, the black and golds turned it
on for their supporters against a North Harbour outfit which looked a
little diffident and out of sorts, winning 26-17 with tries to Norman
Broughton, Gordon Simpson and big Billy Cavubati. The major changes wrought
by coach Frank Walker were the performance in the loose, and the basic
attitude of the players. In previous seasons, the team had see-sawed
between being hot one week and being uncommitted and unmotivated the
next.
The next match was down at Division 1 new-boy Southland's ground in
Invercargill. A 21-16 win here, together with the new-found attitude won
the fans over, and they crammed Athletic Park to see the team take on
Otago. In a game which could have gone either way until a runaway try
by Otago's ace winger Paul Cook Wellington went down 33-19, with points
being conceded late due to some ill-advised desperation play. This was
the turning point for Wellington's season.
Despite this loss, the buildup to the Ranfurly Shield challenge was
quite marked. However Canterbury were in no mood to relinquish their
grip on the trophy, and handed Wellington a sound thrashing 66-17.
Two further losses, 36-28 at Waikato, and 33-8 at Counties wrapped up a
season which started with promise but then fizzled out for Wellington.
Despite the results at the end which might have given the impression,
from a distance, that they were as up and down as usual, the team
have actually taken a step up in terms of attitude and belief in
themselves. The results exposed basic deficiencies in the tight five,
which must be addressed before the team will achive any degree of
success, however the basic foundations are there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.5} Counties
Counties started their National Provincial Championship campaign a week
late after sitting out their bye, on August 13th at Waikato. It was a match
in which they survived a poor first half trailing 21-3 at the break, to bounce
right back and beat Waikato by 23-21.
In the next fixture, Jonah Lomu celebrated his return to New Zealand, his
decision to sign a four-year contract with the NZRFU, and his first outing
in the NPC for his club Counties with a try against Counties opponents King
Country. King Country could be justified in considering themselves unlucky
not to come out winners, in a match where they were leading at the halfway
stage through penalties care of the boot of second-choice kicker Michael
Blank. Counties eventually won 24-15.
Once again at home in Pukekohe, Counties next entertained Canterbury,
and just beat them 41-39 in a thriller which could have gone either way
up until the final whistle.
Southland were then downed 25-21 at Invercargill in a display which was
classy, but not convincing enough to put plucky Southland away. Southland
stayed in touch throughout, and deservedly earned their bonus point.
Back home again, Counties next hosted North Harbour and won their fifth
match on the trot by 25-22. Harbour ran in a couple of good tries, but
failed to dominate an irrepressible Counties, who crossed their line three
times in all to gain a deserved win.
The winning streak came to a halt at Eden Park, where the Aucks handed
the side a 59-24 thrashing. With a solid and indomitable forward platform,
the Auckland backs had it all their own way, with first five-eighth Carlos
Spencer showing his best form of the season. Indeed the Auckland backline
all had a scintillating game, and Counties received a rugby lesson.
Otago next visited Pukekohe, and Counties lost this match 43-38. Looking
surprisingly out of condition in the warm weather, Counties out-scored
Otago by 6 tries to 5, but fell short due to first 5/8 Danny Love having
a bad day at the office with his kicking. However a last-minute try to
Jonah Lomu gained them an important bonus point, which earned them a certain
semi-final spot along with Otago.
Wellington were next up, with a good 33-8 win at Athletic Park the result.
Leading 11-8 at the halftime whistle Counties had nonetheless made heavy
weather of it, being beaten in second phase play by a Wellington side eager
to look good in their last match of the season and in front of their home
fans. The second half was a different story, with the Counties forwards
taking almost complete control of possession to run up the final scoreline.
Counties' season ended with their Semi-Final match against Otago which they
lost 41-32. Counties were in this match until the last 10 mintues or so,
but didn't quite have what it takes to break the Otago line when it mattered.
All in all, an excellent season once again from Counties, with plenty of
exciting attacking rugby being provided for their fans. With their two
star wingers Jonah Lomu and Joeli Vidiri, they appear to have taken
the WWII 'Big Wing' concept to heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.6} North Harbour
North Harbour began their NPC season by entertaining the Cantabrians to a
13-all draw at Takapuna. Canterbury moved the ball well in the backs and
seemed much more organised than Harbour. An absolute standout player for
Canterbury was halfback Justin Marshall, who was full of ideas and running
throughout. For Harbour Eric Rush stood out and entertained the crowd with
a stunning try. The conversion, had Burton managed to kick it, would have
won the match for Harbour, however the draw accurately reflected the way
the match had unfolded.
Next up for Harbour was a visit to Wellington where they faltered, losing
26-17 to a committed Capital side. The Harbour team were fairly disjointed
overall, and did not impress.
They raised their game considerably to score a nail-biting win against
rivals Auckland 12-11, their first win over the Aucks at Takapuna. Auckland's
powerful midfield defence and strong forward play tended to suffocate North
Harbour's natural running game, and dampen the spectacle somewhat, however
the game was still an exciting contest.
Waikato were hosted next, and Harbour lost this match by 29-28. Waikato
deservedly won this thrilling match at Takapuna by taking the chances offered
to them whilst disrupting the classy North Harbour backline with solid
defence. North Harbour pulled it back to 23-29 with a couple of penalties,
but it all looked too late until Bunce found Robert Todd who in turn fed Rush
on an overlap to score. With time up on the clock, it was all up to Warren
Burton to win the match for Harbour, however the kick went wide, and Waikato
were deserved winners.
A trip to Pukekohe and Counties came next and this time Harbour went down
by 25-22. Harbour ran in a couple of good tries, but failed to dominate an
irrepressible Counties, who crossed their line three times in all and deserved
the win. Standing out for North Harbour was Eric Rush, whose timing onto the
ball and acceleration into the gap were exciting, although the support was
not always there when he ran out of room. All Black centre pairing Frank
Bunce and Walter Little were seldom seen, being contained by their Counties
opposites.
Southland felt the backlash down at Invercargill as Harbour bounced back from
their recent defeats by handing out a 51-13 hiding to the hapless South
Islanders. Returning to the Harbour side after being dropped in favour of
the useful Robert Todd for the last two matches, winger Peter Woods proved
that he was too good to be dispensed with, scoring no less than 4 tries.
King Country were dispatched next to the tune of 44-18 at Taupo. North
Harbour reversed a 10-13 half-time defecit to thrash King Country 44-18 in a
match played under lights. The home side, playing with a strong northerly
dominated a first half which was riddled with errors, and outscored Harbour
2 tries to 1. The 3 point lead was never going to be enough for King Country,
and a Burton penalty just after the restart levelled the scores. Harbour
halfback Ant Strachan began to run the play as the visitors won more
possession and the points mounted.
A visit to Dundein also paid dividends, as Harbour struck down Otago 60-24.
Desperate to keep their top-4 hopes alive and well, North Harbour put in a
block-busting performance to totally dominate a subdued Otago side playing
in front of their Carisbrook fans. The motivation factor obviously played
its part, with Otago already in the playoffs, and only playing for home
advantage.
North Harbour's NPC season came to an end in the Semi-Final against
Auckland at Eden Park. An injury and illness hit North Harbour side came up
against an Auckland team seemingly out to prove that they are more than
simply a set of world-class forwards. Harbour had no answer to the most
complete Auckland performance this season, featuring ferociously committed
defence, awesome forward power, and a set of backs which clicked on the day.
The final score was 60-26 in favour of the Aucks.
In summary it was an up and down season for Harbour with slow start, a
fizz in the middle followed by a fading away at the end. To be fair to them
their injury and illness situation was largely responsible for the semi-
final debacle. Player of the season for North Harbour had to be Eric
Rush, who played scintillating rugby throughout, and capped it all with
an All Black tour to Italy and France where he established himself as
the 1st choice right-winger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.7} King Country
King Country's NPC season started out at their home ground in Te Kuiti,
hosting Waikato, who beat them 15-8. King Country scored the only try in a
rather dismal match which the boot of Matthew Cooper won for Waikato, due
to KC finishing up on the wrong side of a 22-9 penalty count.
Otago visited them next and returned the hospitality by beating the home
side by 26-17. Otago were flattered by the eventual 9-point winning margin
of a match in which King Country were again unfortunate enough to be on the
receiving end.
Next up was a match against Counties at Pukekohe which was lost 24-15. They
were once again a little unlucky not to obtain at least a bonus point from
this game, having led 9-5 at half time. Counties only went into the lead
with 7 minutes to go, care of 3 penalties, but a late try by Peter Fatialofa
denied King Country the bonus.
The team journeyed next to Eden park to take on the mighty Aucks. They
predictably lost this game 46-15. Auckland did not look convincing however,
in a game which started with a hiss and a roar with a scoring rate of a
point-per-minute for the first quarter of an hour. At very least the best
try of the match came from KC's Doug Wilson who evaded Waisake Sotutu 60m
out, and then beat Adrian Cashmore to score.
Canterbury were hosted at Te Kuiti next, and they were resting several key
players for the Ranfurly Shield defence the following week against Wellington.
They paid the price for underestimating a King Country side which had a lot
to prove. Mehrtens had an awful day in all, kicking only 3 from 8, and being
put under severe pressure from KC loose forwards all afternoon.
Next a visit to the Capital saw King Country lose 36-16 to Wellington, who
were coming off a hiding by Canterbury in the Ranfurly Shield match the
week before, when King Country had their bye. On a windy Wellington day
Wellington opted to take the advantage of it in the first half, and
benefited by going out to a 26-5 lead. King Country failed to gain enough
quality possession to use the wind to great advantage in the second half,
and Wellington gradually wound themselves up in the backs to become dominant
as the match went on.
A 44-18 thrashing was handed out by a visiting North Harbour next, at Taupo.
King Country had the advantage of a strong northerly in the first half which
was riddled with errors, and outdid Harbour 2 tries to 1. The slender 13-10
lead at half-time was never going to be sufficient and Harbour fired up
in the second 40 minutes, scoring four more tries.
The final game was down in Invercargill against Southland. It was once again
do-or-die stuff for King Country, with the loser destined for the second
division. King Country retained its tenuous hold on first division football
for the fourth season running by virtue of a last minute penalty goal from
Michael Blank in a tense match. The final score was 13-12 to King Country.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.8} Southland
Southland had 'imported' several players in the off-season in an attempt to
improve their chances of staying up in the first division. These included
All Black Norm Hewitt from Hawkes Bay, Western Samoan international To'o
Vaega, former Otago representatives Brett McCormack, Miles Skipworth, and
Andrew Campbell, Mark Seymour from Northland and Englishmen Adedayo Adebayo,
and Damian Hopley.
The season began at Dunedin where Otago won narrowly 22-18. In a match which
never rose to any great heights, Southland could consider themselves unlucky
to only collect a solitary bonus point, scoring two tries to one from Otago,
and threatening to win the match right until the final whistle.
Next was a Ranfurly Shield challenge at Lancaster Park against holders
Canterbury. The red and blacks scraped home 27-22. Despite enoying an obvious
superiority in the scrum, and generally dominating Southland up front,
Canterbury were never allowed to think that they had this match won until
full time was up.
