All modern day forwards should be made to study the scrums in this era. 8 seconds after the scrum is awarded the scrum is formed. 26 seconds after the scrum is awarded the ball is out and in the scrum half's hands. I played as a forward and even I get so sick of the macho posturing, endless delays and 2 minutes to get the pack formed...
Couldn't agree more! If it were up to me to make a law change it'd probably be something like a penalty kick or conversion has to be taken within 30 seconds of being awarded. No more cringeworthy pre kick routines!
This match deserves every effort to restore the original footage to as close to modern standards as possible. An historic day. Derserving of preservation. The Baabaas playing the game as it was always intended to be. Like heroes and angles. RIP Phil Bennett 12.06.2022.
During their 1973 tour the All Blacks had a training session @ Rugby School where the game was invented. Our Headmaster took us to see them. They were all so gracious & friendly to sign autographs & spend time with us 14 yr olds 👏
Glorious, just glorious. Phil Bennett was some player, but in this game two guys stood out for me Tom David and Sandy Carmichael, what a shift those two put in.
I think Cliff Morgan described Tom David as that brilliant, marauding flanker. Very sad news that JPR Williams has passed away, its no coincidence he was the fullback of the two best Lions teams ever, what a rock of a man he was, and a brilliant counter attacking fulback.
That's how it was then. It's one of the few pluses in the modern game that high tackling is not as prevelant. The referees have stamped right down on it.
i remember at the time watching it and being baffled by why the ref did nothing about it - from memory there were 7 or 8 head high tackles on JPR during the game including 2 during the famous try and none were punished
crickey - just as well the blacks didn't have more grant battys..tricky little bugger! David Duckham - complete star. Love the half time - 3 mins and a slice of orange. And JPR try all started by Duckham - arguably as good as the Edwards.
This may have been the best rugby match of all time, but the All Blacks give the worst Haka of all time. They looked like Morris dancers! No wonder they lost.
+Mingus Pingus You're probably right, but if you're going to do it......do it properly. I also agree with you that it's overdone and if the opposition turn their backs (as was done by a player once that I remember), laugh or stand up close to their 'performance', they get mighty upset and make a big fuss about it. Go figure that! The Wallabies should do a "I'm a Happy Vegemite" dance or something similar and see how they like it.
When I compare this display to the modern game there is no comparison. Rugby Union has lost its way in the fifty years between this game and what we have now! It breaks my heart!
i fully agree. the way this is just pure rugby is amazing. it’s like “we have a ball, let’s run with it” in this match whereas nowadays theres so many rules.
A better brand of rugby in those days ;- more expansive, more entertaining and played by “normal sized men” with passion. “The Try” is credited to Gareth Edwards, but everyone seems to ignore the man who started it - Phil Bennett - with a catch, 3 side-steps committing 4 All Blacks. Yes, there was Edwards, Duckham. Gibson, JPR, Bevan, but don’t forget Phil Bennett, who was capped by Wales at every position in the backs except from scrum half and is probably “the most complete outside half” that the British Isles has ever produced, save only perhaps for Johnny Wilkinson. The commentator, Cliff Morgan MBE ( should have been knighted ). His eloquence in saying “If the greatest writer of the written word had written what we have just witnessed, no man would have believed him”.
Cliff Morgan only found out he was going to have to commentate the match that morning, when Bill McLaren pulled out with a bad cold and no voice. At the time Morgan was a Producer with BBC Wales Sport.
I watched this with my Dad aged 5. No real idea what was going on, but picked up on the excitement all right. For me, JPR's try at the end is almost as epic as the opener...
My main memory of this wonderful game, I lost my voice from shouting and singing for a week, the singing of NOW IS THE HOUR and knowing I'd seen something special. Looking at the match today how brilliant the players were, even by the professional standards of today. and if played now the TMO would have cancelled a few of the tries and maybe, just maybe a red card or two and 30 yellow cards - and of course ruined the game
"If the greatest ever writer of the written word had wrote this story no one would have believed it!" It's a classic line of commentary. Iconic. It's as famous to Rugby fans as, "Here comes Hurst. There's some people on the pitch ... they think it's all over. It is now, it's four" is to football fans. Edit:. Oh and let's not forget: R.I.P. John Dawes who died last month.
Cheers from a former rugbyplayer in rugbys "outback" Sweden - and nowadays a keen fan of this fine sport! Many thank's for uploading this great classic clash! Happy new year folks!
Without taking anything away from the Barbarians win, this AB side looked very tired before this match. The ABs played a total of 32 games in the UK, France , and Nth America . For this final UK match the AB tackling was terrible especially Bee Gee Williams feeble tackle on JPR which could have halted that now great try to Gareth Edwards.
