All Blacks captain Brian Lochore fights to get to the ball. Photo / NZ Herald Archives
This article appeared in the Herald on November 13, 1967. It is a match report of the All Blacks’ 13-6 win over Wales at Cardiff Arms Park during their ‘67 tour of Canada, Britain and France. The report was written by the legendary New Zealand rugby writer TP McLean.
Playing with the proud, stern, defiant spirit embodied in their haka, the touring All Blacks on Saturday won the most satisfying victory of their unbeaten tour when they defeated Wales by 13 points (from two goals and a penalty) to 6 (from a dropped goal and penalty goal).
When the All Blacks after losing the toss, were compelled to begin with the stiff breeze behind them and led only 8-0 at halftime it looked as if the Welsh, whose forwards, in particular, had played with great energy and resolution, might take charge.
An early dropped goal soon after halftime by the flyhalf, B John, emphasised the dangers for New Zealand. Then came the supremely lucky break of the game for BJ Lochore and his tough band of brothers.
WF McCormick’s attempt at a penalty into the teeth of the wind from 45 yards dropped eight or nine yards short of the posts and J Jeffery misfielded the ball.
After quickly recovering it he violently threw it over his head to the goalline.
WL Davis, who had followed at such speed that he overshot Jeffery, was on the spot as the ball slipped clear and his try beside the posts which McCormick converted made the score 13 to 3 with 27 minutes to play.
From this moment the game, practically speaking, belonged to New Zealand.
Three times penalty kicks at goal were taken by the Welsh and at each of these there was apprehension, but it was not until the fourth penalty which NR Gale, the Welsh captain, took upon himself for the first time that there was success.
After this, and despite more than one hair-raising misadventure, the All Blacks were the masters.
J Jones, the new cap on the Welsh left wing, persisted in throwing the ball in from the touch down his own line and at each of the subsequent scrummages BE McLeod heeled so reliably that CR Laidlaw was able to plug the touchline.
The All Blacks fought sternly, stubbornly and unyieldingly. With every stay of the play the seconds so valuable to New Zealand’s cause ticked by.
At the end the spectators’ chants and their sudden songs which were intended to spur the Welsh were silenced.
The All Blacks trudged steadily to victory and in one last great spurt by CE Meads, GC Williams and others they charged up the field, devouring men and space before at a check the referee, Mr MH Titcomb, signalled the end of play.
All hope of Rugby as memorable as that which was played by the All Blacks in the first half against England or by West Wales in their many fierce rushes at Swansea was washed out by the conditions.
The fierce wind straight down the field carried a fine, stinging rain throughout play. The pitch, firm enough at mid-morning, was softened long before kick-off. And it was often a case of no man standing as players slithered and desperately sought to win control of the ball.
One is bound to concede that the New Zealanders had the luck of the game. Their early penalty only 10 minutes after the start which McCormick goaled from just inside the 25 came after WH Raybould, the Welsh centre, had advanced ahead of the last line of feet at a scrummage and this was a gift from the gods.
Davis’ try represented an even greater gesture by fortune. But, apart from these points, the New Zealanders were unquestionably superior.
Tactically they were much the better because they knew so clearly what they were up to.
Soon after having made the arresting discovery at the start that the Welsh, largely because of good jumping by M Wiltshire and some extraordinarily adept obstructive blocking of SC Strahan by BE Thomas, were superior at the lineout, the All Black forwards began to swarm upon the ball whenever it came loose.
The backs were so much more adventurous than the Welsh that there was no point of valid comparison.
The finest example was the superb piece of play which depended on quick passes.
They flashed from CR Laidlaw at the ruck to IR MacRae, then to Davis who thrust between two men, and then to WM Birtwistle, who for 15 yards or more ran at the corner flag as if all the hounds of hell were barking at his heels.
It was just reward for this lovely piece of play that McCormick placed the goal, even though he had a heavy ball and the mark was little more than a foot inside the touchline.
But still the lead of 8-0 at halftime looked small.
There was even cause in the rest period to rue the moments of anxiety which had made Williams knock-on when the ball was on the ground and the goalline was only inches away.