Back at home in Invercargill, a feisty Wellington side beat them 21-16. The
key ingredients of the Wellington win were adherence to the basics of the
game: committed defence, strength at the set pieces, secure second phase
play, and a strong-running, penetrative backline. Southland got off to a bad
start through the decision by captain David Henderson to give away a strong
wind advantage in the first half.
Next up was a visit to Waikato where they were drubbed 42-15. The seven tries
to two trouncing of luckless Southland saw Waikato come on form in this NPC
clash at Rugby Park, Hamilton. The match was a real thriller, with some superb
running rugby, and allowed Waikato to put the Ranfurly Shield challenge
disappointment behind them.
The next game was at Invercargill where once again the home fans had to
suffer a close loss, this time 25-21. Star player Jonah Lomu had a quiet
game, mainly due to the effectiveness of his marker Richard Stodart, who
shadowed the giant everywhere, and also scored a try himself. Southland
were competetive throughout, and proved that they were the bonus point
specialists of the NPC.
Auckland visited the deep south next, and came away with yet another
close win 21-19, with Southland collecting another bonus point for their
troubles. Two pushover tries by the current NPC champions were really the
only times that they looked like crossing the Southland line due to a
tremendously committed defensive effort.
The Southland team next journeyed northwards to Takapuna, where they went
down to North Harbour who blitzed them 51-13. Unfortunately for the
South Islanders, this was a game in which the Harbour backline really
got it together, with Peter Woods collecting no less than 4 tries.
The end of season match at home against fellow first division bottom-dwellers
King Country was a game in which the winner got to stay up, and the loser
went down to the second division. Unfortunately Southland lost by a last
minute penalty, 13-12. It was a heart-breaking end to the season, in which
Southland had played some enterprising rugby.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.9} Otago
Otago's NPC season opened against Southland at Carisbrook, and resulted
in a close-fought 22-18 win. The story of this match was one of Otago trying
to play a fairly structured game, with Stephen Bachop kicking very well
indeed. However Southland impressed with their gutsy and strong defence,
and their loose-play which matched that of Otago, Paul Henderson giving the
incumbent All Black No.7 Josh Kronfeld more than a run for his money until
being sidelined with a suspected sprained ankle.
After a week off for the bye, during which time Otago visited Brisbane to
keep their hand in and thrashed Australian Super-Team Queensland by 62-33,
they next played Wellington at Athletic Park. In a game with plenty of
movement, Otago beat Wellington by 33-19, although the score flattered.
The Aucklanders were next entertained at Carisbrook, and Otago lost this
close match 25-21. Auckland deserved its victory at the House of Pain,
playing rugby based around it's formidable forward pack, and using its
backline to good advantage when appropriate. Otago, on the other hand,
could only count themselves fortunate to salvage a bonus point, since they
were outplayed for a great deal of the game.
A visit to Hamilton and the Waikato reaped the reward of a 20-15 win.
Sticking with the more conservative forward-oriented approach which we
saw from them this season, Otago got back onto the NPC rails with a win
away from home against Waikato in this match. Although they scored 2 tries
to 1, Waikato succumbed to the accurate goalkicking of Otago first five
eighths Tony Brown as the Blues dominated territory, and won most lineout
ball.
Canterbury were hosted at Dunedin next, and Otago just lost this match
28-26. Canterbury put in a sterling performance against a committed Otago
side playing at their stronghold of Carisbrook, to win a match which might
have gone either way in the end. Looking at the match overall, the impression
was that Canterbury had the edge in terms of options and variation. Otago
battled hard, but always seemed to have to work harder for the yards than
did Canterbury when they broke, and this proved significant.
A visit to Counties in Pukekohe yielded a 43-38 win. Otago booked a place in
the NPC semi-finals with this good win over unfortunate Counties, after
making a horror start to the game, trailing 15-3 with only 15 minutes gone.
However, a fine performance from winger Paul Cooke whose three-try haul
took him past John Timu's record of 69 tries for Otago, fullback Jeff Wilson,
and No.8 Arran Pene saw them make a great recovery.
With the NPC semi-final spot in their pockets, Otago hosted North Harbour
who were looking to cement a place there also. The difference in motivation
was soon apparent, and Harbour took Otago apart to the tune of 60-24.
The semi-final was against Counties at Pukekohe. Otago won this match
by 41-32 to go through to face Auckland in the final. Otago deservedly won
an exciting game at Pukekohe, where both sides came to run the ball and
chance their arm to get into the NPC final. Counties were in the match until
the last 10 mintues or so, but didn't quite have what it takes to break the
Otago line when it mattered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.10} Final Standings
_____________________________________________
NPC DIVISION 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
Auckland 8 7 0 1 236 118 29
Counties 8 6 0 2 233 228 25
Otago 8 5 0 3 215 220 22
North Harbour 8 4 1 3 247 159 20
Canterbury 8 4 1 3 259 232 19
Waikato 8 4 0 4 205 206 18
Wellington 8 3 0 5 165 230 13
King Country 8 2 0 6 150 231 8
Southland 8 0 0 8 136 222 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.11} NPC First Division Semi-Finals
First Semi-Final
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday 7th October
at Eden park, Auckland
Referee: P.D. O'Brien (Southland)
Final Score: AUCKLAND 60 NORTH HARBOUR 26 (HT: 28-9)
An injury and illness hit North Harbour side came up against an Auckland
team seemingly out to prove that they are more than simply a set of
world-class forwards. Harbour had no answer to the most complete
Auckland performance this season, featuring ferociously committed defence,
awesome forward power, and a set of backs which clicked on the day.
To be fair to Harbour their personnel problems before the match were
severe enough, with Liam Barry suffering with a virus, and Frank Bunce
with a badly torn groin muscle. During the course of the match, captain
Ant Strachan also came off after only 21 minutes with medial ligament
damage, and hooker Slade McFarland and prop Scott Palmer were both
replaced. This resulted in a considerably disjointed and under-par
North Harbour side.
During the match no-one except Eric Rush could really be singled out
for praise. Rush once again showed what exceptional form he is in this
season with a superb try down the left wing, effortlessly going past
fullback Adrian Cashmore in the process.
On Auckland's side, it is hard to know where to begin when looking
for good things to say. The forward pack performed, as ever, very
strongly all round. Michael Jones had a standout game on the blind
side flank, and likewise Mark Carter featured in some excellent break-
away moves. In the backs Tu Nu'uali'itia, and Carlos Spencer worked
well, begging the question of whether Graham Henry will recall All Black
halfback Junior Tonu'u for next week's final or not. In midfield Eroni
Clark ran strongly, and Lee Stensness looked like he might be starting
to find his confidence once again.
In the first quarter Auckland got a penalty try, and Burton replied with
a couple of penalties. The penalty try resulted when Auckland, who enjoyed
almost complete dominance of the Harbour pack, shunted the latter back
in a push-over try attempt, which was foiled by foul play.
The 7-6 score soon became 17-6 care of a Mark Carter break and Zinzan
Brooke centering kick. As the ball came loose Dowd was on hand to force.
Two minutes before half-time, Zinzan executed a push-over try, and at
28-9 down, with their scrum going backwards, it looked like it was going
to be a long second half for Harbour.
Spencer kicked a drop-goal, Stensness went over when Glen Osborne, in
a worrying rush of blood, elected to run the ball out with no support and
was caught. Michael Jones and Jason Chandler both finished off moves which
showed some slick handling in the backline. After 17 minutes into the half
the score stood at 48-12.
Eric Rush, who stood head and shoulders above his team-mates, scored his
try but Harbour fans showed little enthusiasm. Replacement flanker Dylan
Mika then produced a run to set up Tu Nu'uali'itia for a try, and a minute
from time Eroni Clarke went over in the corner after a Sotutu break.
Scoring: Auckland North Harbour
Tries: Clarke, Stensness, Nu'uali'itia, Rush, Penalty try
Z Brooke, Jones, Chandler, Dowd,
Penalty try
Conv: Cashmore(4) Burton(2)
Pen: Cashmore(3) Burton(4)
Drop goal: Spencer
Second Semi-Final
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday 8th October
at The Stadium, Pukekohe
Referee: G.K. Wahlstrom (Auckland)
Final Score: COUNTIES 32 OTAGO 41 (HT: 17-19)
Otago deservedly won an exciting game at Pukekohe, where both sides
came to run the ball and chance their arm to get into the NPC final.
Otago ran onto the pitch at Pukekohe with Jamie Joseph playing at lock,
and Tony Brown taking Stephen Bachop's place at first 5/8. Bachop sat
on the reserves bench, and came on late in the game after Brown went
off after being injured by a Junior Paramour punch which saw the latter
sent from the field.
Both sides were totally focussed and committed to the task at hand, and
the crowd was soon entertained.
After only a minute Danny Love put Counties on the board with a penalty
for offside, however Otago came back strongly and after fluffing an
attempt at the 5 minute mark they scored a marvellous try though captain
John Leslie, who dived under the tackle of Jonah Lomu in the right hand
corner.
The next scoring action was again from the men in Blue. A lineout about
25m out from the Counties line saw halfback Stu Forster feed Nick Moore
who broke through, fending off a bemused Peter Fatialofa in the process,
to go over and score. Tony Brown converted to make it 12-3 to the
visitors.
Counties came back strongly, and Otago desperately defended, only just
holding up Counties players over the line in two separate attacks.
Finally Jonah Lomu, coming off his wing took the ball up and drove over
the line with three Otago men clinging to him. Nobody could stop him
from grounding the ball. Danny Love converted to make it 10-12 with
half an hour gone.
Next John Leslie gathered after charging a Counties clearing kick down,
and passed to Ellis who scored. Tony Brown converted the try to make it
an unfortunate 7-pointer against Counties.
With their pack having slightly the better of their opposites, Counties
came back and earned a penalty try for an illegal offside when Otago
tried to stop a quick tap kick near their line. Danny Love made it a
close 17-19 at half-time.
Tony Brown popped a drop-goal over at the 43 minute mark, then Peter
Fatialofa made up for his earlier missed tackle to score a try in the
45th minute, bringing the scores level at 22-each.
George Laupepe then scored the try of the match for Counties, racing
and stepping through tackles from Forster and Wilson on his way to the
line. Love's conversion made it 29-22 to Counties on the 48th minute.
Otago hit back only 2 minutes later with a try to winger Jason Wright,
and a Tony Brown penalty brought it to 30-29 to Otago. A Danny Love
penalty got Counties' nose in front once again, then the see-saw battle
swung the other way with a Brown penalty to make it 33-32 to Otago.
Counties were now under considerable Otago pressure, and Vidiri tried
to run the ball out of his 22m area and then pass when he got into
trouble, turning the ball over. Paul Cooke made no mistake and finished
up with his well-known six-gun salute. At 38-32 down, Counties could have
come back, but a penalty taken by Jeff Wilson with a minute to go
shut the door on them.
For Otago, Anton Oliver, Josh Kronfeld, Arran Pene stood out in the
forwards, whereas Tony Brown had a superb game in his new spot of first
5/8 in the backs. The other standout was Jeff Wilson, whose defensive
and attacking prowess were shown to the full.
