Gareth Edwards, ex Millfield, scores in the opening minutes of the Barbarians 1973 victory of the all conquering All Blacks in what is generally recognised as the greatest every try.
from an Irishman when i was a kid my dad used to tell me it's a shame the RWC didn't exist in the 70s or Wales would have won it they were just simply unbeatable for much of that time in the 70s Wales won the Five Nations 5 times outright and 2 times shared insane stats sadly the 1972 edition was not finished due to rising tensions from Bloody sunday by the time it was abandoned Wales was leading in the table but just look at those Welsh players from that era JJ Williams Phil Bennett JPR Williams Barry John Gareth Edwards Gareth Davies John Dawes an incredible generation of Rugby players Welsh rugby fans sure wishes they had players like that again i know Wales won 4 Grandslams and 2 championships in the six nations era but i always heard the older Welsh fans say that it just never felt the same as the 70s and being honest idk if our best team from the last 5 years could have beaten that 70s Wales team i know it's hard to tell with difference in fitness but we'll say in our hypothetical both teams have the same fitness as today's standards man idk would be one tough game i wouldn't be overly confident of us winning tbh
yeah..talk about a lesson in backing up..could see the play was going down that side..probably came from other side of field as well and sprinted to get there in time...instinct and timing...
@@jamesmiller393 i counted 3, the first was half a sidestep I guess but still put Ian Hurst on his arse. the third sidestep sent 3 all blacks in shot the wrong way. What a man!
yeah the first one, the guy really tried to take his head off, second less dangerous but a high tackle..last pass to Edwards a tad forward maybe..doesnt take anything away from yes..one of the greatest tries as for JPR he was the best international fullback of the 70's..what a player!!!
@@brentinnes5151 agree with everything you say. Don’t think it would have passed the micro scrutiny of today, but frankly who cares. Goosebumps stuff every time
There is another good one 94 NZ v Fra named 'end of the earth' try, the last play...but for me..Bennet doing what he did under the sticks to start it is so brilliant..then the classical move to sideline and finish..is no 1..watchin alot of 74 Lions, didnt realise Bennet was so good!!!@@shaunjenkinson5089
JPR remains one of the all time greats. But when I look at that team I wonder if the Barbarians will ever field a better one- JPR, Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett, Willie John, Mike Gibson, Dave Duckham, John Pullen, Sandy Carmichael....it just goes on. Each of the four nations had their best players out there. And Wilkinson of Cambridge University was the lucky non capped player who got the privilege of joining them. Greatest game I've seen. Modern rugby with it's physicality bias will never equal the amateur era.
You must get a dvd of the whole match. You’ll enjoy the brilliant rugby and be held by Cliff’s poetic commentary. Eg “If the greatest writer of the written word had written a story like that, no one would believe it”
JPR showing amazing patience in this clip - took 2 dangerous neck tackle’s and just got on with it. Great player… loved watching Phil Bennett side step, still the best ever IMO
@@MrWindermere123 They weren't sending off tackles back then! Men being men, you just got on with it and sorted out your differences when the ref wasn't looking!
The brilliance of these players, from both sides, should always be considered in the context that they were all amateurs. Rest in peace Phil Bennett. You certainly earned that long holiday in heaven, where of course, they play rugby.
As an englishman, nearly 50 years later, ive still not seen a better try from anyone, the fact its from a welshman and a great one at that. Gareth Edwards take a bow.
My parents were Welsh and absolute rugby mad . My dad used to go on about the Welsh team of the 70s and all those superb players . Brings a tear to my eye when I see and hear this . He always said Gareth Edwards was the best and this is the best try ever .
