Wellington against international teams: versus South Africa 1956

Match Details

Result:?South Africa 8 – Wellington 6
When:?23 June 1956, at Athletic Park
Weather: Cloudy
Crowd:?45,000

The Tour

The 1956 Springbok tour will go down in folklore as one of the greatest rugby winters in New Zealand, not just for the All Blacks’ 3-1 series win, but the events leading up to it and surrounding it. The nation’s psyche was being tested, following the 4-0 series loss in South Africa in 1949 and some scratchy form the previous season against the Wallabies.

The Springboks spent nearly four months touring New Zealand, winning 16, drawing one and losing six of their 23 matches, and were mobbed wherever they went.

Prior to arriving in New Zealand, the tourists played and won six matches in Australia, including a 2-0 series win over the Wallabies.

Rugby Park was almost full at 8.00 am on the morning of their tour opener against Waikato, which they lost 10-14. This was followed by consecutive wins over north Auckland (3-0), Auckland (6-3) and Manawatu-Horowhenua (14-3). Next up was Wellington.

The Match

The encounter against Wellington on 23 June 1956 was the first of three on Athletic Park for the Springboks, also beating the All Blacks 8-3, to level the series 1-1 and famously prompting the All Blacks selectors to recall retired hardman prop Kevin Skinner to ‘sort the Springboks out’, and just as famously losing to the New Zealand Universities 15-22.

Wellington, who were to re-gain the Ranfurly Shield later in the year after a three-year absence (and also lose it again), put up a strong team against the Springboks. Wings Tom Katene (Petone) and Ron Jarden (University), midfielder Jim Fitzgerald (University), loose forwards Bill Clark (University), Don McIntosh (Petone) and Nev MacEwan (Athletic) and prop Ivan Vodanovich (Marist) had all been or were about to be All Blacks.

In summing the contest up, the Springboks deserved their narrow 8-6 victory, but Wellington could well have won . The home forwards were a stirring unit, but the backs failed to take their chances – albeit against South Africa’s No. 8 tactics of this era of basically standing in the backline at lineouts (no 15-metre line) and harassing Wellington’s halfback Alby Makeham (Poneke) and first five-eighth Jackie Dougan (Onslow).

Wellington made a dream start, scoring a try to Dougan and a penalty to Jarden to lead 6-0 after 10 minutes. South Africa worked their way into the game and scored a try to trail 6-3 at halftime. The visitors scored another try, the match winner, early in the second half and held on to win.

A subsequent report published in the match-day programme of the 1965 match between Wellington and South Africa described the match thus:

“In beating Wellington, however, they maintained their reputation so far for just getting home and no more, and still leaving plenty of doubts whether they will be good enough to beat New Zealand in the Tests.

“The result could have gone either way. Glorious chances of scoring were missed. In the sum total of these Wellington could have won. R.A. Jarden missed four kicks at goal. Normally he would have converted at least two. As it was one hit an upright and bounced away.”

This report then describes South Africa’s second half try as being controversial as it appeared the ball was knocked on in-goal. It goes on:

“It was a tremendous tussle with two giant packs slogging it out at terrific pace, and at times some lovely back movements were seen. Nearly all the players looked exhausted when the final whistle blew.

“This was not surprising as the hands of the new clock at the park stopped about three minutes from full time, and it is believed that the play ran on for an additional seven minutes before this fault was noted.

“The only marring feature was that in spite of all the talk about open rugby, the South Africans kicked the ball a great deal and exploited the No. 8 forward game. Wellington made far greater efforts to open up the game.”

The Teams

Wellington: 1. J.B.S. Hutchinson, 2. J.K. Sage, 3. I.M.H Vodanovich, 4. W.H. Clark, 5. I.W Tarpley, 6. I. N. MacEwan, 7. D.N. McIntosh, 8. L.A Clark, 9. A.J. Makeham, 10. J.G. Dougan, 11. R.A Jarden, 12. J.T.Fitzgerald, 13. M.J.G. Palmer, 14. T. Katene, 15. J. Johnstone

South Africa: 1. A.C.Koch, 2. A.J. van der Merwe, 3. H.P.J. Bekker, 4. D.F. Retief, 5. J.A. du Rand, 6. J.A.J. Pickard, 7. D.S.P. Ackermann, 8. G.P Lochner, 9. T.A. Gentles, 10. B.D. Plaff, 11. B.F. Howe, 12. K.T. van Vollenhoven, 13. P.E. Montini, 14. P.G. Johnstone, 15. R.G. Dryburgh

The Players

Tom Katene?was the original blockbusting wing, good enough to play one Test for New Zealand against the 1955 Wallabies. He also played for the New Zealand Maori side and appeared in several All Blacks trials. Raised in the King Country, Katene played 18 matches for Wellington in 1955 and 1956.