Counties were in this match until the last 10 mintues or so, but didn't
quite have what it takes to break the Otago line when it mattered.
Scoring: Counties Otago
Tries: Lomu, Penalty try, Fatialofa, Leslie, Moore, Ellis,
Laupepe Wright, Cooke
Conv: Love(3) Brown(2)
Pen: Love(2) Brown(2), Wilson
Drop goal: Brown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.1.12} NPC First Division Final
Sunday 8th October 1995
Referee: C.J. Hawke (South Canterbury)
Conditions: Overcast/sunny, breeze favoured Otago in the first
half, soft underfoot.
Final Score: AUCKLAND 23 OTAGO 19 (HT: 10-13)
Teams Auckland Otago
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
Age Hgt Kg Age Hgt Kg
15 Adrian Cashmore 22 1.83 89 Jeff Wilson 22 1.81 88
14 Waisake Sotutu 24 1.83 96 Paul Cooke 28 1.83 88
13 Eroni Clarke 26 1.86 90 Marc Ellis 24 1.78 87
12 Lee Stensness 24 1.82 84 John Leslie 24 1.85 91
11 James Kerr 20 1.93 93 Jason Wright 26 1.88 89
10 Carlos Spencer 20 1.80 88 Tony Brown 20 1.78 80
9 Tu Nu'uali'itia 29 1.74 86 Stu Forster 26 1.70 75
8 Zinzan Brooke 30 1.90 99 Arran Pene 27 1.91 110
7 Mark Carter 26 1.88 89 Josh Kronfeld 24 1.86 92
6 Dylan Mika 23 1.95 108 Taine Randell 20 1.87 100
5 Jason Chandler 25 2.01 119 Jamie Joseph 25 1.96 105
4 Robin Brooke 28 1.96 109 Lio Falaniko 25 1.96 109
3 Olo Brown 27 1.83 105 Nick Moore 25 1.85 115
2 Sean Fitzpatrick 32 1.83 105 Anton Oliver 20 1.85 108
1 Craig Dowd 25 1.88 114 Mike Mika 25 1.85 115
Coach Graham Henry Gordon Hunter
It takes an unusual match for the following assessment to be made,
but in the end Auckland stole away as definitely undeserving winners
of this match and, as a result, New Zealand National Provincial
Champions for the third year running.
In terms of contribution to this game Otago stood head and shoulders
above an Auckland outfit who were, for most of the match, made to
look fairly mediocre with their lineout dominace neutralized, their
loose forwards outplayed, their much-vaunted scrum dominance minimized
by collosal work from Arran Pene off the back, and their backs not
clicking except in sporadic bursts.
However, criticise them as we may, Auckland are always a strong team
and very hard to beat over the full 80 minutes, and they were never
put away by Otago. The 80-minute game told in the end with a few
Otago players making mistakes and straying from the territorial game
which had protected their lead for so long. This together with some
inspired kicking from Carlos Spencer earned the Aucks a scrum 4m
from the Otago line in the closing minutes of play, and the pressure
was too much, resulting in the winning penalty-try/conversion, and
the death of a brave effort from the men in blue.
Otago came out much more focussed on a particular game-plan than the
Aucklanders, who looked a little like they had soaked up too much
of their own publicity.
Within 3 minutes Otago first 5/8 Tony Brown put over a penalty from
wide on the right-hand side. The Otago forwards were obviously on
their mettle, and held their own in the tight. Surprisingly, they
also held their own in the lineout due in equal measure to pin-point
throwing from hooker Anton Oliver, excellent work from Jamie Joseph,
and a willingness to play Auckland one-on-one at the physical stuff.
In particular Robin Brooke was well neutralised and distracted at
lineout time.
After 5 minutes, Oliver was lucky not to be sent off when he punched
Craig Dowd in the mouth after a lineout. Dowd suffered the loss of
a few teeth, but the referee didn't see the first punch land.
At about the 10 minute mark Josh Kronfeld suffered a badly sprained
ankle, and had to leave the field. Then some strong Otago pressure
saw a lineout in the Auckland 22m. Spencer dropped the pass in goal
and Otago had a 5m scrum. The ball was freed to Marc Ellis quickly
and he put a lovely low kick across to the wing and in-goal area
for Jeff Wilson to race in and force. The try was not converted and
the score was 8-0 to Otago after 13 minutes.
Only a few minutes later more Otago pressure from some excellent
territorial kicking saw a an Auckland lineout inside their 22m
area on the right touchline. Otago won the ball and John Leslie
put in a huge cross-field kick to the left corner where Paul
Cooke made no mistake. Brown failed to convert once again to make
the score 13-0 to the Blues.
The two tries shocked Auckland and prevented them building any
confidence. Otago compounded this by nullifying them in the very
areas that they are held to be unbeatable. At scrum-time, Auckland
had the weight, however Otago are adept at recovering the ball
from a reversing or disrupted scrum, and Arran Pene inevitably
grabbed it and put in some collosal drives to go well over the
advantage line nearly every time. At lineout, Otago matched Auckland
and gained their share of possession, and at first 5/8 Tony Brown,
given room by the work of Pene, could direct some fine territorial
kicks to maintain control.
Just 5 minutes before half-time Adrian Cashmore slotted a penalty
after some previous indifferent kicking to put Auckland on the
board at 13-3.
Just before half-time Otago lost their way slightly and started to
run the ball in silly situations, instead of relying on Brown's
boot to keep them out of the danger area. This resulted in Auckland
gaining some important territory. From a ruck situation Mark Carter
got the ball for Auckland, saw Arran Pene slip over on a wet piece
of ground and took the gap for a gift try. Cashmore converted to
make it 13-10 to Otago.
Otago started the second half almost as well as they did the first.
A Paul Cooke chip kick and follow-up forced Adrian Cashmore to
carry the ball back into his own in-goal and give Otago the 5m
scrum. The ensuing Otago pressure was enough to cause a defender to
infringe at a ruck and Tony Brown potted the 3-pointer with only
3 minutes of the second half gone.
Some strong Auckland probing resulted in the Otago backline being
caught up offside and Cashmore replied in like manner 4 minutes
later. Tony Brown got a chance to slot his 3rd penalty 3 minutes
after that when Auckland halfback Tu Nu'uali'itia kicked at the
ball on Otago's side of the ruck. At 19-13 to Otago with 10 minutes
of the second half gone, it was still anyone's game.
There was no change in scoreline for a further 18 minutes. During this
time Otago handled everything that Auckland could muster in the
forwards and the backs, and it began to look as if it might be their
day after all.
With Auckland still plugging away a lineout in Otago's half resulted
in a penalty going Auckland's way. Cashmore obliged and there was
only 3 points in it at 19-16 to Otago with only 12 minutes to go.
A piece of (it has to be said) typical silliness from Jamie Joseph
caused a straightforward scrum to Otago to be turned into Joseph
being sin-binned for 5 minutes and a penalty to Auckland. Then an
Aucklander said something to the referee, who promptly reversed the
penalty. Brown missed, but took his time. By the end of this farcical
exchange there was only 8 minutes to play, and nobody watching had
any finger-nails left to bite on.
Otago then put themselves under unwanted pressure by failing to adhere
to the territorial kicking game when in their own half, and this in
effect cost them the game. Running the ball and getting into trouble
caused a turnover and a good kick saw a lineout being taken only 3m
from the Otago line. From a couple of rucks, the ball came out right
and Zinzan Brooke went to catch the ball only 2m out with nobody in
front but fumbled and knocked-on.
Otago then failed to clear from the scrum even though Jamie Joseph
was back on the field, and Auckland had the scrum instead, only 4m
from the Otago line. Otago put in their best scrum of the game and
it looked as if Zinzan Brooke might have been forced to have a go
from a couple of metres out, however Stu Forster decided that in
his opinion the ball was out, and conceded a penalty try by kicking
it away. The last in a sequence of silly errors which need not have
been made by Otago.
With the score at 23-19 to Auckland with only 2 minutes to play, Otago
started throwing the ball around as only they can, and came close to
making a break-through once or twice, however as we know, only the
French are capable of last-gasp try-scoring to win close matches.
For Auckland the victory will be as sweet as any, however they only
have to reflect on how ordinary they were made to look for most of the
game by their worthy opponent to bring them back down to Earth.
Otago did not win, but covered themselves in glory for proving the
critics wrong in their assessment that they were no-hopers, and
would be resoundingly beaten.
Scoring: Auckland Otago
Tries: M Carter, Penalty try J Wilson, P Cooke
Conv: Cashmore(2)
Pen: Cashmore(3) Brown(3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.2} The NPC Second Division
Five players exceeded 100 points for the season. These were Jamie Cameron
(Taranaki) with 176, Warren Johnston (Northland) with 157, Andy Miller
(Bay of Plenty) on 121, Marty Berry (Wairarapa-Bush) with 118 and J.J.
Holland (Manawatu), with 102.
The leading try-scorers were Christian Cullen (Manawatu), Damon Kaui
(Bay of Plenty), Roger Randle (Hawkes Bay), H.C. Taylor (Northland), all
on 8 tries apeice, and C.I. Sullivan (Wairarapa-Bush) on 7.
Taranaki had a superb season, culminating in a final against Northland
where they showed themselves to be worthy of promotion to the first
division once again. Chief architects of the Taranaki effort were
captain Mark 'Bull' Allen, and first five-eighth Jamie Cameron, who
showed maturity and great vision in dictating the course of the final,
and over the season collected 233 points.
Northland also deserve a mention. They looked set to sweep into the
first division having gone through the round-robin unbeaten, but came up
against a Taranaki team which played a much higher order of rugby than
when defeated at Northland's hands earlier in the season. Fullback Warren
Johnston had another great season anchoring the backline with his physical
presence, skill and experience. Also impressive, particularly early on,
just before Laurie Mains picked his World Cup squad, was Norman Berryman,
who lived up to his "Stormin' Norman" nickname. The find of the season must
however be young 19-year old lock Norman Maxwell, who looks set to make
his name in the Super-12 with the Canterbury Crusaders currently.
Bay of Plenty reached the semi-finals this time around, going out to the
eventual winners Taranaki. They boast an enterprising set of backs who
can put on some very entertaining and effective rugby. At fullback Damon
Kaui was outstanding both on defence and attack. Andy Miller's accurate
goalkicking was a feature of the season also.
Hawkes Bay also reached the semis, but stumbled against powerful
Northland. The 'Bay were unfortunate to lose the services of outstanding
loose forward Gordon Falcon to rugby league, and All Black hooker Norm
Hewitt to Southland. Jarrod Cunningham produced some superb displays
at fullback, scoring 195 points in the process. George Konia also
impressed in the midfield, as did his partner there, Murdoch Paewai.
Manawatu just missed a semi-final place this season. Captain and No.8
Karl Williams was the pick of the forwards, impressing all who saw him
with his strength. Chresten Davis, hampered during recovery from injury
nevertheless gradually came into form and showed great talent on the flank.
The standout in the backs for Manawatu was undoubtedly Christian Cullen.