Your dad was right, those 70s Welshmen were something else. As a rugby-mad young Englishman, I looked forward to the (then) 5 Nations championship every winter... and then it unfailingly turned into a horror show. I now look back with awe, not pain - "And even the ranks of Tuscany Could scarce forbear to cheer" 🙂
same with my dad he always said if there was a world cup in the 70s wales would have won it and tbh hes probably right that 70s Wales team won 5 five nations titles outright and another 2 shared titles not only is 7 titles in 10 years insane it's even crazier when you realize the 1972 edition was not even finished so it's 7 titles in 9 years
i watch this over and over.what a try. One of the best tries ever Phil Bennet what a sidestep .Definitely one of the best flyhalfes in history to start the attack and one of the best scrumhalves in history to finish it.R.i.P phil.
In my opinion, the best of the legendary Welsh outside halves. In my eyes better than David Watkins, Barry John and Jonathan Davies (and those guys were all fantastic!)
Unquestionably the greatest try of all time started and finished by possibly the two greatest halfbacks of Welsh and world rugby, the brilliant Phil Bennett and the incomparable Gareth Edwards! I will never forget the commentator’s final statement “a dramatic start, what a score”! RIP “Benny”, the rugby world will miss you 🙏😢.
@@MKRM27 Yes there were some major legends on the field that day, Phil Bennett, Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams, John Bevan, Willie John McBride, Fergus Slattery, Derek Quinnell, Mike Gibson, Sandy Carmichael, Grant Batty, Bryan Williams, Sid Going and Ian Kirkpatrick amongst them. Fantastic players, it must have been great attending this match!
I'm not really big on awards but if anyone deserves recognition in rugby its Gareth. Undoubtedly one of the greatest and I can't think of anyone better. As a Scot I can still remember the feelings of anxiety every time he got the ball in his hands when playing against us, while simultaneously admiring his instinctive brilliance. What a player he was.
@@noobrou5857 Even in NZ much better players were wingers. Bryan Williams left him for dead. Lomu was a weapon going forward with ball spoon fed into his hands by some truly skilled team player mates. The rest of his expertise was media spin and an adoring coach. A few spectacular starring moments don't make a greatest player, some of his faults cost games.
I had the great privilege of actually being there. Undoubtedly the greatest try in probably the greatest match ever. And my PE teacher Ernie Lewis was running the line.
Whilst modern rugby players may be bigger, stronger, fitter and faster, on a pure skill and thinking on rugby intelligence basis these legends are on a completely different level. Rugby was being played more on instinct and ability, not being over coached and over analyzed. This is just pure sporting brilliance.
This is an exception, if you watch most of the rugby played back in thos edays it was an absolute shambles, it was all over the place with appalling tackling, more akin to what school boy rugby was back in the 80s. Only very occasionally would you see something of this quality. I must add that old Bryan Williams took a few heads off in this clip, hilarrious what they could get away with in those days. I miss that with all these silly cards these days.
@@cspace1234nz My sister used to work behind the bar at Rosslyn Park back in the late-ish 70, and knew all the players. They had a player back then who had a reputation for for being a bit of a thug on the field. The joke was that if he'd pulled out a gun and shot an opponent, this would not be deemed to be foul play if it was "on the referee's blind side".
Dunno if I can agree with that at all. There are some brilliant improvisers in the modern game. And this is a moment of brilliance out of what was an often dour, grinding, slow and muddy affair.
What a try!!! Many great players played their part but the fact that Tom David moved to his right to free up Quinell was pure genius!!! Draged 2 - 3 players out of position....what a great and seemingly much maligned player he was!!! Never get sick of watching this...
Amazing players. In the 70s Barry John, Phil Bennett JPR Williams, Gareth Edwards and more. They were amateurs never received financial security still had to work. I remember Cliff saying his first match for Wales he had to catch the bus there. Matchless men.
i like the story of ALL Blacks Winger Craig Green- won the 1987 world cup on Sunday -was standing at the bus stop with his sandwiches for work on Monday
I was there ! My friend got tickets , we were about 12 yrs old , even today , 50 years on , it's still magical , brilliant , thrilling ! As if watching it live again !
Gives me shivers every time I watch this try. The commentary and the crowd really increase the greatness of this try. All of it together is what makes it the greatest try and its against the All Blacks which is no east task.