Did you notice how Duckham glances down the field and sees a gap before selling his outrageous dummy at 36:52? Such quick thinking! For him it's all about the space, into which he runs with an amazing change of angle, beyond even 90 degrees
What a game….two things…how brilliant was David Duckham…you don’t just see that kind of skill any more…secondly how was JPR’s head still attached at the end of the game
That try still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as they cross the halfway line and Tom David passes to Quinnell. Short intake of breath. Amazing.
Now and again, I watch this match in full. I reckon this is competing with the NZ v France World Cup semi-final of 1999 to be the greatest game in my lifetime (I'm 56). Everything about it is like a dream....the spirit of the rugby, the unbelievable energy (way before these guys were professional athletes), the sublime commentary, the crowd.
Don't forget the semi final of the 87' world cup....France Australia....an Amazing game. Both Gerald Davies and John Taylor said IT was better than Baabas AB 73
Blimey i was 11 yrs old and remember vaugley watching the match on a saturday. What a game, I have always been an admirer of the barbarians and will always support them. These are great moments in rugby in that time era. :)
Probably the greatest game ever played for pure entertainment. Some of the greatest names that ever played the game also. The All Blacks were at this stage of the tour absolutely exhausted. A busy domestic season and 3 tests against Australia, followed by a 32 match tour of UK and France . Last of the big tours. British rugby was at an absolute high during this time. Also note the stadium was still full even after the game. That tells a story in itself.
The beautiful game being played beautifully and with one ref, no TMO, no scrum set problems, no cameras picking apart every detail, amateur players playing their hearts out! How sadly Rugby Union has fallen.
Alas, the "try of the century" wouldn't have been allowed under today's rules. The game would have been stopped for a couple of minutes while the final pass to Gareth was scrutinised from a dozen different angles and eventually ruled forward. Then we would have been shunted back another 70 yards to Beegee's high tackle on JPR, for which he would have gotten a yellow card, and a penalty awarded to the Baabaas. So instead of a famous try the Barbarians would have gotten a penalty 90 yards downfield where the movement started. Scant consolation.
Sid Going, Bruce Robertson, Joe Karam, Alistair Scown, Bryan Williams, Ian Hurst and Ian Kirkpatrick were never thugs. Dr Bob Burgess being a long-haired academic pedagogue wouldn't have hurt a fly let alone engage in any nefarious behaviour.
The players playing rugby today should watch this match on video to see how rugby should be played including the Welsh team and the supporting players in the Autumn Series to give them inspiration to play good rugby and attacking rugby and how to run on to the pass not to stand still when receiving the ball Like Gareth did, he was running when he received the pass and the motion carried Him on to score that wonderful try
I remember getting up with my Dad to watch this. I was 10 years old and still remember this like it was yesterday. God Bless the All Blacks. Bring back the Cup.
The other thing I noticed is when Edwards kicks over the scrum he finds the line, this rarely happens today, so here goes well done Gareth Edwards , brilliant kicking.
I played with him once for London Irish when a bit of confusion occasioned by having the club dinner the night before, saw him end up with us in the 3rds against the BBC. Needless to say we won.
so beautiful to see such joyous rugby. modern game has nothing on this. maybe now it's faster higher stronger but it's also a lot lot duller, formulaic, risk-averse and with zero verve, wit or daring let alone idiotic ideas like running from under your own posts, surrounded by the opposition, in the first 2 minutes! thanks!!!
Yeah and Bennett running from close to his own line led to a great Lions try v South Africa in the superb 2nd test win of 74 in which he also scored a marvellous solo try. Another great one with Bennett scoring was v Scotland in 77, I think Irvine also scored a beauty for Scotland in that match.
Yes it is!! and despite the poor vid quality, you can sense the powerful atmosphere behind it. A passionate crowd in a full voice at a great stadium, during a legendary match. This is gold.
+geansai reminds me of my father from abertillery , that song WOW ... puts tears in my eyes every time.. I told my son in Melbourne all about it and the love continues...
Like the history of Great Britain, parts of it were a little bit dodgy but who the hell cares. Gareth Edwards gets the glory but owes it all to Benny with the greatest series of sidesteps in the history of the world...
The greatest team try ever scored, imho, always gives me goosebumps and makes me emotional for some reason, R.I.P. Benny, i'm sure David Duckham had some long lost Welsh blood, great player, R.I.P. Mr. Duckham...