He scored 8 tries in the NPC, and 12 overall. His speed, step and swerve,
combined with excellent vision showed him to be a very special player
indeed and undoubtedly future All Black material. When his solid defence
is also considered, he seems to have everything. As this article was
being prepared he has re-written the Hong Kong Sevens record books, notching
134 points from 18 tries and 22 conversions. His electric performances
there have shown that he is fast realising the potential he showed in
the NPC in 1995, and looks likely to become an All Black in 1996.
Wairarapa-Bush, South Canterbury, Nelson Bays, and Mid Canterbury all had
fairly poor seasons. The Bush beat Hawkes Bay, and some individual scoring
records were bettered in games against South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury.
South Canterbury retained the Hannan Shield, but couldn't really find much
else to cheer about, and Nelson Bays also had a poor season, but managed to
keep hold of the Seddon Shield.
Mid Canterbury had a disastrous time in 1995, returning to the third division
after only one season in the second. They lost all of their matches, some
by large margins.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.2.1} Final Standings
_____________________________________________
NPC DIVISION 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
Northland 8 8 0 0 351 101 32
Bay of Plenty 8 6 0 2 314 152 25
Taranaki 8 6 0 2 342 191 24
Hawkes Bay 8 5 0 3 242 196 20
Manawatu 8 4 0 4 258 165 19
Wairarapa Bush 8 4 0 4 248 239 16
South Canterbury 8 2 0 6 135 303 9
Nelson Bays 8 1 0 7 115 436 5
Mid Canterbury 8 0 0 8 130 342 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.2.3} The NPC Second Division Semi-Finals
First Semi-Final
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday 7th October 1995
at Lowe Walker Stadium, Whangerei
Referee: R. Hill (Wellington)
Final Score: NORTHLAND 36 HAWKES BAY 6 (HT: 11-6)
A competetive Hawkes Bay side were deservedly beaten by a Northland unit which
came out by far the more intense and determined of the two teams. The
Northland defence was just too much for the Bay to handle, and in the end
they never penetrated it.
Taking a major part in the victory was 21-year old Milton Going, the son of
legendary All Black Sid Going. His hat-trick of tries was taken in fine
style, and he turned on a superb all round display at centre.
The Northland pack including captain and flanker Glenn Taylor, his fellow
loosies Richard Hilton-Jones, and John Campbell, and also Tau Siale were on
top form.
Hawkes Bay, as a whole, made too many mistakes under the pressure exerted on
them by the committed Northlanders. Another player to catch the eye was 20
year old Northland first 5/8 David Holwell, in his first year, who played
the position like a seasoned veteran.
Hawkes Bay took the advantage of the breeze in the first half, and got two
early penalties. However Northland replied when Going made the break and
scored his first after a high kick ahead and regather by Holwell.
A Warren Johnston penalty had them 11-6 up at halftime. After only a minute
in the second spell Johnston slotted another penalty, and Milton Going went
over for his second, which came from a silly decision by Jarrod Cunnigham to
take a quick throw in only metres out from his own line.
Going scored his third when the Bay were caught napping, thinking Johnston
would opt for a kick at goal. The tap and lob-pass to Going resulted in
the try.
Scoring: Northland Hawkes Bay
Tries: Going(3), Moore
Conv: Johnston(2)
Pen: Johnston(4) Cunningham(2)
Second Semi-Final
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday 8th October 1995
at International Stadium, Rotorua
Referee: P.A. Macfie (Southland)
Final Score: BAY OF PLENTY 12 TARANAKI 37 (HT: 9-19)
A combination of an excellent forward platform, and a superb game from first
5/8 Jamie Cameron saw Taranaki on their way to the second division NPC final
with a convincing win over Bay of Plenty.
The game started with some heat and niggle, with both hookers sent to the
sin-bin after 5 minutes. In another incident early on, Taranaki prop Gordon
Slater was taken out, and was stretchered off with a suspected broken leg.
The referee maintained good control however, and the niggle largely dropped
out of the match.
Bay scored first through an Andy Miller penalty after 5 minutes. Jamie Cameron
replied in like manner at the 18 minute mark and two more to Taranaki saw them
leading 9-3 at the half-hour stage.
In a steady rain, Taranaki opted to play the percentages, keeping it tight
and then mostly using Jamie Cameron to kick for position. However the first
try came from a neat backline movement wherein Jamie Cameron looped around
moving to the left and went toward the Bay line, selling a nice dummy to
score himself. The conversion made it 16-3 to the visitors. Penalties were
exchanged and the scoreboard stood at 19-9 at half time.
Cameron slotted another penalty just after the restart. Then we had to wait
a further 20 minutes until an Andy Miller penalty broke the spell. Of the two
sides it always looked like Taranaki would score, with their clever use of
the ball in the conditions, and their good ball retention. Half back Michael
Carr made a try for Scott Lines with a nice dab through, beating a man or
two before off-loading.
With only 6 minutes to go it was all over, however debutant fullback Dean
Magon got in on the Taranaki act with two nicely taken tries which he will
remember for a long time.
Scoring: Bay of Plenty Taranaki
Tries: Cameron, Lines, Magon(2)
Conv: Cameron
Pen: Miller(4) Cameron(5)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.2.3} The NPC Second Division Final
Saturday 14th October 1995
at Lowe Walker Stadium, Whangerei
Referee: S. Walsh (Wellington)
Conditions: Overcast, breeze favoured Northland in the first
half, dry.
Final Score: NORTHLAND 18 TARANAKI 22 (HT: 12-10)
Northland
~~~~~~~~~
Warren Johnston, David Manako, Milton Going, Tony Monaghan, Hayden
Taylor, David Holwell, Steven Moore, Justin Collins, Richard
Hilton-Jones, Glenn Taylor, Eddie Jones, Norman Maxwell, Jason Hammond,
Tau Siale, Jason Barrell
Taranaki
~~~~~~~~
Dean Magon, Jason Bright, Etu Manu, Nick Whiting, Aaron Whiteman,
Jamie Cameron, Michael Carr, Andrew Slater, Neil Crowley, Ryan Wheeler,
Kevin Barrett, Scott Lines, Paul Graham, Shane McDonald, Mark Allen(c)
Having dominated for most of the game through a combination of a superb
effort from the forwards, committed defence in midfield and out wide, and
the cultured boot of first 5/8 Jamie Cameron, Taranaki only just managed
to keep out a charging Northland side who threw everything at them in the
final 10 minutes and made it a nail-biting finish.
Northland started with the breeze, after Taranaki had won the toss and opted
to save the advantage for the second half. Early on, Taranaki showed that
they had the edge at scrum time, making a real mess of their opposites at
the first set-piece.
Lineouts were a different story, with Northland's 'new Ian Jones' Norman
Maxwell totally dominant, and a player to watch for the future. For Taranaki,
only No.6 Ryan Wheeler got any ball, after lock Scott Lines went off with
only 19 minutes gone.
Despite having a huge amount of quality possession due to the lineout
dominance, Northland failed to capitalise, coming to grief on a Taranaki
defensive effort which was superlative. Making every tackle count, time and
again they broke the Northland attacks down, and the ultra-cool Jamie
Cameron, who was voted Man of the Match, had the space to direct the match
with his educated boot, driving Northland back.
Northland was certainly fired up for this encounter in front of their home
crowd, and it showed in the constant infringements brought about by their
eagerness to secure the ball. Also, Taranaki halfback Michael Carr had a
torrid time early on, being caught and put under tremendous pressure by
Northland loosies who pushed the offside law well past its limit.
When taking the ball up, Taranaki showed themselves to be a class above
Northland, with well-worked moves between the loose trio of No.8 Andrew
Slater, blindside flanker Ryan Wheeler, and openside flanker Neil Crowley,
who put in a superb performance.
With 12 minutes of the first half gone a penalty each, and a drop-goal to
Northland's talented young first 5/8 David Holwell had Northland up 6-3.
Then on the 17th minute Taranaki scored a try. Andrew Slater made good
yards as always and offloaded to Mark 'Bull' Allen who also charged up
in typical fashion. The ball came back and was flung out wide to the right
where Taranaki had an overlap. Dean Magon fed Jason Bright on the wing who
showed everyone why he had a good reputation as a champion sprinter,
running in a great try. Jamie Cameron rammed it home with the conversion
to make it 10-6 to the visitors.
However only 2 minutes later a Warren Johnston penalty from out in front
narrowed it to 10-9. The rest of the first half was mainly a story of
Northland pressure through good lineout ball, with Taranaki driving them
back time and again through Cameron's touch-finders. When they got the
ball Taranaki put some good attacking moves together.
Just on halftime, Northland edged ahead through another Johnston penalty
for the home team to turn around into the wind leading by only 12-10.
With the wind helping, Jamie Cameron's kicking became even more effective,
and this eventually told on Northland, who attacked gamely but were too
easily driven back.
Some 12 minutes into the second spell Taranaki earned another penalty which
Cameron slotted to take them ahead 13-12. Another 6 minutes later brought
it to 16-12, and things looked ominous for Northland when Cameron took a
brilliant drop-goal from at least 40m to make it 19-12 with 23 minutes of
the half gone.
However Northland and Taranaki both knew that the home side only needed a
draw to gain promotion, having won the NPC fixture against Taranaki earlier
in the season.
With this in mind the Northland players came back at Taranaki with renewed
energy, earning penalties in the 65th and 70th minutes of the game to make
it a nail-biting 19-18 to Taranaki.
The last 10 minutes brought the best out of Northland rugby. With hindsight,
had they started playing in this manner only 5-10 minutes earlier, it is
doubtful Taranaki would have survived. The Northland forwards really took
it to their opposites, with some superb charges from the likes of Tau Siale.
Alas for Northland it wasn't to be. The Taranaki defence just held and they
adopted the wise move of still trying to attack, doing so very effectively
in the last few minutes as Northland saw time running out and faltered.
A penalty in the last minute of time to Jamie Cameron gave Taranaki a
deserved 22-18 victory, and earned them promotion back into the first
division at the first attempt.
Scoring: Northland Taranaki
Tries: Bright
Conv: Cameron
Pen: Johnston(5) Cameron(4)
Drop goal: Holwell Cameron
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.3} The NPC Third Division
Thames Valley developed their game around a good pack which was the best
in the division, co-coached by ex All Black Warren Gatland and Willie
Hetaraka. This was complimented by an enterprising backline which was also
solid when on defence. The forwards were led by the inspiring example of
captain and No.8 Gavin McLiver.
Poverty Bay got to the final this time around, but proved to be no real
match for Thames Valley. However they had a very successful season, playing
some attractive rugby, and notching several impressive wins. Api Rangihuna
was once again a pivotal influence with his tactical game and his goal
kicking ability.
Horowhenua got into the semi-finals with some good wins in the round-robin
stage. Having returned to the third division after a brief spell in the
second, they had quite a good season overall. Pick of the players was
back Paul Hirini who was dangerous on attack and solid in defence.
Wanganui had a rather mixed season including surprise losses to West Coast
and Buller but a win over the eventual division winners Thames Valley.
They got into the semi-finals. Todd Barrell who last appeared in 1991
gave some sterling performances at fullback, and Fijian winger Asalusi
Nagicu made some exciting runs scoring 8 tries in total. Jason Hamlin
played well at centre. Loose forwards James Hutana, Jason Caskey, and
James Gutsell played well, driving the ball up, and providing great
support for the backs.
