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Home / Sport / Rugby / All Blacks

History lesson: All Blacks v Barbarians

By Alex McLeod
NZ Herald·
1 Nov, 2017 12:19 AM3 mins to read

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Richie McCaw looks to break the tackle of Victor Matfield and Rocky Elsom during their clash at Twickenham in 2009. Photo / Getty Images.

Richie McCaw looks to break the tackle of Victor Matfield and Rocky Elsom during their clash at Twickenham in 2009. Photo / Getty Images.

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The All Blacks and the Barbarians will meet for the 11th time in their history on Sunday when they clash at Twickenham.

The two sides first faced off in 1954 during the All Blacks 1953-54 Northern tour, a tour in which the All Blacks played 36 games. The All Blacks won 19-5 in front of 56,000 at Cardiff Arms Park. Keith Davis, Morrie Dixon, Ron Jarden and Snow White all crossed over for the All Blacks.

A decade passed until the two sides met again, with the All Blacks thumping the famous black and white hoops 36-3 during another 36-match tour of Europe and Canada in 1963-64.

An 11-6 All Blacks win in London three years later was soon forgotten when the two teams met again in 1973. It was in this match that legendary Welsh halfback Gareth Edwards scored what is still regarded as the greatest try ever scored.

The 63-test international sprinted 30 metres and dived acrobatically in the left-hand corner to cap off a sweeping counter-attacking move by the Barbarians that started deep inside their own 22. That four-point try inspired the Baabaas to a 23-11 win in Cardiff, their first ever over the All Blacks.

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A 13-all stalemate in 1974 and an 18-16 victory to the All Blacks in 1978 was the last time the two teams played each other for over a decade, with their next clash coming at Twickenham in 1989. The 11-year wait proved worthwhile for the New Zealanders, who recorded a 21-10 win.

The 1993 match between the two outfits marked their last encounter in the amateur era of rugby, as well as their last meeting in Cardiff. The Sean Fitzpatrick-captained side came away with a 25-12 victory to conclude their 13-match tour of the United Kingdom.

Exactly 11 years later, the All Blacks played the Barbarians for the first time during the professional era when they faced off in front of a 55,000-strong crowd at Twickenham. With 21-year-old flanker Jerome Kaino starting in his first All Blacks match, the Graham Henry-coached outfit claimed a 47-19 win over the Justin Marshall-captained Barbarians.

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The most recent encounter between the two teams came seven years ago in 2009. A Bryan Habana hat-trick led the Barbarians to a 25-18 win over the All Blacks in front of a crowd of 63,500, just their second victory in the 63-year history between the two famous sides.

All Blacks v Barbarians
1954 - All Blacks 19 Baabaas 5
1964 - All Blacks 36 Baabaas 3
1967 - All Blacks 11 Baabaas 6
1973 - Baabaas 23 All Blacks 11
1974 - All Blacks 13 Baabaas 13
1978 - All Blacks 18 Baabaas 16
1989 - All Blacks 21 Baabaas 10
1993 - All Blacks 25 Baabaas 12
2004 - All Blacks 47 Baabaas 19
2009 - Baabaas 25 All Blacks 18

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