1977 Rugby Union Match: New Zealand All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions (2nd Test) 

Agree , plus add on the time spent having a drink and a chat and the delay in passing the ball out of a ruck. Barely 50 mins action now. Boring and getting worse. I think they should bring out a new code called " Open Rugby" using the old rules and amateur players.

And the referee’s know knuthink

CE upon a time it was RUGBY ! ..now it's 2023/24 scrumby or Ruckby..where ever did running rugby RUGBY go ?

In an ideal world, we can have a quick scrum. But considering the impact that comes with scrums, it's not something to take lightly. The modern fwds pack are 10x more athletic, muscular, stronger than the props of the amateur level. A lot of safety measures came into place in the 00s because props were getting serious injuries to the neck to the point of permanent injury. The new laws are designed to mitigate those risks and to ensure that all players are safe.

Lineouts disaster though

yes but what a shambles it was back then - so disorganised ... the games much easier to follow today despite the water breaks etc

Ll LL do

And then went on to captain the ozzy cricket team. What an athlete! Iol Was he from Tauranga or Rotorua?

He played well and looked like a tough player.

Guy looks like a monster (meant as a compliment)

I remember this tour , was at high school at the time

He was very handy, I remember him

Such a good comment 😊

@albatrossus albatrossus I guess we are all going to have our own opinions on how best the game should be governed and played. The kind of rugby which I did not like was the whistle going all the time for what were judged to be knock-ons. I'm glad that was changed. Personally I'm very impressed by the enormous height of assisted jumpers in the line-out. I would like to make a point about what I feel is vitally important . There is an old cliche that soccer is a game for gentlemen played by ruffians, whereas rugby is a game for ruffians played by gentlemen. It took me many years to realize what is really being said here. Rugby is a game which should only be played by gentlemen. Too often in my experience there would be one or two bad apples who loved to get the boot in or a sly punch in the head when the ref wasn't looking. This makes for a lot of nastiness which can spread like a forest fire in a dry year. Soccer on the other hand is a game for people who can act well - writhing on the ground in feigned agony after another player bumps into them. It's game which I find is as exciting to watch as watching paint dry. I've never been able to understand its wide popularity, except that it can be played on a piece of waste ground - something that is not the case with either form of rugby.

@albatrossus albatrossus I thought I should add a bit more to my remarks about the of game 70 years ago and how it's changed for the better IMHO. As a schoolboy my memories are of playing in a sea of mud. The balls we used should have been rejected years earlier, but, no doubt due to the shortages caused by WW2, had not been, When wet the leather would stretch so much that, in order to keep them inflated hard, they would expand to huge size, almost like a small medicine ball. When covered with mud it was also impressively heavy. The knock-on rule was enforced to an absurd extent so that at just about every pass the whistle would go and we'd have yet another scrum - wallowing in the mud. When retrieving the ball after a tackle there was a requirement to heel the ball, there being a restriction on lifting it up directly or passing a dead ball from a prone position. This slowed the game down to a slogging match of scrum after scrum. A couple of decades later we see as in this 1977 game that it was a game of much long kicking and not much passing and running. This allowed the game to be played by many who today would not be fit enough to keep the ball in play being passed right or left, while running fast, with many side steps and direction changes. In the earlier game the ball passed from centre to wing in a predictable way as formal as a mediaeval dance, with the runners running in a direct line for the corner flag, with, if they were good players a switch as the winger came inside and passed to the three-quarter who had cunningly moved out to the wing. To respond to your point about modern players looking like Charles Atlas [ I wonder how many people under the age of forty will recognize the name ? ] : Yes, it's probably the case that the modern fast running and passing game will require a fitter player than before. That said it's probably also true that young men are larger and in better shape than were their fathers and grandfathers, some of the latter having grown up in times of food rationing. The present ready availability of enhancing substances may regrettably also be a factor in the modern game ( ? ). I agree with your expressed contempt for the Rugby League game. On paper it should have led to improvements over the form of Union then in vogue. The lesser number of players might have been brought in to encourage better passing. The kick for touch rule was probably designed to eliminate the long kicks I complain about, but I have no idea why they decided to eliminate the line-out, except that in those days line-outs were too often inconclusive and led to a scrum anyway because there was always some joker ready to run offside. The worst aspect of the League game is the way the tackle is performed - it takes the form of going high to prevent the tackled player from passing. The general effect is that the game looks more like a brawl - which could also be a result of the fact that it's essentially a game for professionals [ in England any way ].