Marlborough enjoyed a moderate season. The highlight was a win over semi-
finalist Wanganui due to a Craig Forsyth last second drop-goal.
Buller did better than originally expected, finishing with 3 teams below
them in the end. They began the season with most of the 1994 team missing
due to retirements and relocation.
North Otago only won two games, however they came close to winning two
others, and the team did itself proud in most of its matches. Pat Bleach
at first five-eighth proved a reliable kicker, and played well generally.
West Coast had its best season since 1986, notching no less than 2 wins
in the NPC and 3 overall. The coasters showed well in all matches save the
last against Thames Valley which they lost 60-5.
East Coast only managed a single NPC win, and 2 overall, although the results
do not reflect the team's ability. A feature of East Coast is their
willingness to run the ball from anywhere, and their great support play.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.3.1} Final Standings
_____________________________________________
NPC DIVISION 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
Thames Valley 8 7 0 1 306 173 28
Poverty Bay 8 6 0 2 233 156 25
Horowhenua 8 5 0 3 198 152 21
Wanganui 8 5 0 3 184 128 21
Marlborough 8 5 0 3 223 201 20
Buller 8 3 0 5 132 237 12
North Otago 8 2 0 6 182 226 10
West Coast 8 2 0 6 120 212 9
East Coast 8 1 0 7 151 244 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.3.2} The NPC Third Division Semi-Finals
First Semi-Final
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday 7th October 1995
at The Domain, Paeroa
Referee: M.J. Hoffman (Bay of Plenty)
Final Score: THAMES VALLEY 32 HOROWHENUA 17 (HT: 12-3)
The Thames Valley forwards paved the way for a well-deserved win over
Horowhenua. Right from the outset they dominated their opposites, denying
them good quality ball, and cancelling out their impressive backline.
Scoring began with a McGliver try from a pushover, which McCallum, recovering
from early nerves which saw him miss two penalties, converted.
The Horowhenua defence was tight, and McGliver's second only came about
when Valley shoved the Horowhenua scrum off its own ball on the goal line.
In the final 10 minutes of the first half Valley sat back a little, but
managed to keep Horowhenua out.
After the restart, McCallum landed two penalties, and Valley seemed to be
comfortably controlling the game. Then Horowhenua ran in two quick tries
under the bar to open things up somewhat. The first saw replacement Bevan
Sanson win a kick and chase from halfway with the aid of a lucky bounce.
The second came from a well-executed up and under by Nepia which the defence
allowed to bounce, letting in winger Lepitia Aiono to score.
McLiver marshalled his forwards and, controlling possession, they scored
from another pushover. After the conversion Valley stormed straight back
and tight forward Glynn Sutton secured the ball from a lineout to score.
In the space of only 3 minutes Valley was out to 32-17 and the game safe.
Scoring: Thames Valley Horowhenua
Tries: McGliver(3), Sutton Sanson, Aiono
Conv: McCallum(3) Nepia(2)
Pen: McCallum(2) Nepia
Second Semi-Final
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday 8th October 1995
Rugby Park, Gisborne
Referee: P.W.B. Boyden (Hawkes Bay)
Final Score: POVERTY BAY 26 WANGANUI 19
Wanganui failed to foot it with a determined Poverty Bay outfit, which
boasted the clinically accurate boot of Api Rangihuna.
Bay went out to 6-0 with two Rangihuna penalties one for obstruction by
Jason Caskey, and the other for a ruck infringement after 16 minutes had
gone. At the half-hour mark Rangihuna added a drop goal.
Then in the 25th minute from a lineout about 7m out from the Wanganui line
a loose ball was pounced on by Bay's John Martin. Rangihuna converted to
make it 16-0.
An unforced error on Wanganui's part resulted in a scrum from which Dean
Andrews scored. With the extras added by Rangihuna the scoreboard showed
23-0 to Bay of Plenty.
Coming back into it a little, Wanganui then scored a try though Craig
Trembath, and Guy Lennox comverted it to make it 23-7. Poverty Bay were still
in the driving seat, but an intercept against the run of play by centre
Wanganui's Jason Hamlin resulted in a try.
Rangihuna slotted another drop goal, to make it 26-12, and then in a final
flourish, Wanganui grabbed another try through prop Blair Ross, and Lennox
converted to make the final score a creditable 26-19.
Scoring: Poverty Bay Wanganui
Tries: Martin, Andrews Trembath, Hamlin, Ross
Conv: Rangihuna(2) Lennox(2)
Pen: Rangihuna(2)
Drop goal: Rangihuna(2)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{8.3.3} The NPC Third Division Final
Saturday 14th October 1995
The Domain, Paeroa
Referee: P.J. Honiss (Taranaki)
Conditions: Overcast, slight wind favoured Poverty Bay in the
first half, slight drizzle dampened things in the
second half.
Final Score: THAMES VALLEY 47 POVERTY BAY 8 (HT: 24-5)
Thames Valley
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
D Moloney, D McCallum, N Manu, R Taylor, G Ellis, W Hodges, F Teague,
G McLiver(c), C McDuff, A Gibbs, B Rigter, G Sutton, C Tremayne,
R Wilton, D Hazelton
Coach: Willie Hetaraka
Poverty Bay
~~~~~~~~~~~
E Robinson, J Whitewood, C Baistow, J Wells, D Andrews, A Rangihuna,
V Taingahue, M Ngarimu, J Martin, S Ensor(c), E Katalau, M Johnson,
D Godbold, W Kapa, C Johnson
Coach: Paul Tocker
Thames Valley, alias the "Swamp Foxes", rammed home their superiority in the
forwards and steamrollered plucky Poverty Bay to win the Third Division NPC
Trophy and earn promotion to Division Two next season. Although Bay kept
playing the brand of open running rugby they are well-known for, they had
no answer to the Valley pack, led by Gavin McLiver, who took no prisoners
when driving off the back of the scrum, and in general play.
Poverty Bay started this match with a pop and a sizzle, scoring an excellent
try after only two minutes. With Valley not yet up to speed, the Bay backs
ran at their opponents putting the ball through a good many hands before
opensider John Martin took a short pass to fall over the line for an
unconverted score.
Thames Valley No.7 Carl McDuff hobbled off to be replaced by David Dillon.
Thames Valley soon got on track though, and their advantage in the forwards
became obvious with the very first scrum. Sparked by the strong running No.8
and skipper Gavin McLiver, they had two 5m scrums after 11 minutes and
McLiver delivered the goods in his trademark style with a pushover try. Not
many No.8's in the country could match his hard driving off the back of the
pack. David McCallum converted to make it 7-5 to Valley.
Poverty Bay stood up to another brace of 5m scrums, this time managing to
clear via Api Rangihuna, but he failed to find touch. Moloney ran the ball
back down the left-hand touchline for Valley, and found Ellis who passed to
Warren Hodges. A final pass to Manu let the centre in for an excellent try
right in the corner on the 20 minute mark.
Poverty Bay kept running the ball, and had some good phases of play, but could
not match it with Thames Valley up front. Bay had to replace their injured
halfback with Mark Cox.
With half an hour gone, and the game rather in the doldrums due to a good
many temporary replacements coming on and going off to upset the team rythms,
Gavin McLiver came back on having had an ice-pack on some bruised ribs. He
had an immediate effect on the Valley game and some good play resulted in yet
another 5m scrum after Rangihuna had been pressurized to carry the ball back
over his own goal-line. McLiver, never one to take prisoners, scored his
second pushover try in fine fashion, clocking up his 12th try of the season,
and making it 19-5 to Thames Valley.
Although playing an attractive brand of running rugby, Poverty Bay were
unable to penetrate the Valley defensive screen.
A high kick from Valley second 5/8 Taylor saw the ball bounce, and David
McCallum snatched it to race through for an easy try. He failed to convert,
and the score stood at 24-5 when the half-time whistle blew.
Valley opened the second half playing it close, running one off the ruck and
making good ground. Two penalties slotted by McCallum were offset by one to
Rangihuna making it 30-8 after 10 minutes.
The basic problems Poverty Bay had in the loose were continued in the second
spell with numerous turnovers due to a failure to support the ball carrier
adequately. After 20 minutes gone Richie Taylor finished off a fine Valley
move, dodging between defenders to run in and come around to ground the ball
just to the right of the posts. McCallum converted to bring the scoreline
to 37-8.
Two minutes later Warren Hodges took a nice drop-goal after a good number of
rucks looked like ending up with no result due to some good Bay defence.
The final nail in Poverty Bay's coffin was driven home by Paul Clarke, on
as replacement fullback. With Poverty Bay doing well on attack, trying hard
to salvage some pride, he intercepted a pass by Katalau on his own 22m and
just managed to stay ahead of his pursuers to score. The conversion brought
the score to 47-8 where it remained until the end.
A deserved victory to Thames Valley, who should give the second division a
good crack next season.
Scoring: Thames Valley Poverty Bay
Tries: McLiver(2), Manu, McCallum, Martin
Taylor, Clarke
Conv: McCallum(4)
Pen: McCallum(2) Rangihuna
Drop goal: Hodges
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{9} THE TOUR OF ITALY AND FRANCE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Following the NPC season, the All Blacks embarked on a tour of Italy and
France.
The Tour Itinerary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 25 vs Italy A Catania
Oct 28 vs ITALY Bologna
Nov 1 vs French Barbarians Toulon
Nov 4 vs Languedoc-Rousillon Beziers
Nov 7 vs Basque Selection Bayonne
Nov 11 vs FRANCE Toulouse
Nov 14 vs Regional Selection Nancy
Nov 18 vs FRANCE Paris
The Touring Party
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Player by position Union Age Height Weight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
Fullback
G.M. Osborne North Harbour 23 1.85 82
Threequaters
F.E. Bunce North Harbour 33 1.83 94
A. Ieremia Wellington 24 1.87 98
J.T. Lomu Counties 20 1.95 118
*J.T.F. Matson Canterbury 22 1.92 104
E.J. Rush North Harbour 30 1.81 86
J.W. Wilson Otago 21 1.81 89
Five-eighths
S.D. Culhane Southland 27 1.75 76
W.K. Little North Harbour 25 1.78 90
A.P. Mehrtens Canterbury 22 1.78 80
*C.J. Spencer Auckland 20 1.80 85
Halfbacks
*S.T. Forster Otago 26 1.70 75
J.W. Marshall Canterbury 22 1.79 87
Loose forwards
L.J. Barry North Harbour 24 1.95 95
T.J. Blackadder Canterbury 24 1.90 100
Z.V. Brooke Auckland 30 1.93 99
+J.A. Kronfeld Otago 24 1.85 94
B.P. Larsen North Harbour 26 1.98 107
T. Randell Otago 20 1.87 103
Locks
R.M. Brooke Auckland 28 1.97 101
*M.S.B. Cooksley Waikato 24 2.01 112
R.T. Fromont Auckland 26 2.03 106
I.D. Jones North Harbour 28 1.98 103
Props
*M.R. Allen Taranaki 28 1.84 112
O.M. Brown Auckland 27 1.85 100
C.W. Dowd Auckland 25 1.91 114
R.W. Loe Canterbury 35 1.87 110
Hookers
S.B.T. Fitzpatrick(c) Auckland 32 1.83 103
N.J. Hewitt Hawkes Bay 26 1.78 108
Manager: Colin Meads
Coach: Laurie Mains
Assistant coach: R.M. Cooper
Doctor: M. Bowen
Physiotherapist: C. McCullough
Masseur: D. Cameron
Media liason officer: R. Salizzo
* These players were added to the originally announced squad:
Matson was added to the team for the fourth match when injuries
hit the threequarters badly.