I watched it live on TV as a child and now the memories are so intense. I must have seen it hundreds of times. It never fails to bring a tear to my eye.
+Humble Grumble moron......this a famous try but there have been 100s that I have seen that were as good or better. You clearly haven't watched any more rugby than the other guy.
***** You really are quite an unpleasant person aren't you. I bet that you're the person that makes everyone in your local club groan when you walk through the door "Oh, crap it's him. Thats the afternoon ruined."
***** Of course I do, but remember the rules back then... not being able to play the ball from the ground... sure rugby has progressed, but this try still stands tall.
It still gives me goosebumps watching it today. I remember watching it as a kid of 11 all those years ago. Those dummies by Phil Bennett were just sublime.
Gods honest truth , our school sports teacher showed us (then kids) this video for motivation a week before our first school rugby match in 1984.... we won !
Rugby from its greatest era. Incredible. I hardly recognise the game anymore ...hookers don't hook, huge beefed up players, no set piece penalties etc etc You certainly wouldn't see a try like that. Bennett's side steps were outrageous. Just fabulous the whole thing.
It's not quite true that you don't see tries like that any more, but defences are so much better organised these days that an end to end try is much rarer today than it used to be. Louis Rees-Zammit scored a good one recently for Gloucester, just to keep the theme of Welshmen scoring great tries going.
hooking was removed for safety reasons and the same with rucking the ball on the ground with your boots, I recall having my head rucked on a number of occasions as a lad, we were also losing alot of energy in pointless mauls/rucks where 16 forwards are in a big pile fighting over a ball that's going nowhere for a minute or until the ref decided it had been long enough. Most the new rules of rugby are better in my opinion and I wish they brought those changes in earlier while I was still playing
Never get tired of that one, just fabulous! Amazing differences with today's game including discipline. In just that short sequence, there were two attempted tackles from NZ which would be treated very differently today - 0.26 definite red card these days and 0.51 at least a yellow! How times have changed, sadly including the relevance of BaaBaa games too!
@@twintecsaudi7992 It was a poor tackle by a winger who had a very clean record in international rugby. Beegee was never a thug and thats one of the reasons why he is now Sir Bryan Williams due to his lifelong contribution to Rugby Union globally.
I remember watching this game and one still feels the thrill of seeing the way Phil Bennett takes that ball and goes pass those tackles and the magnificent support play, the Gareth Edwards pace…all so memorable.
being an australian born and bred in melbourne i am a mad afl formerly vfl fan. however i was living in england on a working holiday in 72/73 and remember watching this game on live tv. it certainly was some match.
Gareth Edwards took the pass not even meant for him , the acceleration he showed to receive that pass, means it was the best ever try, he was miles behind the action early on in the movement
@@redrum4100 I am intrigued, which pass is made to look forward by the camera angle? I ask because I cannot see any pass which might possibly be deemed forward.
I played rugby as an exchange student at Lycée Jean Charcot in St. Servan, France, in 1964/65 (Champion Junior de La Bretagne) and this kind of magic brings back the memories of schoolboy rugby, at which the French kids were astonishingly proficient by the age of 15 or 16. As you can see, rugby is perhaps the paramount field game requiring deep spacial awareness and split-second decision making, even more than soccer.
First time in a while that Ive watched this and as ever, it has given me goosebumps and put a tear in my eye. Cliff's commentary adds the icing to the cake. I still remember, in the North Enclosure, the shaking of our heads in disbelief at what we'd just seen ! "Pass me the Mateus Rose butty"
I think Gareth Edwards once said that about half a million claimed to have been at the match - but I still have my match programme to prove I WAS actually there ! I was standing on the terrace on the opposite side of the pitch though, so I couldn't see the build up very well once the ball went wide unfortunately !
Cliff Morgan’s commentary ,what a team the babas were,you’ll never a see beter team try,gareth ran the length of the pitch to score ,have watched this clip time time again just poetry in motion
