Favourite AB tests
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@maroon I know that there were a lot of people in Eden Park that day, but I must have heard about half of them talk about that Test and where they were when Peter Jones scored.
My Dad and his Dad both made their way up from Wellington independently to be at that game. So apparently did all their mates or so they have always claimed.
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@maroon said in Favourite AB tests:
The Fern lets me through the defences again, to unload some ancient history.
What about that fourth test against the Boks in 1956?
It was a time when New Zealand had a monolithic rugby culture. There was national unity in the desire to beat these more-than-lifesized invaders. That desire was the highest form of passion allowed a Kiwi bloke.
Selwyn Toogood commentated. Peter Jones scored the clinching try. And we heard the word “buggered” for the first time on air.
I argue that no game since has mattered as deeply to a larger percentage of New Zealander’s.Help me remember here. Is that the series Danie Craven played for the Boks? In which case it would be the series where NZ picked a boxer in their front row to “deal” with the Boks....
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@Billy-Webb said in Favourite AB tests:
@maroon said in Favourite AB tests:
The Fern lets me through the defences again, to unload some ancient history.
What about that fourth test against the Boks in 1956?
It was a time when New Zealand had a monolithic rugby culture. There was national unity in the desire to beat these more-than-lifesized invaders. That desire was the highest form of passion allowed a Kiwi bloke.
Selwyn Toogood commentated. Peter Jones scored the clinching try. And we heard the word “buggered” for the first time on air.
I argue that no game since has mattered as deeply to a larger percentage of New Zealander’s.Help me remember here. Is that the series Danie Craven played for the Boks? In which case it would be the series where NZ picked a boxer in their front row to “deal” with the Boks....
Kevin Skinner. That's him.
Back when rugby was rugby.
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@Billy-Webb said in Favourite AB tests:
@maroon said in Favourite AB tests:
The Fern lets me through the defences again, to unload some ancient history.
What about that fourth test against the Boks in 1956?
It was a time when New Zealand had a monolithic rugby culture. There was national unity in the desire to beat these more-than-lifesized invaders. That desire was the highest form of passion allowed a Kiwi bloke.
Selwyn Toogood commentated. Peter Jones scored the clinching try. And we heard the word “buggered” for the first time on air.
I argue that no game since has mattered as deeply to a larger percentage of New Zealander’s.Help me remember here. Is that the series Danie Craven played for the Boks? In which case it would be the series where NZ picked a boxer in their front row to “deal” with the Boks....
Also, Craven was the Manager. He toured in 1937. Which we lost. Hence the desperation to win this series. It was the 1950's 2011.
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@booboo said in Favourite AB tests:
@Billy-Webb said in Favourite AB tests:
@maroon said in Favourite AB tests:
The Fern lets me through the defences again, to unload some ancient history.
What about that fourth test against the Boks in 1956?
It was a time when New Zealand had a monolithic rugby culture. There was national unity in the desire to beat these more-than-lifesized invaders. That desire was the highest form of passion allowed a Kiwi bloke.
Selwyn Toogood commentated. Peter Jones scored the clinching try. And we heard the word “buggered” for the first time on air.
I argue that no game since has mattered as deeply to a larger percentage of New Zealander’s.Help me remember here. Is that the series Danie Craven played for the Boks? In which case it would be the series where NZ picked a boxer in their front row to “deal” with the Boks....
Kevin Skinner. That's him.
Back when rugby was rugby.
Ah. Thanks Booboo. Yes, classic days
Fun Facts from the rugby relic.com :The South African tour of New Zealand in 1956 saw the tide of Springbok supremacy turn and ebb towards the shores of the land of the long white cloud. The green and gold machine had never been defeated in a test series anywhere in the world since 1896. In the two previous tours by the Springboks to New Zealand they had drawn one series (1921 - 1 win, 1 loss, 1 draw) and won the other (1937 SA 2 wins, NZ 1 win). In the previous test series held in South Africa during 1949, the Boks thrashed the Blacks 4 - 0. But the Springbok was wavering under pressure, the 1955 Lions had come close to victory, winning 2 tests out of four.............
When the Springboks arrived in New Zealand, the tour had already received extensive media coverage with the team having already won 6 out of 6 games in Australia, this included two wins over the Wallabies. The Springboks every move was recorded by the New Zealand newspapers, even while in Australia and in the days before the Rugby World Cup the test series was built up to be the "Championship of the World".