Carlos Spencer was flown out to join the tour when Andrew Mehrtens
was injured in the first match in Italy.
Forster replaced Junior Tonu'u just before departure, when he
failed a fitness test on his injured foot.
Cooksley joined the tour as replacement for Josh Kronfeld.
Mark Allen was added to the tour prior to departure as cover for
Fitzpatrick, who was suspended for one match, and Dowd.
+ Josh Kronfeld failed to play a single match on tour due to an
ankle injury which he aggravated badly as it was recovering.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{9.1} ITALY vs NEW ZEALAND
Saturday 28th October 1995
at Stadio Renato Dall'ara, Bologne
Referee: G. Gadjovich (Canada)
Attendance: 28,000
Final Score: ITALY 6 NEW ZEALAND 70 (HT: 6-20)
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
J Wilson, E Rush, F Bunce, W Little, J Lomu, S Culhane, S Forster,
Z Brooke, M Jones, B Larsen, R Brooke, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick(c), C Dowd
Reserves: G Osborne, A Ieremia, J Marshall, L Barry, R Loe, N Hewitt
Italy
~~~~~
M Ravazzalo, P Vaccari, S Bordon, I Francescato, F Mazzariol, M Bonomi,
A Troncon, C Checchinato, A Sgorlon, M Giovanelli, M Giacheri, P Pedroni,
F Properzi, C Orlandi, M Cuttitta(c)
Glen Osborne's erratic NPC form was enough to get him dropped. He had been
guilty of taking the wrong options in defence. Jeff Wilson's proven ability
at fullback in the NPC got him that slot, and Eric Rush's tremendous
attacking form brought him in on the other wing (right) from normal.
The Iceman came in at open side flanker whilst Josh Kronfeld was still
recovering from his ankle sprain, an injury later which later suffered a
setback causing Kronfeld to be flown back home. Blair Larsen came in
as blind side flanker adding extra lineout options.
The serious knee injury which Andrew Mehrtens suffered when playing the
tour opener against Italy A, and which resulted in him being flown back
home for an operation saw reserve first five-eighth Simon Culhane in
the all-important No.10 jersey. Carlos Spencer was flown out to join
the squad for the rest of the tour as his understudy.
The test was really a warm-up romp for the All Blacks, who were very well
received by an appreciative Italian crowd.
The All Blacks failed to get any real momentum in the first half, due in
equal measure to refereeing over-officiousness (care of Canadian G
Gadjovich), gutsy Italian defence, and All Black fumbles. After a quick try
to Jeff Wilson, converted by Simon Culhane and a penalty to Bonomi a period
of half an hour saw no points added. The Italians pushed the offside line to
the limits and beyond out in the All Black backline, effectively stifling
play.
In the 15 minutes before half-time a couple of Culhane penalties and a
converted Zinzan Brooke pushover try saw the Blacks go in 20-6 up.
The second half was a different story, with the All Blacks gradually
asserting domination up front and controlling possession. This brought
a rash of try-scoring with the Italians tiring rapidly in the final
quarter. Indeed the last 15 minutes or so saw a continual procession of
Italians to and from the sideline, with quite a few being replaced.
The man most had come to see, Jonah Lomu, rewarded the fans with a couple
of excellent tries, one in typical Lomu style, and the other a stunning
100m run from tryline to tryline as the ball was turned over during a
concerted Italian attack. He also set up two other tries with some storming
running, one for Ian Jones and Jeff Wilson's second.
Scoring: New Zealand Italy
Tries: Wilson(2), Z Brooke, Little(2),
Lomu(2), I Jones, Fitzpatrick,
Rush
Conv: Culhane(7)
Pen: Culhane(2) Bonomi(2)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{9.2} FRANCE vs NEW ZEALAND 1st TEST
Saturday 11th November 1995
at Stade Municipal, Toulouse
Referee: P. Marshall (Australia)
Attendance: 29,000
Final Score: FRANCE 22 NEW ZEALAND 15 (HT: 17-3)
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
J Wilson, E Rush, F Bunce, W Little, J Lomu, S Culhane, S Forster,
Z Brooke, M Jones, B Larsen, R Brooke, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick(c), C Dowd
Reserves: G Osborne, A Ieremia, J Marshall, T Blackadder, R Loe, N Hewitt
France
~~~~~~
J-L Sadourny, E Ntamack, Castagneide, Dourthe, P Saint-Andre, Penaud,
G Accoceberry, A Benazzi, Carminati, P Benetton, Pelous, O Merle,
Califano, P De Rougemeont, P Benezech
The same All Black side which beat Italy was selected. The only surprise
was that Todd Blackadder, who had been training and playing like a demon
forced his way into the reserves, and was putting considerable pressure
on Blair Larsen for a test spot.
France defeated New Zealand by 22-15 in the first test match at Toulouse.
The French played with a very strong wind in the first half, and went in
17-3 up at half-time.
Due to the weather conditions and the French spoiling tactics which went
largely unpunished by the referee, the game was certainly no great example
of running rugby. In the many tight exchanges, the French were more than
equal to the task of matching the All Black pack, and as the score crept
up, were spurred on accordingly.
The first French try came from a phase of play which typified the match
as a whole. The All Blacks were trying to clear the ball from a ruck in
which the French were infringing. A deliberate kick of the ball by a French
foot on the All Black side as it was coming to Stu Forster went unnoticed
by the referee, and the ball came out to Jean Luc Sadourny, who went in
under the posts.
The lineouts were a complete mess, the referee largely seeming to abdicate
any responsibility there.
In the halves, Stu Forster had an fairly poor game, his distribution being
very slow, but Simon Culhane let the side down, and basically lost the game
for the All Blacks with some totally inept clearances which were charged
down, one leading directly to an unnecessary try, and another indirectly.
Despite being down by 12 or so points which could easily have been avoided,
the All Blacks came out in the second half with the wind and obtained 2
penalties in the first few minutes. The French nailed their colours to
the mast and gave notice that they would commit professional fouls whenever
the All Blacks looked like they had some attacking momentum. Once again,
weak refereeing failed to punish this tactic severely enough.
As a result of continous offsides, coming in on the All Blacks side of
the ruck, and other such tactics, the New Zealand points total mounted from
penalties.
With the score at 17-15, it looked like the Blacks would grind out a
victory, however Culhane continued his nightmarish day when he had another
kick charged down at about the 22m line, and a quick series of passes out
to the French right wing saw Philipe Saint Andre go in for the try.
Unfortunately linesman Thomas failed to spot Saint Andre had put a foot into
touch before grounding the ball, however by now it was not going to be New
Zealand's day and the score went out to 22-15, where it stayed until
the full time whistle.
The French deserved their win however one may deplore the cheating tactics
employed to secure it. The fact of the matter was, these tactics should
not have made the difference in the game. The All Blacks made too many
crucial errors through Simon Culhane's miserable day, and failed to
maintain ball security. In addition, they did not make as effective use of
the wind as the French did, kicking the ball aimlessly down the field more
often than not. The French then ran it back, keeping it in hand much more
effectively than the All Blacks had in their first half into the wind.
When all is said and done, this All Black performance was reminiscent
of those in 1994, and the team appeared to have nose-dived to a standard
somewhere around 50% of that seen at the World Cup. Much more was expected
of the team for the final test in Paris.
Scoring: New Zealand France
Tries: Sadourny, Dourthe,
Saint-Andre
Conv: Castaignede(2)
Pen: Culhane(5) Castaignede
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{9.3} FRANCE vs NEW ZEALAND 2nd TEST
Saturday 18th November 1995
at Parc des Princes, Paris
Referee: P. Marshall (Australia)
Attendance: 53,000
Final Score: FRANCE 12 NEW ZEALAND 37 (HT: 5-20)
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~
G Osborne, E Rush, F Bunce, W Little, J Lomu, S Culhane, J Marshall
Z Brooke, L Barry, M Jones, R Brooke, I Jones, O Brown,
S Fitzpatrick, C Dowd
Reserves: S Forster, C Spencer, A Ieremia, B Larsen, R Loe, N Hewitt,
France
~~~~~~
J-L Sadourny, E Ntamack, Castagneide, Dourthe, P Saint-Andre, Penaud,
G Accoceberry, A Benazzi, Carminati, P Benetton, Pelous, O Merle,
Califano, P De Rougemeont, P Benezech
Reserves: D Berty, C Lamaison, G Accoceberry, M Lievremont, S Graou,
O Azam
Liam Barry came in on the openside for Blair Larsen, who was one of the
forwards who had a poor game last week. Michael Jones was moved to the
blindside. Stu Forster's slow delivery saw him dropped in favour of rookie
halfback Justin Marshall. Marshall has bags of potential, but it was a big
call to put him in this test. Jeff Wilson failed a late fitness test on
a shoulder injury, and was replaced by Glen Osborne.
New Zealand defeated France by 37 points to 12 in an exciting match which
saw a great deal of open attacking rugby, in stark contrast to the previous
test in Toulouse.
The All Blacks took an early lead after 3 minutes from a ruck infringement.
However the French seemed set to continue where they left off last week, and
pressured New Zealand into early mistakes. As the ball bounced loose and
New Zealand failed to tidy up, the French backs made the most of the
opportunity and quickly moved it left for an overlap and an excellent try
to Saint-Andre with only 6 minutes gone.
New Zealand pressed hard on attack, looking much more committed up front
than in the previous test, and moved the ball left just outside the French
22m. The crowd were on their feet as N'Tamack intercepted and a length of the
field try was scored, but the referee had blown for offside against the
French winger. Culhane made no mistake and New Zealand were 6-5 up after
only 8 minutes.
The All Blacks were looking stronger all-round as compared to the effort in
the first test, but were not dominant. The French pack was giving as good as
it got, however the All Blacks were retaining the ball much more sucessfully,
and were managing to play the kind of open running game they prefer.
After 16 minutes gone, Eric Rush burst through the midfield on the angle
leaving the French defence for dead. Aiming for fullback Sadourny, then
flicking out to the right in perfect 7's style running, Rush turned Sadourny
inside-out and grounded with 3 French defenders in his wake. Culhane missed
the conversion making it 11-5 to New Zealand.
In the 24th minute Jonah Lomu made a tremendous run down the left, going
around N'Tamack easily and then making the ball available whilst being
tackled by 2-3 French defenders. The ball was run right then came left again,
but the French defence was standing up in the All Black back-line and the
referee had no choice but to award a penalty. 14-5 to New Zealand.
