1978 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland

Last updated

1978 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland
ManagerRussell Thomas
Tour captain(s) Graham Mourie
Summary
PWDL
Total
18 170001
Test match
04040000
Opponent
PWDL
IRFU flag.svg  Ireland
1 1 0 0
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales
1 1 0 0
Flag of England.svg  England
1 1 0 0
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland
1 1 0 0

In 1978 the New Zealand national rugby union team, the All Blacks, toured Britain and Ireland. They were the eighth All Black team to undertake a full tour of the countries and became the first to achieve a Grand Slam by beating the national teams of Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland. The previous seven touring teams had either lost or drawn at least one international, or had not played all four nations.

Contents

The New Zealand team played eighteen matches between 18 October and 16 December, winning seventeen games and losing once, to Munster at Thomond Park, Limerick. This was the first time that an All Black team had been beaten in Ireland and it remained the All Blacks' only defeat by any Irish team until they lost to the Ireland national team in 2016. The Munster victory inspired a stage play, Alone it Stands .

Although the All Blacks won their four international matches, three of the games were undecided until close to the end. The match against Ireland was level 6–6 at the end of normal time and was settled by Andy Dalton's try in injury time. Against Wales, a 78th-minute penalty goal by replacement full-back Brian McKechnie turned a 12–10 deficit into a 13–12 win. In the Scotland game the All Blacks led 12–9 going into injury time and a drop goal attempt by Ian McGeechan, which would have tied the scores if successful, was charged down and led to a breakaway try for New Zealand by Bruce Robertson.

Matches

Scores and results list New Zealand's points tally first.
Opposing TeamForAgainstDateVenueStatus
Cambridge University 321218 October 1978Grange Road, Cambridge Tour match
Cardiff 17721 October 1978 Cardiff Arms Park, CardiffTour match
West Wales XV23725 October 1978 St Helen's, SwanseaTour match
London Counties371228 October 1978 Twickenham, LondonTour match
Munster 01231 October 1978 Thomond Park, LimerickTour match
IRELAND 1064 November 1978 Lansdowne Road, Dublin Test match
Ulster 2377 November 1978 Ravenhill, BelfastTour match
WALES 131211 November 1978 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Test match
South and South-West Counties20015 November 1978 Memorial Ground, BristolTour match
Midland Counties201518 November 1978 Welford Road, LeicesterTour match
Combined Services34621 November 1978 Aldershot Military Stadium, AldershotTour match
ENGLAND 16625 November 1978 Twickenham, London Test match
Monmouthshire 26929 November 1978 Rodney Parade, NewportTour match
North of England962 December 1978 Birkenhead Park, BirkenheadTour match
North and Midlands 3135 December 1978Linksfield Stadium, Aberdeen Tour match
SCOTLAND 1899 December 1978 Murrayfield, Edinburgh Test match
Bridgend 17613 December 1978 Brewery Field, BridgendTour match
Barbarians 181616 December 1978 Cardiff Arms Park, CardiffTour match

Test matches

Ireland

4 November 1978
Ireland  IRFU flag.svg6–10Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Pen: Ward (2)Try: Dalton
Drop: Bruce (2)
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: Clive Norling (WRU)

The All Blacks opened the scoring with a dropped goal by Bruce, with Ward's penalty making the score 3–3 at half-time. Bruce put the visitors ahead again with a further dropped goal before Ward levelled again with another penalty. The score remained at 6–6 as the game went into injury time but an unconverted try by Dalton after Donaldson's break from a line-out gave New Zealand a 10–6 victory. Rothmans Yearbook called it a "tense, if unspectacular, struggle in perfect playing conditions" and asserted that the All Blacks "deserved their narrow victory" after winning 31 of the 40 line-outs in the game. [1]

NEW ZEALAND: Clive Currie, Stu Wilson, Bill Osborne, Mark Taylor, Brian Ford (rep Bryan Williams), Doug Bruce, Mark Donaldson, Billy Bush, Andy Dalton, Brad Johnstone, Andy Haden, Frank Oliver, Graham Mourie (c), Leicester Rutledge, Gary Seear.

IRELAND: Larry Moloney, Terry Kennedy, Mike Gibson, Alistair McKibbin, Freddie McLennan, Tony Ward, Colin Patterson, Ned Byrne, Pa Whelan, Phil Orr, Moss Keane, Donal Spring, Fergus Slattery, Shay Deering (c), Willie Duggan

Wales

11 November 1978
Wales  Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg12–13Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Pen: Davies (3)
Fenwick
Try: Wilson
Pen: McKechnie (3)
Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Referee: Roger Quittenton (RFU)

NZ admitting cheating in this test match by jumping out of the line-out in order to fool the referee into giving them a last-minute penalty kick. [2]

England

25 November 1978
England  Flag of England.svg6–16Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Pen: Hare
Drop: Hare
Try: Oliver
Johnstone
Con: McKechnie
Pen: McKechnie (2)
Twickenham, London
Referee: Norman Sanson (SRU)

Scotland

9 December 1978
Scotland  Flag of Scotland.svg9–18Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Try: Hay
Con: Irvine
Drop: McGeechan
Try: Seear
Robertson
Con: McKechnie (2)
Pen: McKechnie (2)
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: John West (IRFU)

Touring party

Full back

Clive Currie, Brian McKechnie, Richard Wilson

Three-quarters

Stu Wilson, Robert Kururangi, Brian Ford, Bryan Williams, Bruce Robertson, Lyn Jaffray, Mark Taylor, Bill Osborne

Half-backs

Doug Bruce, Eddie Dunn, Dave Loveridge, Mark Donaldson

Forwards

Brad Johnstone, John Ashworth, John McEldowney, Gary Knight, Andy Dalton, John Black, Billy Bush, John Fleming, John Loveday, Andy Haden, Frank Oliver, Barry Ashworth, Leicester Rutledge, Graham Mourie, Wayne Graham, Gary Seear, Ash McGregor

Related Research Articles

Andrew Maxwell Haden was a New Zealand rugby union player and All Black captain. He played at lock for Auckland and New Zealand from 1972 until 1985. He also played club rugby in the United Kingdom and Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Dalton (rugby union)</span> New Zealand rugby union footballer and coach

Andrew Grant Dalton is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, 17 times in tests. He is a second-generation All Black; his father Ray Dalton played in two All Blacks tests in the late 1940s.

