Wellington against international teams: versus British Isles 1977

Match Details

Result: British Isles 13 – Wellington 6
When: 2 July, 1977
Weather: Showery and cool
Crowd: 30,000

The Tour

For the second time in six years, and following recent visits by England (1973), Scotland (1975) and Ireland (1976), a full British Isles team embarked on a comprehensive tour of New Zealand. The tour lasted three months from mid-May to mid-August and took in 25 matches, including four Tests against the All Blacks.

The previous British Isles tourists had proved tough to beat, and this one, featuring 16 players out of 30 from Wales including captain Phil Bennett, plus Ireland’s Mike Gibson who had toured New Zealand with the 1966 and 1971 Lions, was expected to perform just as well. In all, 14 of the squad had visited New Zealand previously.

From their opening match in freezing conditions in Masterton against Wairarapa Bush to the fourth Test finale at Eden Park, the tour overall proved a success. The Lions won 21 of 25 matches and scored 586 points and conceded 295. However, the benchmark was the Test series and the All Blacks won this 3-1. New Zealand won the first Test in Wellington 16-12 – featuring an intercept try to Marist St Pat’s and former Wellington wing Grant Batty – but the Lions tied it all up in the second with a 13-9 victory in Christchurch. Moving south to Dunedin, the All Blacks scored a try in the opening moments and went on to win 19-7. New Zealand then wrapped up the series in Auckland with a 10-9 win.

In all, the British Lions played three matches on Athletic Park, losing the first Test on 18 June, beating the New Zealand Juniors 19-9 on 20 July in deplorable conditions and in between beating Wellington 13-6 on 2 July.

Heading into the match against Wellington, the British Lions had won all their provincial encounters thus far, including wins over Hawke’s Bay 13-11, Taranaki 21-13, Otago 12-7, Southland 20-12 and Canterbury 14-13. They were coming off a mid-week 45-0 win over West Coast-Buller. They named a near full-Test strength side to face Wellington.

The Match

Although, they had subsequently met England in 1973 (losing 25-16) and Scotland in 1975 (losing 36-25), memories of the 9-47 loss to the full British side were fresh for four of Wellington’s players – Andy Leslie (Petone), Al Keown (WCOB), Richard Cleland (Petone) and John Dougan (Petone) and many supporters alike. Leslie’s men were determined to put up a positive showing.

Although they could boast no current All Blacks (Leslie had retired from international rugby the previous year), Wellington fielded a team that included former All Blacks first five-eighth Dougan and future All Blacks, wing Bernie Fraser (Hutt Valley Marist), lock John Fleming (Marist St Pat’s) and fullback Clive Currie (Oriental-Rongotai) Wellington went into this match having won of their six games in the year to date. They had just come off a tough loss to Taranaki in Hawera, but that match was just days after many of the players involved had played in a bruising Petone-MSP club match.

Overnight rain made for heavy underfoot conditions, and a hard-fought battle commenced. The first half was a penalty fest, with the Lions’ Phil Bennett and Wellington’s Richard Cleland exchanging penalties and the visitors led 9-3 at halftime.

Now playing into the wind, there was hope that Wellington could secure victory. But the Lions scored the game’s first and only try early in the second half from a charge-down and they extended their lead to 13-3.

Wellington hit back with a second Cleland penalty after a concerted raid up field, but there was no further scoring and the Lions held on to win 13-6.

It was acknowledged afterwards that Wellington’s pack had been outgunned by the Lions, while the tactical play of Lions halfback Brynmor Williams and pivot Bennett was assured.

Wellington prop Keown, who had played in Wellington’s international matches against the British Lions in 1971 and England and Scotland, proclaimed afterwards that the 1977 Lions scrum was as good as these teams. “I would think that the scrummaging of the Lions was certainly better than the teams we played against in 1973 and 1975 but about the same as the 1971 team,”Keown told the Dominion.

The Dominion went on to say that “Wellington, which almost looked lighter by a stone a man than the Lions, did not really assume command of this match, even with the resolute running by John Dougan, Richard Cleland, Warwick Proctorand Bernie Fraser.”

“While Wellington’s forward resources were taxed by simply being inferior in strength, the pack made fine progress in the lineouts and the rucks.

“This was a necessary win for the Lions, for a loss against one of the country’s most improved teams would have sent the team’s spirit to nether depths.”

Wellington went on to finish second to Canterbury in the 1977 NPC, winning it for the first time in 1978.

The Teams

Wellington: 1. K.D. Phelan, 2. K.D. Horan, 3. A.E. Keown, 4. J.K. Fleming 5. B.F. Gard’ner, 6. P.B.Quinn, 7. M.G.Stevens, 8. A.R.Leslie, 9.D.J.Henderson,10. J.P. Dougan, 11. W.G.Proctor, 12. R.S. Cleland, 13, I.G. May, 14. B.G. Fraser, 15. C.J. Currie

British Isles: 1. G. Price, 2. P.J.Wheeler, 3. F.E. Cotton, 4. T.J. Cobner, 5. G.L.Brown, 6. A.J.Martin, 7. A.Neary, 8. D.L. Quinnell, 9. D.B. Williams, 10. P. Bennett, 11. J.J.Williams, 12, S.P. Fenwick, 13.I.R.McGeechan,14. G.L. Evans, 15. A.R. Irvine

The Players

Bernie Fraser’s legendary career for Wellington was just warming up in 1977. Over the next few seasons he was to establish himself as one of the province’s leading wings, in all scoring 100 tries in 121 games for Wellington including 54 tries in NPC matches.

Fraser had been a schoolboy star in Auckland and moved to Wellington in 1973. Fraser had a brilliant 1981 season; his 24 tries were scored in just 15 games, including 12 tries in the NPC games. He scored two or more tries in a match on nine occasions. As such, the south-east corner of Athletic Park became known as ‘Bernie's Corner.' He played 55 games for the All Blacks including 23 Tests between 1979 and 1984, scoring six tries.

Clive Currie, out of Rongotai College, played rugby for both Wellington and Canterbury. He toured Britain and Ireland with the 1978 All Blacks, playing four matches on tour including two of the internationals. He sustained a broken jaw against Wales and was replaced on the field by Brian McKechnie who kicked a famous match-winning penalty.

Currie first played for Wellington in 1975 and played a further 25 matches for Wellington in 1976 and 1977 before transferring to Canterbury for one season in 1978. He retired in 1979 to concentrate on teaching and in the mid-1980s was appointed Wellington’s Director of Coaching. He was also a promising cricketer, playing in three first-class matches for Wellington in the 1976-77 season.

John Fleming also made his All Blacks debut on the same 1978 tour that Currie went on. In its preview of this match in 1977, the Dominion wrote about Fleming: “at his best, is one of the country’s best No. 5 lineout men in the country”. Like Fraser, Fleming was from Auckland but transferred to Wellington and to the MSP club in 1974 and he made the NZ Colts side that year.

Fleming, nicknamed ‘Bones’, was also a New Zealand Junior in 1976 and he went on to win the NPC with Wellington in 1978 ahead of his full All Black selection. In 1980 he shifted north to Hamilton and played 30 matches for Waikato. He later coached the Thames Valley NPC side.

References

• The Dominion and Evening Post newspapers July 1977 
• 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
• The 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
• Photo credit: Rugby Weekly, July 1977