Rugby: True tales of that cold, wet old park

Today marks the end of test rugby at Athletic Park. Herald rugby writers look at some of the myriad stand-out moments in its history.

By Chris Rattue

It's almost always windy and freezing cold, the facilities would fit in great in downtown Calcutta, and New Zealand has suffered some significant rugby defeats there.

Yes, good old Athletic Park will finally get what it deserves today when it is shunted as a test venue in favour of a new, hopefully cosy, stadium at the Wellington railyards.

The All Blacks' test against France will see the last test rites performed on one of the most bizarre grounds in international sport.

Just why anyone would design a stadium so it caught the full blast of some of the coldest winds imaginable, and then stick a great big stand up in the sky so the spectators could benefit fully from the chilling blasts, is anyone's guess.

That Millard Stand has looked like a significant health risk for some time. There's enough rust on its support structures to decorate a Taiwanese fishing trawler. Instead of going to the expense of demolishing the stadium, they could just leave it out for the inorganic rubbish collection.

But love it or hate it, as many people from outside the capital do, that rusty old heap of scrap-iron and those limb-numbing winds will be missed. Well, sort of.

The ground did have some good points. Or a good point. As it is a purpose-built rugby venue that does not have also to cater for cricket, the spectators had a good, close-up view of the action. That's if they were not huddled behind the person in front to try and break the wind chill factor.

Undoubtedly the ground will have the final test laugh today. A bitterly cold wind will rip through at breakneck speed and the All Blacks will get beaten by the 10-1 underdog French.

So stick your feet in a bucket of ice and wrap a scarf around your neck as we take a ramble through a potted history of Athletic Park.

* New Zealand played their first home test, and their second ever, at Athletic Park against Great Britain on August 13, 1904. New Zealand 9 Great Britain 3. Strangely though, the record-books state the weather was fine and the ground firm.

* The first rugby league match in New Zealand was played at the ground on June 13, 1908. It was the final act in the remarkable story of Albert Henry Baskiville, who organised this country's first rugby league team, known as the All Golds, on a tour of Australia, Sri Lanka and Britain.

Baskiville died of illness on the way home shortly after playing his only test, against Australia. The game at Athletic Park was to raise money for his widowed mother.

* The first final of secondary schools rugby's Moascar Cup was played at Athletic Park in 1920, when Christchurch Boys' High beat Palmerston North Boys' High by the strange score of 1-0.

The game was played in dreadful conditions and the match was scoreless at fulltime. The referee played five extra minutes and if a try was not scored, a force-down behind a team's own goal-line would count for a sort of own-goal. Christchurch won by a disputed kick into touch in goal by PNBHS.

There are strong suggestions the referee had simply had enough of the cold, and would have done anything to get the game over with.

* In 1956, the All Blacks suffered one defeat, at Athletic Park, during the four-match "revenge for 1949" series win against South Africa. The All Blacks had scrum problems, leading to one of the most famous recalls in test rugby as Kevin Skinner was brought back to sort out the Bok front-rowers.

* The $175,000 Millard Stand was just about completed enough to be used for the first time when the All Blacks beat France 5-3 in 1961. A massive storm struck, with winds up to 130 km/h, and most ticket-holders decided to give the Millard a miss.

Don Clarke goaled the matchwinning conversion from the sideline by aiming at the corner flag and letting the gale do the rest. The stand was named after former Wellington Rugby Union chairman Norman Millard.

* In 1968, French fullback Pierre Villepreux kicked one of the most famous goals in test match history at the ground. Villepreux, the current French assistant coach, kicked a penalty with (significantly) that wind at his back from well inside his own half, as France went down 3-9.

It is regarded as one of the longest successful kicks in history, but no one seems to know exactly how far it was. Most reports said 65 to 70 yards, and a newspaper recently claimed it was from at least 70m. It was the last time France had played a test at the ground.

* The All Blacks suffered one of the most significant defeats in their history when beaten 13-3 in the third test of 1971 by the British Lions, sending the tourists on to their first and only series win in this country.

* Bernie Fraser began playing for Wellington in 1975 and was such a prolific try-scorer that he created "Bernie's corner." Fraser later mused that while Wellington usually spun the ball left to his wing, the All Blacks went right which meant his great Wellington mate Stu Wilson was the one who got more international tries.

* In 1977, Grant Batty, in his last test, scored a famous first-test intercept try against the Lions, a key moment as the All Blacks gained revenge for their series defeat six years earlier.

* Athletic Park has been used for everything from woodchopping and boxing, soccer and minor cricket games, to rock concerts. One of the most famous was by Fleetwood Mac in 1980.

Five minutes before the concert started, a top policeman stumbled across the band indulging in substances which are mentioned in the Crimes Act and wanted to arrest the Macs. Lower-ranked officers persuaded him not to, fearing the crowd would go out of control.

The Athletic Park groundsman used to complain that little marijuana plants grew from seeds dropped on the playing surface at rock concerts.

* In 1990, dual rugby-rugby league tests were played on the same weekend at Athletic Park. Australian hooker Phil Kearns gave his famous salute to Sean Fitzpatrick as the Wallabies ended the All Blacks' run of 23 consecutive victories.

The next day, the Australian rugby league team smashed the Kiwis in appalling conditions. Kiwi coach Bob Bailey failed to use any of his reserves, claiming afterwards they were too cold to go on, although the Aussies managed to use theirs.

Some 7000 ticket-holders didn't bother turning up because of the weather. The press were herded into a toilet afterwards to hear Kiwi great Hugh McGahan announce his retirement while standing next to a urinal which kept flushing.

* In 1994, Springbok prop Johan le Roux munched on Sean Fitzpatrick's ear.

* Today's test will also mark the end of Canterbury clothing's association with the All Blacks. They have provided the All Black jersey, in all its different forms, since the Invincibles tour of 1924-25, and the company believes the association may go back to the first All Black teams, although they have been unable to verify that.

So it is goodbye to Athletic Park, which is run by the Tenths Trust on behalf of the Te Atiawa Iwi. Wellington will play their NPC matches there this year, before the ground is turned into a shopping mall, apartments, or whatever. Athletic Park - never to be forgotten, but not exactly missed.