David Steven Loveridge is an All Black of the late 1970s and early 1980s, known in his time as the greatest halfback in the world.

The Cavaliers was an unofficial New Zealand rugby union team which toured South Africa in 1986. Because of the Apartheid policies of the South African government, the official New Zealand Rugby Union tour scheduled for 1985 was cancelled, and the Cavaliers tour was very controversial in New Zealand.

In 1983 the British and Irish Lions toured New Zealand for the first time since 1977. The Lions went down to a 4–0 whitewash for only the second time in history – the previous was also inflicted by the All Blacks on the 1966 Lions. Overall the Lions played eighteen matches, winning twelve and losing six. In addition to their four test defeats they also lost to the Auckland and Canterbury provincial unions.

In 1977 the British Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand. The Lions played 26 matches, including four internationals against the All Blacks. They lost the series against the All Blacks by three matches to one. The team played as the British Isles in their internationals against the All Blacks and the British Lions for the non-international games. Unlike all previous tours to New Zealand, the Lions did not play any matches in Australia, though one game was also played at Buckhurst Park, Suva, against Fiji.

The 1980 New Zealand tour of Wales was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the New Zealand All Blacks against Wales that also took in two international games in North America en route to South Wales. This was a single test tour against each of the countries played, with four games against Welsh club opposition.

Brian John McKechnie is a former "double All Black" - representing New Zealand in both rugby union and cricket. He was born at Gore in Southland and educated at Southland Boys' High School.

The 2005 New Zealand Rugby Union tour of Britain and Ireland was a Grand Slam Rugby Union tour played by the New Zealand National Rugby Union team, also known as the All Blacks, in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland against their respective national teams. Played through November, it consisted of 4 matches against Wales, Ireland, England and Scotland.

The 1972–73 New Zealand rugby union tour of the Britain, Ireland, France and North America was a collection of rugby union test match games undertaken by the All Blacks against England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France. The tour also took in several matches against British, Irish, French and North American club, county and invitational teams. This was the seventh tour of the Northern Hemisphere. It was also the first time the All Blacks lost to the invitational Barbarians team.

The 1984 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was a series of eighteen matches played by the Australia national rugby union team in Britain and Ireland between 17 October and 15 December 1984. The Australian team won thirteen matches, drew one and lost four but notably won all four of their international matches.

The 1979 France rugby union tour of Fiji New Zealand Tahiti was a series of ten matches played in June and July 1979 by the France national rugby union team in Fiji, New Zealand and Tahiti. The team won seven matches and lost three, including defeats to provincial teams Waikato and Southland. They drew their two-match test series against New Zealand national rugby union team, losing the first test but winning the second. The victory in the second test was France's first away victory against New Zealand, gained at the eighth attempt.

The 1984 France rugby union tour of New Zealand was a series of eight matches played in June 1984 by the France national rugby union team in New Zealand. The team won all six of their matches against New Zealand provincial teams but lost both their internationals against the New Zealand All Blacks.

The 1981–82 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was a series of matches played by the Australia national rugby union team. The touring team played twenty-three matches between October 1981 and January 1982, winning sixteen games, drawing one and losing six. The scheduled final game, against the Barbarians, was cancelled due to heavy snow.

The 1975–76 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was a series of matches played by the Australia national rugby union team. The team was referred to as the "Sixth Wallabies", although they were actually only the fifth Australian touring team to undertake a full tour of Britain & Ireland; the "Second Wallabies" of 1939–40 had to return home without playing a game when the World War II broke out.

The 1979 New Zealand rugby union tour of England, Scotland and Italy was a series of eleven matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team in England, Scotland and Italy in October and November 1979. The tour was very successful as the team won ten of the eleven games, including the international matches against Scotland and England. The only team to defeat the All Blacks was the English Northern Division.

Munster Rugby has a strong tradition of competitiveness against touring rugby teams. They have played the All Blacks, the national team of New Zealand, 8 times since 1905. In 1978, they became the first Irish team, including the Irish national team, to win a match in the history of competition between the countries, and remained the only Irish team to beat the All Blacks until the Irish national team defeated New Zealand in November 2016.

The 1983 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain was a series of eight matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team in Scotland and England in October and November 1983. New Zealand won five of their eight games, drew one and lost the other two. They won neither of the two international matches, drawing with Scotland and losing to England. In the non-international fixtures they also suffered a defeat by the English Midlands Division invitational team.

The 1981 New Zealand rugby union tour of Romania and France was a series of ten matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team in Romania and France in October and November 1981. The All Blacks won eight of the ten games, including the international match against Romania and both internationals against France. The only team to defeat the All Blacks was a French regional selection, and the All Blacks were also held to a draw by another regional team.

The 1977 New Zealand rugby union tour of Italy and France was a series of nine matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team in Italy and France in October and November 1977. The All Blacks won eight of their nine games, losing only the first of the two internationals against France.

References

  1. Rothmans p25-26
  2. https://nation.cymru/sport/brazen-all-blacks-cheated-wales-out-of-a-deserved-victory/

Sources