Ron Jarden, had a rare off day with the boot against the Springboks was the ‘Ace of Match Winners’ and was Wellington rugby’s superstar of the day. Blessed with blinding pace, a top drawer skillset and rugby brain and a relentless training ethic to match, Jarden was a probably Wellington’s best ever left wing. From 1951 to 1956 Jarden was an automatic All Blacks selection, and he played all four Tests in this series, scoring a key intercept and runaway 40 metre try in the first Test win and latching on to a cross-kick to score a devisive try in the All Blacks’ third Test win. He also scored a famous ‘try that wasn’t’ in the match later in the tour between the NZ Universities and the Springboks. In front of a record 42,000 midweek crowd he received the ball on halfway and beat six defenders in a searing run to the line. However the touch judge’s flag went up for a foot in touch and play was called back for a lineout from where it had all started.

This season was to be Jarden’s last, retiring before 1957 had started, aged 26, to concentrate on business interests. Jarden played 134 first class games, 63 for Wellington and 37 for the All Blacks, and scored 145 first-class tries. In the 1955 season he scored 30 tries, still the record for a New Zealand first class season. He also kicked goals and scored 945 first-class points. In 16 Tests he scored seven tries.

Jarden’s great friend was the ‘Seagull’, openside flanker Bill Clark, who was at the core of much of?Wellington?rugby’s fantastic successes in the 1950s. Clark played in all of?Wellington’s famous matches in this period including the Ranfurly Shield winning sides in 1953 and 1956. From Nelson, Clark?moved to?Wellington?in 1949 and joined the University club Clark and Jarden had a sixth sense when playing together, such was?Clark’s anticipation and appreciation of?Jarden’s every move. The pair were two of four University club All Blacks on the 1953-54 northern tour along with Brian Fitzpatrick and Jim Fitzgerald. The 1.85m, 82 kg (with lead in his pockets) Clark himself played nine Tests between 1953-1956 and was later President of the?NZ Universities Rugby Football Council from 1970-83.

Hard as nails blindside flanker Don McIntosh retired in 1960 having played a record 118 games for?Wellington?in a decade long career. McIntosh was?Wellington?captain in 1956 when they beat?Canterbury?8-0 to recapture the Ranfurly Shield off the side that had taken it off?Wellington?in 1953. He then led?Wellington?to a 9-6 defence in 1956 against?Auckland?and three more in 1957 before they lost it to Otago. He also skippered?Wellington in this match?against the 1956 Springboks and against the 1959 British Lions. Throughout the 1950s he was a regular All Black triallist and played two Tests against South Africa?in 1956 and two more against?Australia?in 1957 in a nine-match international career.

Nev MacEwan shifted to Wellington in 1953 to attend the teachers training college, and in 1954 played the first of his 133 games for the province. MacEwan was big man for his time, standing 192cm and weighing 105kg. In 1956, his sheer physical presence caught the eye of the All Black selectors. He was selected for the second test of the series against the Springboks In Wellington. part of an 8-3 loss, it proved to be a very tough introduction to test rugby, as he was promptly dropped. But he was re-selected the following year and spent the next five seasons in the All Blacks, ending his career with 52 matches and 20 Test caps to his name for New Zealand.

Robust prop Ivan Vodanovich was given a stern test in this match by Springbok props Koch and Bekker, whose lifting technique greatly unsettled opposing players. Vodanovich's response to this when he felt this happening to him early on was to lash out and this problem went away.

Vodanovich had played all three Tests for the All Blacks against Australia the previous year, but wasn't required again. From Wanganui, he moved to Wellington and played 112 matches for Wellington, before retiring and taking up coaching. He went on to coach the All Blacks between 1969-71 and served as All Black selector between 1967-72. He was made a Life Member of the NZRU in 1991.

References?

• The?Evening Post?and?Dominion?newspapers, June-September 1956
• Arthur Swan and Gordon Jackson. Wellington’s Rugby History Part 11 1950-1979. WRFU, 1979.
• The Visitors - The History of International Rugby Teams in New Zealand by Rod Chester, Neville McMillan. MOA Publications, Auckland, 1990
• Rugby Weekly?Souvenir Edition. South Africa v Wellington, 23 June 1956
• Rugby Weekly Souvenir Edition. South Africa v Wellington 3 July 1965The Encyclopedia of New Zealand Rugby?By Ron Palenski, Rod Chester, Neville McMillan. Hodder Moa Beckett, Auckland 1998
• All Blacks A-Z on www.allblacks.com