I was there! The last Match I saw in Wales before I left for Canada the following month! I saw many of them later when Wales toured Canada a few weeks later. Jeff( Ebbw Vale) and me, (Croesyceiliog) put on our blue blazers and we got into the reception for the team at the Vancouver Rowing Club! We stood in a circle with a bunch of them and I remember Gareth(?) saying, "Duw this beer tastes like Pop" (It does have more alcohol though, it is NOT like American beer) I had to work the next day, I made it to 11am before they sent me home!
Never ever did I believe that in big man rugby a small 9 and 10 could dominate world rugby. Reminds me of South Africa's Naas Botha... very dangerous average size... but totally dominated in every sphere of the game... 😍😍😍
I wish to the rugby gods and techies this would be re mastered. Released on dvd or blu ray, and then sent to every rugby playing school in the world this is rugby, not modern laws (so many would have been carded) this is what the game can be at it’s best and some of it’s worst. Learn
What a magificent game this was! In 1973 I was in the 6th Form (aged 17) at a Roman Catholic Boarding School in the South Island; it was the only school in New Zealand that had its own 18 hole golf course, and it fielded 13 Rugby Union Teams and one Soccer team, you didn't want to be a "Toe Jammer as we called them" or "Cuddles boys". At this Roman Catholic School I was brought up to sing God Save the Queen and yes around the College there were n number of photos of QE2 and the Pope! When I went to the movies they always played "God Save the Queen and we all got up and stood to attention! My Father was C of E, and he loved the Queen, Kings, and the British Empire! I was a die hard Royalist until 1968 when it was pointed out to me how the Royals had profited so much from having New Zealands export of Lamb, Beef, Cheese, Butter, Wine, Wool, Hops, Venison, Frozen Fish, blankets, Aluminium, etc. My Dad was a proud Imperialist, he went to the Local School called Waitaki Boys High School where they were taught to be great Loyalists as well. I refused to sign God Save the Queen or stand up for it in 1969. My dad was in the 1st Echelon of the Famous 20th Battalion of the NZEF, the most Decorated Battalion in the entire British Empire; Yes that is a big claim! Research it! The NZ 20th Battalion was a Pakeha (White) Battalion coming from the South Island of New Zealand; the other mainly white Battalions were the 18th Battalion which came from the upper half of the North Island and the 19th Battalion which came from the lower half of the North Island. And then New Zealand had its famous Maori Battalion; the mighty 28th Battalion! So what has this got to do with a rugby game in 1973; well New Zealand lost so much blood fighting for the Royals and the British Empire it wasn't funny! of things I remember about this Rugby Match, this period of British New Zealand Relationships in terms of Loyalty, Economics, Media and Politically and this Rugby Tour; - 1. What happened in 1973 from a New Zealanders eyes? Britain joined the EEC in 1973! Who were New Zealand and our Tasman brothers and sisters, we were treated like shit by the Poms! Massive trade Barriers were put in place to stop any of our traditional exports going to the UK. 2. New Zealanders were classified as Aliens and yet we had the same Queen and National Anthem as the UK! To this day God Save the Queen is still an official national anthem of New Zealand. 3. It is funny now how Borris wants to be friends again and we have a Free Trade Agreement! No thanks to the Queen. I want us to have a good Free Trade Agreement with the EU; I have travelled to the EU, I like it and I'd love to go an watch a game of Rugby in Wales; I love the game and the people; there is nothing like having a chin wag with a Frenchman, Englishman, Scot, Irish, South African, Aussie after a good game of Rugby here in New Zealand even if we have lost. It is something special about the game. I hope Bloody Covid doesn't stop me going to watch a game in Wales, England, Ireland or Scotland as these countries are definitely on my bucket list. I loved France (Rugby) and people as well as everywhere else I've been in Europe. It is so good to get rid of past baggage! So I love everybody in Europe except Putin and Lukashenko! Wow a lot has happened since 1973! I just wished Barry John could have played in that game! Merry Christmas And Love From New Zealand!
Mate, good story regarding your dad’s war service, but regarding the late Queen and British people, believe me, real Brits really respect and are grateful for the support that came from Aus and Nz in both wars. But, the late Queen had absolutely nothing to do with trade barriers or visa restrictions, she was a fierce defender of the Commonwealth. The average Brit has always wanted to have close relationships with the Anzac Nations and I think this was at the back of the mind of many people who wanted out of the EU.
that was a great match, memory lane, great players, and that wonderful Walsh singing too much, never hear that sort of singing now, unless I'm going deaf, love that song the Welsh sing before a test specially at Cardiff Arms park, Tino pai , kia ora tatau.
Classic game up there with All Blacks v South Africa 2018. Today this game would have produced red cards and yellow cards for dangerous tackles but thats just society today.