The New Zealand public were confident their heroes in Black would lower the colours of the mighty Springboks, and this confidence grew when the touring side were defeated 14 - 10 in their first match against the provincial side Waikato. The South African's then pulled themselves together and won their next 8 games before meeting the All Blacks in the first test at Dunedin. In a bruising encounter and with both teams reduced through injury, New Zealand to 14, South Africa to 13 the All Blacks managed to hold on and win 10 - 6. In the second test South Africa levelled the series with an 8 - 3 win. The garden city, Christchurch hosted the third test which saw the debut of Don Clarke, the great All Black goal kicker. The Waikato man scored 8 points in a 17 - 10 win that saw the All Blacks take a 2 - 1 unbeatable lead in the series. The crowds flocked to Eden Park, Auckland for the fourth and deciding test in the series to see the All Blacks become the first team to lower the Springboks colours in 60 years. The All Black forwards won the day with their control in the tight, No 8 Peter Jones scoring a try 5 minutes into the second half and Don Clarke scoring another 8 points with the boot. The Springboks were well beaten and crossed the line to score a consolation try close to the finish, giving New Zealand a winning margin of 11 - 5.
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@Billy-Webb said in Favourite AB tests:
In which case it would be the series where NZ picked a boxer in their front row to “deal” with the Boks....
From what I've read, Skinner wasn't just a top-class heavyweight boxer, he was one of the strongest props of his era. According to my Dad, the punch-ups have been over-egged - Skinner simply destroyed the Bok front-row with his scrummaging.
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@Snowy said in Favourite AB tests:
@booboo said in Favourite AB tests:
the match was always in the bag.
You just had to didn't you?
Someone did
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@Snowy said in Favourite AB tests:
@booboo said in Favourite AB tests:
the match was always in the bag.
You just had to didn't you?
By Hokey, yes!
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Favourite AB tests:
By Hokey, yes!
My Dad won a washing machine on the radio version before it was on TB.
He was at that 1956 test at Eden Park too.
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@Snowy said in Favourite AB tests:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Favourite AB tests:
By Hokey, yes!
My Dad won a washing machine on the radio version before it was on TB.
He was at that 1956 test at Eden Park too.
Remember the family listening to on the radio as a very young kid.
Also vaguely remember the 1961 French test at Athletic Park in a hurricane. Power was off in Hutt valley due to the wind and my parents listening on a homemade transistor radio.....
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@Billy-Webb said in Favourite AB tests:
The New Zealand public were confident their heroes in Black would lower the colours of the mighty Springboks, and this confidence grew when the touring side were defeated 14 - 10 in their first match against the provincial side Waikato.
My father, uncle and grandfather were at the Waikato game, and went up to the Eden Park test. It seems everybody was there!
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@Bovidae said in Favourite AB tests:
My father, uncle and grandfather were at the Waikato game, and went up to the Eden Park test. It seems everybody was there!
"The overnight queue at Eden Park was estimated at 15,000 and 61,240 packed into the ground".
It was a biggie.
@Billy-Webb You might like this about Skinner:
***Skinner was a former All Blacks captain, a veteran of 1949 and by general consent still the most formidable prop in New Zealand. But South African memories focus on his having formerly been New Zealand's amateur heavyweight boxing champions and the havoc he wrought in the third test at Christchurch, brawling with Koch in the first half, then switching sides after halftime for a similarly brutal contest with Bekker.Skinner for the rest of his life denied that his boxing skills were a relevant factor, in 2002 telling me: "I don't think what I did had a big bearing on the match, but certain people in the news media made it out that way. My theory is that the South Africans had been kicking the black man around since 1658 and were used to the idea that nobody would hit them back. After we'd sorted a few things out in the front row, they got on with playing a bit better."***
Rewind to... All Blacks vs. Springboks 1956
Huw Richards recalls South Africa's 1956 tour of New Zealand which was back then a very different, claustrophobic, rugby world.
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@voodoo said in Favourite AB tests:
@Bovidae said in Favourite AB tests:
All of my favourites have been mentioned, particularly Pretoria 1996 and RWC final 2011.
I hated that 2011 final (outcome aside!), have never rewached it!!! Such a sweaty game!
That last quarter felt like sitting there watching a slow motion car crash , except it didn’t end up crashing .
Loved winning the cup , loved going home to experience it , but didn’t enjoy that game
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@kiwiinmelb said in Favourite AB tests:
@voodoo said in Favourite AB tests:
@Bovidae said in Favourite AB tests:
All of my favourites have been mentioned, particularly Pretoria 1996 and RWC final 2011.
I hated that 2011 final (outcome aside!), have never rewached it!!! Such a sweaty game!
That last quarter felt like sitting there watching a slow motion car crash , except it didn’t end up crashing .
Loved winning the cup , loved going home to experience it , but didn’t enjoy that game
I had a massive headache after than game, was extremely stressful game. I enjoyed rugby so much more after winning that game, even more so after 2015. Was fun again.
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ABs v England 2019....
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Today
Too early?
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