With 30 minutes gone a somewhat lucky penalty was given to New Zealand at
scrum time when Carbonneau kicked the ball away from Zinzan Brooke's feet when
it seemed to be already out. Culhane made it 17-5, and the All Blacks seemed
to be steadily gaining the ascendancy in the tight exchanges resulting in more
quality opportunities for the backs. At times the All Blacks managed to march
rolling mauls for 10-15m with ease, and lineout ball was secure as well.
Only 5 minutes later the ball was passed to Lomu despite some more offside
infringing by the French. With space on the left wing and only 1-2 players in
front of him Lomu would probably have scored however the referee failed to
play advantage. Culhane bagged the 3 points, making it 20-5 to New Zealand
which was the position at half-time.
The French replaced Laurent Benezech with Stefane Graou, and came out very
fired up, looking determined to reverse their fortunes. However the All Blacks
scored first, with Glen Osborne getting the ball in an attacking position for
the first time, and swerving around Sadourny at tremendous pace before
slithering over for the try. Culhane missed the conversion making it 25-5
to New Zealand.
All Black test debut boy and halfback, Justin Marshall, was having an
excellent game overall. Seeming not to be overawed by the occasion, Marshall
simply appeared to play his usual game, with a few variations according to
practiced All Black moves. His passing long and straight to Walter Little at
second 5/8 was extremely effective at negating the French offside tactics,
relieving pressure from Culhane at first 5/8 on quite a few occasions
throughout the match.
The French, realising that they were up against it, had decided to give it
everything they had, and literally ran the ball in their inimitable style on
just about every occasion, once starting by passing it behind the posts in
their own goal area.
Unfortunately in the 19th minute of the second half this was their undoing
as Castaignede attempted to run out from behind the posts after Culhane had
hit the post with a penalty attempt. Solid All Black defence turned the ball
over and it came out on the left to Liam Barry, having a superb game at
openside flank. He sold a lovely dummy then passed to Ian Jones who made no
mistake. The conversion was missed making it 30-5 to New Zealand.
At this point the game became less structured as the French tried everything
they knew to break the Black defence and the All Blacks, to their credit,
did not shut up shop but instead carried on trying to attack and score tries
themselves. This pressure paid off in the 31st minute when big Jonah Lomu
came in on the burst in centre field from about 25-30m out. The juggernaut
winger swerved, side-stepped and just plain powered his way through no less
than 5 tackles to score under the posts. Culhane had no problem with this
one and the score then stood at 37-5.
Alain Carminati came off to be replaced by Marc Lievremont.
In the 33rd minute of the second half France were deservedly rewarded with
a finely taken try by that man Philippe Saint-Andre, resulting from a short
chip kick behind the All Black defensive line. This was converted by
Castaignede to make the scoreline 37-12 to New Zealand.
France attacked more strongly than ever, and were close to scoring on two
further occasions, the moves breaking down due to mistakes, but the match
was really all over well before this. The final score remained at 37-12 to
New Zealand.
New boys Justin Marshall and Liam Barry came good on the day, and both
contributed to the win. Marshall offered much more in the way of distribution
than Stu Forster, and also brought a more robust and adventurous attacking
potential. Barry continues to show that he is a fine openside flanker, with
a top-class fitness level, covering a lot of ground during the match, and
always being in the right place at the right time.
After a rather weak attempt in the 5th minute to stop Saint-Andre from
scoring his try, Glen Osborne didn't have much in the way of defensive
duties, and only rarely featured in attack. However his try was top-drawer
material, and he adds that extra panache to the All Blacks backline going
forward.
In summary the All Blacks, in this test match, showed us what they are indeed
capable of when everyone in the team is motivated. The game this time was won
in the tight forwards, just as the game last week was lost there. This took
the pressure off the backs, who had room to move and create chances. In
particular Simon Culhane had a good, if unspectacular, match and did not put
a foot wrong.
Another contributor to one of the most exciting and open matches I've seen was
the referee, Peter Marshall who had obviously spent the week learning how to
apply the offside law to better effect.
Scoring: New Zealand France
Tries: Rush, Osborne, I Jones, Lomu Saint-Andre(2)
Conv: Culhane Castaignede
Pen: Culhane(5) Castaignede
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{9.4} Tour Results and Individual Scoring
Date Opponent Venue Score Referee
~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
Oct 25 Italy A Catania 51-21 C. Giacomel (Italy)
Oct 28 ITALY Bologna 70-6 G. Gadjovich (Canada)
Nov 1 French Barbarians Toulon 34-19 D. Davies (Wales)
Nov 4 Languedoc-Rousillon Beziers 30-9 J.M. Flemming (Scotland)
Nov 7 Cote Basque-Landes Bayonne 47-20 B. Campsall (England)
Nov 11 FRANCE Toulouse 15-22 P. Marshall (Australia)
Nov 14 French Selection Nancy 55-17 G. Black (Ireland)
Nov 18 FRANCE Paris 37-12 P. Marshall (Australia)
NEW ZEALAND Tries Con PG DG Total
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
S Culhane - 11 17 1 76
C Spencer - 10 4 - 32
G Osborne 6 - - - 30
E Rush 6 - - - 30
J Lomu 5 - - - 25
J Wilson 2 4 2 - 24
A Mehrtens - 1 5 - 17
F Bunce 3 - - - 15
T Blackadder 2 - - - 10
S Fitzpatrick 2 - - - 10
A Ieremia 2 - - - 10
I Jones 2 - - - 10
W Little 2 - - - 10
J Marshall 2 - - - 10
M Allen 1 - - - 5
L Barry 1 - - - 5
Z Brooke 1 - - - 5
N Hewitt 1 - - - 5
M Jones 1 - - - 5
T Matson 1 - - - 5
____________________________________________
TOTALS 40 26 28 1 339
OPPOSITION Tries Con PG DG Total
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
14 10 11 1 126
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{10} New Zealand Rugby in 1995 - A Perspective from Abroad by Ben Clegg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 1995 International Rugby season was an exciting, if not completely
successful one for New Zealand. It was the culmination of 4 years of
hope for the All Blacks, and much discussion and thought has been
forthcoming from New Zealanders over the last 12 months on the subject.
This article represents a view of New Zealand international rugby in
1995 from the viewpoint of someone outside 'the family' as it were. Ben
Clegg has long been a knowledgeable contributor to the rec.sport.rugby
newsgroup, and latterly to rec.sport.rugby.union. Here are his thoughts
on what New Zealand achieved in 1995, and where they may be going.
The World Cup so dominated the 1995 rugby year that it is hard to recall
much else. With so many questions answered in that brief period in South
Africa, it is especially hard to remember the way that for each country,
things built gradually to that point. New Zealand entered the season with
more problems than they usually have to face. 1st five eight was a gaping
hole that hadn't really been successfully filled since Grant Fox, while
other areas, most notable in the backrow and at fullback looked completely
up for grabs. The front row had question marks against their names -- even
captain Sean Fitzpatrick looked a potential candidate for the selectors'
axe, Robin Brooke seemed to spend more time hurt and half fit than playing
his best, and Frank Bunce looked on his way out. How wrong the impression
was.
But while the scale of the problems were pretty unique for an All Blacks'
side, one of the biggest surprises was the way that Laurie Mains sorted
them out at the beginning of the year. Up until World Cup year, Mains'
reign was marked by little continuity in selection. Players like Cooksley
and Mannix had discovered that being first choice one week was no guarantee
of even being considered the next; while some players were collecting
enough different shirt numbers to have won a bingo game. Yet here, faced
with the crunch, Mains suddenly brought in young players who were out and
out specialists in their positions -- Kronfeld, Mehrtens, and Osborne.
Almost overnight the picture was transformed.
Canada, after a depressingly poor tour of Europe arrived to give the team
their first test in the build up to the big tournament. Canada almost might
have well have not bothered, so convincingly were they beaten. Still largely
an unknown quantity, the World Cup began, and apart from a difficulty first
20 minutes against Ireland, things looked plain sailing (appropriately for
the new holders of the Americas Cup) but far from perfect. While the media
in its search for superstars delighted in singing the praises of Jonah
Lomu, the rugby purists were just as interested in the emergence of
Mehrtens and Kronfeld. Kronfeld looked dynamic, with a workrate that suited
the wide open style that the All Blacks had adopted. Mehrtens, had the
appearance of a lad so young he might have been mistaken for a player from
the curtain-raiser game who had simply forgotten to leave the field, yet he
played like he had been playing international rugby forever. Add to them a
core of experienced players, like Bunce and Bachop, whose games had
suddenly flourished, and the "Broke brothers" who weren't going to stay
broken for long, and the team had a high gear that could leave other sides
standing.
If there was a doubt, a chink in the armour, it was that New Zealand were
bascially thriving on their opponents mistakes, and perhaps more worryingly
for the All Blacks' management, making more than enough errors of their
own. I never imagined a team could play as poorly as New Zealand did
against Japan and still score 145 points. Japan were no match for the All
Blacks that day, yet the impression created was certainly not of the
ruthless efficiency of New Zealand's legendary sides, but more of a side
playing very impressive sevens. In one game here was the perfect
illustration of why New Zealand might win the World Cup at a canter, yet
also how things might backfire dreadfully and they might lose at a crucial
point.
The pattern was set in the group matches, and repeated almost exactly in
the quarter final win over Scotland. High octane rugby one minute, sloppy
mistakes and loose passes the next. Had these guys never heard of Buck
Shelford?
In the same half of the draw, England outlasted Australia in a game that
was almost the opposite in style. The semi-final was in place, and surely
now here was a big test for the young guns and the resurgent old heads. It
was not to be. England had learnt none of the lessons of the previous games
in the tournament, neither their own nor New Zealand's. New Zealand came
out and played the best 20 minutes of rugby in the whole tournament. With
the game a quarter over, England were out of their feet. Yet still things
had not looked error free, with tries being scored from long passes thrown
wide, that bounced kindly off the ground and into Lomu's hands. It was
breathtaking stuff, but could it keep paying off? Half an hour into the
game, and New Zealand led by 25 points to none. Surely here, with this huge
cushion and facing a side staring defeat in the face, was the moment to
show what this side was really capable of in 80 minutes. Instead New
Zealand fizzled out. It says a lot about the character of a side how they
react when they are winning comfortably so early in a game. Here again was
the story of New Zealand's team encapsulated in one game, with previous
high points giving almost no indication of what one should expect to
follow.
The problems were there for all to see, and come the final it wasn't to be
for New Zealand. They were unwilling, or unable, to take the risks that had
ignited their game up until that point in the tournament. They were playing
South Africa's game, and like England in 1991, New Zealand again showed
that the World Cup final is no place to try to change your very style of
play. South Africa deserved their win, and New Zealand's story was one of
promise ultimately unfulfilled.
Back from South Africa, and a new challenge, the first time the side had
needed to pick itself from a defeat. It took nearly 70 minutes against
Australia, and perhaps Australian doubts as much as All Black play decided
the result of the first game. The second game was a different story, and
with confidence restored they trounced the Wallabies. At season's end, on
via Italy to France, and a French side obviously convinced that they could
beat the All Blacks. Another new test of character for these All Blacks --
touring, and again mixed results in a drawn series.