It is so rare that a massively hyped game explodes into the type of action seen here, justifying all the chat in the build up. So entertaining compared to today's kickfests.
Now THAT'S the way scrummaging should be done! They didn't mess around, formed the pack, didn't try to use the scrum to constantly draw penalties; they just formed it and put it in play!
Well, I say it in comparison to today, and, five penalties compared to now is not much, you have to admit. And, the strike to the head, well, yes, you'll get a red card for that now, but you can't tell me that it still doesn't happen from time to time when the ref isn't looking.
Goal kicking takes too long now and refs are not applying the time limit either, e.g Japanese kicker v Wales recently. It's like Nadal at tennis, regularly exceeding the serve time.
7 лет назад
I have an idea about penalty goals: two points for a placed kicked one, like in league, but three points for a dropped kicked one. Now that would really give a team's captain reason to pause and think about: take the easier kick for one less point, or the harder kick for one more. It would be critical in games. Drop kicks only are allowed in 7s, of course.
brilliant game of rugby, how that burgess character made it as an all black is to me a mystery, mr JPR you will always be the greatest fullback ive ever seen
JPR - simply the greatest ever. If you ever watch this match, and concentrate on JPR to the exclusion of everything else, it's almost as if he and the ball were psychic. Talk about always being in the right place - phenomenal placement, always.
Cliff Morgan stepped in for the brilliant Bill McLaren at the last minute and this game is now synonymous with Cliff. I would have loved to have known how Bill would have covered that Edwards try though!
"If the greatest writer of the written word would have wrote that story no one would have believed it." A brilliant piece of commentary - it never gets old, does it? Edit: I almost forgot. R.I.P. John Dawes who died recently. He had a great match here, was one of Wales all time greatest and was a fantastic coach with Wales and The British 🦁 🦁 🦁.
...but the most effete haka... even that has become professional these days. As an Englishman the right result but the man of the match for me was Grant Batty. Two great tries and all-round play and proof that you don't have to be a big bloke to be a truly world class player.
Bennett and Shane Williams were great twinkled toed players, Grant was feisty too, as we saw in his bust-up with Tom David. Ironically his opposing wing Duckham also had an outstanding match
I still think this is the best top level match ever. Hey, any match that New Zealand loses is a great match, and I'm not a fan of them, I'll admit! This was not quite the same British and Irish Lions side that defeated New Zealand in 1971, as it's also not quite the same All Blacks side either from a year and a half prior. I have to wonder how well these same players would do as professionals in the modern era, as they were amateurs then and obviously not quite as trained as today's internationals. I only wish the game had only become semi-professional today, because if anything there's too many well-trained players today, and defenses are organized in the rugby league fashion. Sure, there's free-flowing games like this one, but too often there's static play and play too well orchestrated to a pattern. One could argue that the reason there are higher scores is the obvious points inflation with them now worth 5 points, and that there's been law changes to induce more running and therefore the likelihood of more tries being scored. By the same token no one is hurt in this one match, except for Sid Going. Today there are not only 8 subs allowed, but there's more collisions leading to head concussions. Not that concussions didn't happen back four decades ago, but they were more likely to occur from a punch from foul play (what happened to Lion Gordon Brown when punched by All Black Peter Whiting in the fourth test in New Zealand on that '71 tour, which would have gotten Whiting a suspension in today's game, and to think he was a school teacher!) than from head-on crash tackles that are now performed rather consistently. And there's just less kicking overall, and with law changes more recently, less lineouts. No one gets hurt in a lineout, but players trying to run ball out of their own quarter can and do get hurt. Tactical kicking in this All-Black/Baa-baas match is something to study, and if only today's players could do the same! The only bad kick ended up with Gareth Edward's try! What was Brian Williams thinking?Going back to the game, the Barbarians weren't going to take any gruff from the All Blacks. They remembered that Canterbury game and that fourth test all too well, and even without prop Keith Murdoch in the side for this match, how he and the All Blacks played dirty when they lost to Llanelli earlier on this tour.
The Baa-baas would often pick uncapped players; this was not the full strength British-Irish team, the likes of Gerald Davies and Mervyn Davies were missing, Tom David (who played superbly) and Wilkinson were wild cards. Yes, there was some very dirty AB play on the tour, Murdoch the main villain as you say. The standard now is much higher, defences so much tougher, the players much bigger, of course, but scrums and goal kicks now take too long. it is too organised and static, yes, like rugby league- something precious has been lost.
Oh that fellow edwards,what a try what a match and cliff morgans commentary,what a team the babas were ,but the passing was superb not much kicking,in todays rugby it’s penalties and drop goals