L

1:37:39

his performance in this test and the previous one was very average, Steve Fenwick was a force to be reckoned with. Brian Williams also had a very average game in this Test

Bryan Williams was only a part time goal kicker but he was first choice in this match which was unfair on him. Sid Going was passed his best by this time.@@jamesgollan8602

Great spot :)

I know - I'm just saying they would have made a difference

I think JPR actually had medical exams.

Put Colin Meads, Fergie, in and and why not Mr Nepia , the point is you play who is front of you.

on a break from the movies?

@@johnnyrussell6149 he biult the deck on my mum's house as well.

He didn’t start playing international Rugby until 1980

B William's great passer fast had distance gave backs extra time

The lions should have taken Clive Shell. A truly great little scrum half. Came a year too early for Terry Holmes.

there used to be a Lions tradition of naming one uncapped player - either way brynmor was probably better than all the other contenders

Chico Hopkins was reserve for Edwards

+Joel Hewitt The Lions, who for once had a stronger pack, sadly missed the likes of Edwards, JPR and Gerald Davies. Otherwise the Lions would surely have won the series. As a 16 year old I stayed up in the night listening to this on the radio.

blah blah.one series win in nz Eva.now who blows who away.get a life mate

D Matthews lol fool

Shame that in those days the 1st 5 always kicked. I don't think either centre was ever passed the ball i the whole game

@@dmatthews1031 ,😂🤣😂🤣

there was a local version called My Old mans an all black

The average person in the UK hated the EEC, the older generation and a lot of the younger thought Britain had betrayed the Commonwealth. Britain had to buy from where we were told, usually inferior products for more money. We lost our fishing fleet, the largest in the world, almost entirely while the rest of the EU fished our waters seemingly at will. A terrible decision for Britain and the Commonwealth.

They still are today wherever New Zealand is involved. Although they are a very good rugby nation, they are still crooks.

Have you ever watched a team tour Great Britain back in day?? The referees were worse! Tour South Africa back in day,every game you played it was 50/50 if you played the test on the weekend, The hope refs never saw a thing.

He's shooting at ghana!

Yeah, real rucks, runners trying to evade tackles instead of running into them. No prizes for guessing why there are so many head concussions in the modern game!

Peter Wheeler, the British/Irish hooker, threw in. I played hooker during my university years for the most part, and threw in, and that was between 1973 and 1976, and in California.

Absolutely, so biased it was untrue ... but then again, all Southern Hemisphere Ref's were then !! In Cricket, England managed to win a 6 Test series in Australia in 1970, under Ray Illingworth, without getting ONE LBW decision from the Australian Umpires !! 😂

As a Scot, I say yes

I'm watching rugby. J. X

And wingers throwing in!

@@huepix they need to do that again

rucks and mauls were invented by nz? hahaha in the 20 mins i watched of this game i saw the lions give as well s they got. stop crying.

Steve Fenwick was the king of the high tackle, and along with Phil Bennett and JJ Williams and their terrible coach were the weak links in this team!

NZ- the kings of the cheap shot.

sounds like sour grapes from a losing pommy bastard mate,lol

@@dantalbot1201 only a fool laughs at his own jokes

Brynmor W was lying on the ball.

Getting caught on the wrong side in those days meant that you got the "doormat treatment".

@@rogerpattubeshoeing someone, how skilful.

You performs just in Twickenham I supose?

It was a bloody cow paddock. All NZ rugby fields were crap back in those days. Absolute disgrace. The only decent rugby ground in the country was at Te Aroha College , the school I attended. Absolute dream to play on.

I remember it was a national scandal. He didnt even kick for his club side. But there was no one else at the time.

canamrugby what was that all about? Loved it and can’t understand the thinking; not least because it further tears up a ragged pitch

it was also a very wet winter

Yeah, and if Gareth Edwards had been available for this series! It should have been a year earlier, when Edwards was a year younger and not thinking about retiring yet, but the ABs went to South Africa that year instead, 1976.

Bloody liar

At that point God Save the Queen was New Zealand's national anthem.

@@MarkRiles1 how formidable. Amen

You kick into touch to gain ground on the field, it would reduce pressure on your line

@@chrismclaren1247 but is that really a reason for cheering? It still seems unexciting.

Just enjoy the game you crybaby