Thinking back what do I remember of this New Zealand 1995 side? Apart from
Zinzan Brooke's 45 metre drop goal? The abiding feeling is that they
weren't like any All Blacks team I'd ever seen. My problems would be with
their preparation and leadership, but the plus from the year must be the
talent unearthed. The big question is where the young players develop from
here. With many of them already showing, like the team they are playing in,
inconsistency, the big question mark is not whether they have the talent to
succeed -- for they surely do; but whether they will ever attain the
standard their play sometimes suggests they are capable of.
So what are we left with? When things are going well for them, this All
Black team will destroy you. But, unlike the All Black sides of the past,
they still don't seem to have found a way to win regularly when the going
gets tough. If they can make that transition, then the top sides in the
rugby world will have to look out. But I'm left wondering whether this
problem isn't a flaw inherent in the current scheme, so maybe they need to
refine things a little more before we have a true picture of where this
team is headed. A new coach, a solid base, and four years to build, these
are certainly interesting times for New Zealand rugby.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{11} NEW ZEALAND PLAYERS and PERSONALITIES OF THE YEAR by Alan Murray
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JONAH LOMU (Counties)
The big winger would have to be top of the heap for 1995. He came back after
two disappointing games against the French in 1994 to cement his position as
one of the most exciting players in World rugby. Jonah had an almost dream
tournament in the World Cup culminating in a superb display against England
in the semi-final. Never quite fired in the final due to a below par
performance from the All Blacks and superb defence by a committed Springbok
side. Finally laid the ghosts of his debut against the French to rest with a
superb try in the second test in Paris.
GRAEME BACHOP (Canterbury)
One of the unsung players during the '95 World Cup. It was mostly because of
Bachop's crisp service from the base of the rucks and scrums that allowed the
All Blacks to play the expansive game they aspired to. The semi-crisis at
halfback which manifest itself when the team to tour France was chosen at the
end of 1995 served to further emphasise Bachop's worth.
ANDREW MEHRTENS (Canterbury)
There have been very few players who have displayed such command and ability
from debut in the All Blacks, especially in just about the most important
position on the field, at first five-eighth. As well as being an accurate
goal-kicker, he has superb vision and tactical awareness. These attributes,
when combined with his acceleration and speed mark him now as one of the
World's top players in this position.
JOSH KRONFELD (Otago)
At long last the successor to Michael Jones has been found. Kronfeld is
dynamic around the field and has the ability to inspire others with his deeds.
Especially good at getting wide and being at the shoulder of the ball carrier,
this attribute has netted him a number of important tries. He's sometimes
criticised for being somewhat lacking in vision but his ability to keep
control of the ball until support arrives helps make up for this apparent
lack.
RICHIE GUY
When he was elected to the position of NZRFU Chairman it was seen as a victory
for the old guard and a sign that the drive towards full professionalism would
lose some of its impetus. That notion was swept aside during two hectic weeks
of the World Cup when a new provincial and international deal was announced
between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Guy has proven to be one of
the main instigators of the new professional era.
JOCK HOBBS
Newest and youngest member of the NZRFU council, Hobbs played a major part
stopping the WRC bid for New Zealand players thus ensuring the All Blacks
would remain. He spent a large amount of time and effort touring the country,
talking to players and was actively involved in drawing up the contracts that
were eventually signed by the players and the NZRFU. Unfortunately, and
some say disgracefully ousted during the latest NZRFU elections of the new
slimline 9-man Council. This has been blamed on a tactical block-vote
instigated by the 2nd and 3rd Division Unions anxious to preserve their
voice on the Council.
JOHN HART
Fourth time lucky for Mr. Hart. After three previously unsuccessful attempts to
become All Black coach, Hart finally snared the position when Laurie Mains
retired in late 1995. With a busy schedule facing him in 1996 it shouldn't be
too long before Hart starts feeling the heat from public expectations and it
will be interesting to note the manner in which he responds to inevitable
criticisms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{12} NEW ZEALAND RUGBY - LOOKING TO THE FUTURE by Bill Taylor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{12.1} The Players
New Zealand is fortunate right now in having a good mix of older hands
and younger newbies; all honed together at the '95 world cup. The emphasis
is probably on the latter, which bodes well for the intermediate future.
Though there have been inevitable losses to league and elsewhere, such
as Graeme Bachop, Arran Pene, Marc Ellis, Mark Carter, and others, none
are quite as near-irreplaceable as similar losses have been in the past;
and the current league fiasco and the onset of professionalism suggest
the drain may be drying up.
There are a good-looking crop of up-and-comers appearing too. Names like
Roger Randle, Taine Randell, Tabai Matson, Anton Oliver, and Christian
Cullen are almost unknown overseas as yet, but will likely be known soon;
especially Cullen who is something special, as everyone who saw him
perform in the 1996 Hong Kong Sevens tournament will already know.
The old guard hang on too, where they can cope by merit rather than
sentiment. Sean Fitzpatrick seems indestructible, Ian Jones almost
irreplaceable.
The apparent disappearance of Loe from the squad will leave a big gap,
but there are plenty of others to fill it, such as Mark 'Bull' Allen. The
major worry continues to be at lock, where there are not all that
many top notch replacements on the horizon at all, except perhaps 19-year
old Northland lock Norman Maxwell.
Players likely to be particularly favoured by Hart are Lee Stensness,
Carlos Spencer, Adrian Cashmore, and Junior Tonu'u; choices which will not
be to everyone's taste.
The full squad of 46 that Hart named for an All Black seminar group, is:
Osborne, Cashmore, Cullen, Wilson, Berryman, Lomu, Rush, Randle,
Sotutu, Bunce, Matson, Ieremaia, Clarke, Little, McLeod, Stensness,
Mehrtens, Spencer, Culhane, Preston, Marshall, Tonu'u
Z Brooke, Turner, Blackadder, Kronfeld, Barry, Randell, Jones, Taylor,
Reichelmann, Davis, Larsen, Cooksley, Fromont, R Brooke, I Jones, Dowd,
Brown, Allen, Barrell, Slater, Nepia, Fitzpatrick, Hewitt, Oliver
Not surprisingly, a third of these are from Auckland. Notable ommissions:
Richard Loe; and Stu Forster, whose last chance apparently evaporated in
France.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{12.2} The Coach
John Hart's long-awaited appointment is likely to have many small effects,
mostly good, but no real impact on the overall style of play. It seems
probable that it will continue along the track noticed at the World Cup;
i.e. doing the basics well and at high speed. Hart's particular strengths
in on-field matters will be as always - emphasis on focus; and a
commitment to retaining possession and to clean play. These have always
been apparent in his coaching career so far, which has been excellent
results-wise:- 11 games with the colts, and 3 with the NZ XV, in the
89-91 period - and all wins.
Off the field, the impression is very strong that Hart has finally
come just at the right time. The new professional era has got a coach
who is completely au fait with all aspects of professional/business
matters, and the specialist needs thereto. Already this has shown up
in his general public relations; and in particular in his organising the
above-mentioned seminar (which covers all aspects of being a pro footballer,
on AND off the field); and in his initiation of the "mentor" system,
whereby each position on field has a former expert player to be on
hand and give specialist advice. All these matters are widely seen
as excellent initiatives, and promising of a well-organized future.
In this respect, especially as we look around to some other countries,
we can feel assured the day-to-day running of the All Blacks is in good
hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{12.3} Pro Rugby
What effects is this momentous and history-making decision likely to have?
LOTS! - obviously. Some have been noted already, with the horrifying
removal of live TV coverage from the average bloke's environment.
However, we are not as badly off as some, by all accounts, and at
least are getting more games in total to be seen delayed.
On the field we can expect higher levels of fitness, certainly, and
technique, possibly; as players get much more time in training than
amateurs did. And the drain to league should tail off, as noted.
As to the effect of market pressures on the game as a whole - such matters
have been the subject of raging debate since and before the changeover.
All will have their own views on how much the troubles of other
professional sports will descend on us. We can but wait and see.
But we are likely to see increasing control of the schedules and even
playing styles by media moguls such as Murdoch, to whom the recent
sell-out now seems to have been as lamentably under-priced as the British
Telecom fiasco. The effect of great gobs of money going to the elite,
rather than being spread about at lower levels is hard to assess as yet;
but can hardly be good in the very long term. In any event, it certainly
looks like Jonah Lomu will become (already is?) the game's first
millionaire.
One likely effect is the end of the long tour, though this is as much a
matter of modern travel logistics as anything else. Many will miss them,
but probably such a change was inevitable anyway. There should in future
be a better-organized but fuller international schedule, though not as
full as the 1996 one with its accidental overlap of a 3-test AB-to-SA
tour with the new SANZA 4-match tri-national series.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{12.4} The Rugby Super-12
This has already got under way, and must surely be regarded as a raging
success. The style of play has been phenomenal, putting the contemporaneous
5 nations competition to utter shame. The future of this event looks
bright indeed, with far more popularity than was expected from what was
at first seen as merely a muddled-up Super-10. In particular, the option
exercised by NZ and Australia, (though not South Africa), of allowing
teams to "hire on" promising candidates from minor unions, has been an
unexpected blessing for us. These players are getting a lot of useful
exposure in the ferocious international arena. SA must be regretting
their decision. This format may not be retained, however.
At the moment, (late March), ACT looks to be in the driver's seat, but
with Auckland, Queensland, Otago and NSW close behind. The effect of this
lightning-style play against top opponents can only be very good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{12.5} SANZAR
This tri-national home-&-away series looks set to be another winner. At
long last those who want continual re-assessment of the southern "big three"
in their relation to one another, (rather than very occasional tours), will
have their dream come true.
As to the likely outcome... well, it is always dangerous to predict. But
it seems Australia is still rebuilding from their poor world cup; and
New Zealand will probably be burning with a greater desire to prove the
final result was wrong, than SA will be to prove it was right. My money
is on NZ to win the inaugural competition; and also the 3-match tour
against SA. It is noteworthy that Hart has insisted on an increased
squad to take to SA for these events. One team to play tests and one to
play the rest. So we shouldn't be at too much disadvantage against the
old enemy (SA) in that respect - though home advantage in the tour
series will be as tough as ever.
The whole thing will most likely make Rourke's Drift look like a Butlin's
Holiday Camp!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following people contributed in major fashion to this summary of
New Zealand Rugby played in 1995. I would like to express hearty thanks
to each and every one of them.
Paul Kendall NPC Season Report: Waikato
Tracey Nelson Countdown to the 1995 Rugby World Cup
The 1995 Rugby World Cup - A Match Too Far
Alan Murray NPC Season Report: Canterbury
New Zealand Players & Personalities of the Year
Bill Taylor The Hong Kong Sevens
NZ Rugby - Looking to the Future
Dave Fisher The Bledisloe Series
Ben Clegg New Zealand Rugby in 1995 - A Perspective from Abroad
Russell Brown NPC Season Report: Auckland
Paul Waite Looking back at 1994
The Super-10 Series
NZ vs CANADA
The Bledisloe Series
NPC Seasons: Wellington
Counties
Otago
North Harbour
King Country
Southland
NPC 2nd and 3rd Division Seasons
Tour of Italy and France