Wellington against international teams: versus South Africa 1994

Above: Wellington fullback Sam Doyle (centre) celebrating one of his two tries in this match against the Springboks. The Lions gave the South Africans an almighty scare, leading 16-5 with this try and 19-8 at halftime, before being run down in the second half.

Match Details

Result: South Africa 36 – Wellington 26
When: 28 June, 1994
Weather: Fine and sunny
Crowd: 28,000

The Tour

South Africa made their sixth visit to New Zealand in 1994 and their first in the post-Apartheid era.

Their previous tour in 1981 had been soaked in political controversy and made waves off the field wherever it went. On it, the All Blacks had won the Test series 3-1 with Petone and Wellington fullback Allan Hewson kicking the match and series winning penalty at Eden Park.

Series in 1921, 1937, 1956 and 1965 had been equally tight, with the 1921 Test at Athletic Park a 0-0 draw in atrocious conditions and both the 1956 and 1965 series as hard fought as any before or since.

The first 1994 Test in Dunedin, won 24-22 by the All Blacks, was just the second international between the two countries since South Africa’s re-introduction to international sport after a decade-long hiatus. The All Blacks had beaten them 27-24 in Johannesburg in 1992.

The All Blacks also won the second Test in Wellington 13-9 and the third in Auckland was drawn 18-18, the Springboks thus denying the All Blacks an opportunity for a clean sweep to emulate the Springboks’ 4-0 humiliation of them on home soil in 1949.

The Match

On a national level, this midweek match wasn’t on the same plane as other Wellington-South African clashes – most notably in 1965 when Wellington had famously beaten them 23-6 after coach Bill Freeman and senior players led by captain Ken Gray (Petone) studied video footage of the Springboks and devised a plan to turn the South Africans’ big forwards around with a kick and chase game.

As well as being a midweek game, another reason this game flew a bit under the radar was because the country was preoccupied with another tour taking place at the same time as this one - and the All Blacks were under the pump. Just two days earlier (on a Sunday) the All Blacks had lost the first of two Tests to France 8-22. At 19 years and 45 days, left wing Jonah Lomu (Wainuiomata) became the youngest All Blacks Test debutant, but he was overshadowed by France’s centre Philippe Sella who played his 100th international. Wellington first five-eighth Simon Mannix (Petone) made his Test debut.

The second Test against France the following week, and just six days before the first against South Africa in Dunedin also went the way of the French who won 23-20. Both Lomu and Mannix were dropped after this game.

Wedged in between the French series, Wellington fans were hoping that their side would put up a strong showing.

Wellington had finished fifth in the previous year’s NPC and were hoping to go one better in 1994 and crack the semi-finals for the first time.

Wellington fielded several dynamic players in the backs such as Sam Doyle (Tawa), new sensation Tana Umaga (Petone) and Alama Ieremia (Western Suburbs), the latter making his Test debut against the Springboks in Dunedin. All three were to feature heavily in the Hurricanes’ opening season in 1996.

Second year coach David Kirk had brought down 46-Test former All Black prop Steve McDowell (Tawa ) from Auckland, while other forwards in Wellington’s pack in strong form included No. 8 Filo Tiatia (Western Suburbs), Mike Edwards (Avalon) and Chris Tregaskis (Avalon).

In recent outings, the Lions had beaten both Manawatu (42-7) and Hawke’s Bay (28-19).

The Springboks had flown into New Zealand after drawing 1-1 in a series at home against England. They had lost the first Test 15-32 but had bounced back to win the second 27-9.

Ahead of this match, the Springboks A and B squads had combined to beat King Country (46-12), Counties (37-25) on consecutive days.

Wellington coach Kirk acknowleged the “Test-strength” of South Africa’s side picked to line up against his men.

Wellington suffered a pre-game blow when skipper and halfback Jon Preston (Harlequins) was ruled out with a hamstring injury. Released All Black pivot Simon Mannix captained the side.

It was no surprise to anyone that this clash was a physical encounter from the get-go.

The Springboks were typically bruising, controlling possession and the tempo of the game. They won with a burst of scoring early in the second half and then with a period of stiff resistance on defence midway through the second spell when Wellington rallied and threatened to come back.

Wellington led after 10 minutes through a penalty to halfback Elton Moncrieff (Marist St Pat’s). But Springbok fullback Theo Van Rensburg scored the first of his two tries.

Wellington re-took the lead, 8-5, when fullback Doyle crossed after a sweetly timed break by centre Ieremia from an attacking lineout near halfway. Wellington extended their lead to 16-5 with another penalty to Moncrieff and a second try to Doyle after a South African dropped ball in midfield, a hack ahead and a regathering of possession.

Both teams exchanged further penalties before the break and Wellington led the Springboks 19-8 at the break.

But the Springboks came out in the second half and laid on a clinical three-try burst in barely 15 minutes to take the lead 28-19.

Wellington fought back but was unable to crack the defence.

Instead the Springboks got themselves down the other end of the park and replacement hooker John Allan crossed to put them ahead 36-19.

Fighting hard to the end, Wellington was rewarded with a late try to right wing Tana Umaga.

No. 8 Tiatia was singled out for having a big game. He told the Dominion afterwards that “I couldn’t believe how tough they were and their upper body strength is just amazing. But I think we also showed our dedication. The fact that the 1965 team was there today was an inspiration and we wanted to get another Springbok head to go with theirs.”

The Springboks were back at Athletic Park almost a month later to play the All Blacks. The All Blacks won the international 13-9, but this was overshadowed by their prop Johan Le Roux wanting a piece of the action to take home with him when he bit All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick’s ear.

The Lions went on to finish sixth in the 1994 NPC, with notable wins over Waikato and Canterbury at home.

The Teams

Wellington: 1. Mike Edwards, 2. Tim Mannix, 3. Steve McDowell, 4. Des Tuiavi’I, 5. Chris Tregaskis, 6. Mike Russell, 7. Gordon Simpson, 8. Filo Tiatia, 9. Elton Moncrieff, 10. Simon Manniz, 11. Tana Umaga, 12. Steve Cottrell, 13. Alama Ieremia, 14. Alaska Taufa, 15. Sam Doyle. RESERVES: Mike Umaga, Jason O’Halloran, TBC, Inoke Afeaki, Simon Foley, Adrian McKenzie

South Africa: 1. Ballie Swart, 2. James Dalton, 3. Johan Le Roux, 4. Rudolph Straeuili, 5. Mark Andrews, 6. Steve Atherton, 7. Francois Pienaar, 8. Tiaan Strauss, 9. Johan Roux, 10. Hennie le Roux, 11. Brendan Venter, 12. Cabous van der Westhuizen, 13. Pieter Muller, 14. James Small, 15. Theo van Rensburg. RESERVES: Andre Jourbert, Francois Meiring, Joost van der Westhuizen, Fritz van Heerden, Keith Andrews, John Allan

References

• The Dominion and Evening Post newspapers – June 1994
• WRFU. The Winds of Change: Wellington’s Rugby History Part 3 1979-2004. WRFU, 2004.
• Youtube video clip of the match here