A plan formulated by the late, great JJ Stewart to stop one C.E. Meads was the inspiration behind the All Blacks' only Grand Slam to date, despite the fact Stewart's last game in charge of the All Blacks was two years before the 1978 All Blacks achieved the honour.
It's now accepted that Andy Haden and Frank Oliver's remarkable flops out of the lineout that so irked the Welsh in 1978 and kept the All Blacks' Grand Slam hopes alive were not done on the spur of the moment.
But what isn't so commonly known is that the idea was formed 12 years earlier and was inspired by former All Black coach Stewart.
When reminiscing about the All Blacks' dramatic 13-12 victory over Wales 27 years ago, winger Stu Wilson, then 21, said he distinctly remembered a conversation involving Dave Loveridge, who made his debut in the test, and Haden.
Loveridge was talking about how Ian Eliason had conned the referee during a Taranaki-King Country match during the '60s into awarding Taranaki penalties for Colin Meads pushing Eliason - known as Legs - as the ball was thrown in.
Eliason confirmed to the Herald on Sunday that he was the originator of amateur dramatics on the field.
"Yeah, that's all true," he said from his New Plymouth home.
"It was Stewart who came up with the idea and we practised it!"
Stewart's theory was that Meads was going to be a physical presence at the lineout that day, so why not draw attention to the fact?
"I'd basically start yelling as loud as I could and fall over," Eliason said.
Halfback Ray Rowson had an unimpeded view of the shenanigans.
"He [Stewart] told Legs that Pinetree was going to be standing on his feet or pushing him so get your retal-iation in first. We laugh now but we were carrying on like idiots on one-armed Bobby giving us penalties."
One-armed Bobby was legendary referee Bob Forsythe, who would later in the match deny Meads a penalty try after he was held back over the line by Ross Brown because Meads had thrown an upper-cut at Brown and missed.
Also opposing Eliason that day was S.T. Meads, Stan, who was gobsmacked by what he was seeing.
"I guess you could say JJ was a wily old character," he said from his Te Kuiti farm.
"That's where the whole thing started. That was the first time it was a definite ploy anyway."
Eliason recalled that Pinetree didn't say much at the time but Stan chipped in with his tuppence worth asking, "what the bloody hell is going on here?"
Stan admitted "we did have words", but said his brother was hardly the diplomat.
"I can remember Colin saying, 'OK Legs, you fall out of the next one and I'll help you on your bloody way,"' laughed Stan.
Meads' recollection of the day was that the game had the handprints of Stewart all over it.
"The ref was a bloke called Bob Forsythe, who was a one-armed guy. He was a damned good ref, don't get me wrong, but I reckon JJ had a word with him along the lines of 'watch Meads' boys, they push and shove all day'."
The dive reasserted itself into the Welsh psychology this week as the All Blacks played the first leg of what they hope will be another Grand Slam in Cardiff this morning.
Rugby writer Bob Howitt interviewed Haden about the incident when he flopped out of a lineout late in the match and substitute Brian McKechnie kicked the resultant penalty (referee Roger Quittenden maintained the penalty was for Wales lock Geoff Wheel jumping off Frank Oliver's shoulder).
"He [Haden] told me he never wanted to come off the field knowing he could have done something to help win the game and didn't."
Oliver is in the UK with a tour group and said: "They [1978 team] had talked about the possibility of what they'd do if they were down," Oliver said. "In the end the penalty was given for someone leaning on [my] shoulder - Haden's jump was very spectacular."
Legs would have been proud.
Oh, and the result in New Plymouth - Taranaki 20, King Country 12. The difference was three Kerry Hurley penalties, two of them awarded for Meads' lineout 'indiscretions'.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
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