Only eight minutes of the second half had passed when, after a Laidlaw misfield, John took a pass thrown at him and with assurance dropkicked his goal.
From this point the differing skills of the two teams became more strongly emphasised.
Having secured their lead of 13 to 3 from Davis’ fortuitous try, the All Blacks appreciated that nothing now mattered but time - time so that they could check the Welsh, time so that they could legitimately spend valuable moments as they grouped for a lineout.
By contrast, the Welsh were ingenuous, if not, indeed, almost witless in their own tactics.
Their centres, who looked quick and slippery, were scarely used. Jones, easily the fastest man in the game, never got a pass. S Watkins, on the right wing, though a bundle of fiery purpose, only once was in a scoring position.
It was perhaps characteristic of the Welsh play that he spoiled this effort by suffering a penalty after McCormick, with a great piece of play, had robbed Watkins of a try.
Meanwhile, John trusted entirely to high kicks which, though whistling fiercely down the field, were caught with copybook accuracy by Lochore or McCormick or, on one particularly valuable occasion, by Davis.
Slowly the Welsh fire was extinguished.
And the All Blacks, chasing to the ball, swarmed upon it, held it, heeled it and even in terrible conditions still made attempts to make progress with it.
EW Kirton twice had grubber kicks unluckily checked just when the backline was beginning to flow and MacRae, who one once in the first half had run a pace or two too far, at another time was engineering a valuable gap when his pass to Davis was projected from his arms because of the slipperiness of the ball.
For those new to the Cardiff Arms Park the signing was not quite up to expectations. It seemed less a gesture of reverence to one of the temples of Rugby than a sort of act which at time was permeated with latent hooliganism.
For the All Blacks Lochore’s leadership was as splendid as his covering, catching and running.
Meads was so much concerned with the proper spirit of the game that he once dashed in to act as peacekeeper when Thomas began throwing punches at Muller.
KR Tremain, about whose fitness there seemed so much cause for doubt, was never far from the ball.
BE McLeod won two most valuable heels against the head in the first half and in the reliability of his heeling throughout the second was an All Blacks figure of outstanding consequence.
KF Gray if not quite back to his best was troubled with the abrasive Thomas in the front of the scrum and dealt with his more exasperating tricks by imitating his old skipper, W Whineray, in standing up and asking to have the scrummage properly formed.
BC Muller was a powerful figure, too, and without a doubt lasted better than the Thomas who crashed into him so often and so pointlessly.
SC Strahan was baffled out of his catching rhythm by the obstructions but as the game wore on he and Meads were the powerhouse of a scrum which three times walked the Welsh back eight, ten and a dozen yards while the critically minded audience applauded the quality of the feat.
Williams was as unsuited by the conditions as any loose forward might have been, but added a cubit to his stature by the manner in which he got into the rucks and mauls.
Both Laidlaw and Kirton had uneasy moments in their handling, but redeemed the fault fault by fine efforts elsewhere.
In Laidlaw’s case this was quick and accurate touch finding. In Kirton’s case it was touch finding, tactical kicking and a sprint or two which shook the Welsh defence.
MacRae, much improved on his display against England, would have been more dangerous against his smaller opponents on a dry field.
Davis was quite splendid and his consistent performance is one of the features of the tour.
Birtwistle’s try was one of his finest. Nor did he fail in other activity.
The gods were not kind to Dick, who was given no chance on attack, but when he fielded a catch near his goalline in the first half and safely put the ball to touch the relief for New Zealand was considerable.
McCormick, two or three times uncertain of towering punts coming at him like projectiles, still managed to play magnificently. Only once or twice did he miss touch.
His goal-kick from the sideline was superb and he faced the most desperate sorties of the Welsh with unflinching calm.
Decidedly this was a day for New Zealand Rugby folk to cherish and remember. The hundreds, even thousands, of New Zealanders who were present will assuredly go on telling the story of this proud moment of the squaring of the rubber with Wales for many and many a long day to come.
For New Zealand Birtwistle and Davis scored tries, McCormick kicked two conversions and a goal from a penalty.
For Wales, John dropped a goal and Gale kicked a goal from a penalty.
More than one Super Netball side have tried to sign Kelly Jackson.