Say goodbye to the old Lansdowne Road. |
| April 1970, Nigel Starmer-Smith tries to wrest the ball from the hands of Frances captain, Christian Carrere in France vs. England in Paris. France won 35 - 13. |
March 3rd - Former Scotland international Tremayne Rodd is banned for life by the Scottish RFU. In 1966, after retiring from playing, he covered the 1966 British Lions tour of New Zealand as a journalist, and in late 1969 he joined Richmond, in west London, with the aim of "getting fit". He was soon drafted into the 1st XV and the SRFU immediately raised objections, claiming he was a professional, ending his brief comeback.
1971 - Scotland, sticking to their belief that rugby should remain an amateur activity, took a long time to accept the idea of a coach. They finally succumbed in 1971 and appointed Bill Dickinson as a coach.
John Taylor lands the most famous kick in Five Nations history. His late left-footed conversion of a corner try by Gerald Davies brings Wales a one-point win against Scotland.
1972 - Wales and Scotland are unable to travel to Dublin at the height of the Troubles.The Championship remains unresolved with Wales and Ireland unbeaten.Against Scotland, Gareth Edwards scores one of the tournament's best-ever solo tries from a run from deep inside his own half.
In the Wales vs. New Zealand test - best remembered for All Black prop Keith Murdoch being sent home after the match - was the first rugby match to be televised live by satellite back to New Zealand.
In October , a privately chartered plane transporting a Uruguayan rugby team to Chile crashed in the cordillera of the Andes. The wreckage lay in one of the most inhospitable environments in the world, and because the fuselage was no more than a white speck against the snow of the surrounding mountains rescue was a remote possibility. Drinking water wasn't a problem once the survivors had devised an efficient way to melt snow, but faced with the lethal cold of an Andean springtime, and suffering from the onset of starvation as well as injuries sustained in the crash, their outlook was bleak. When the survivors heard on the radio that the search had been called off, desperation and hunger set in with a vengeance, and, to quote Nando Parrado, 'what drove us was nothing like ordinary appetite'. In order to live, the survivors would have to consume the only food for miles around: the flesh of their dead companions.
The extraordinary story of the Old Christians rugby team was thoroughly documented by Piers Paul Read in his 1974 bestseller Alive.
October, 31st - Llanelli, coached by Carwyn James, beat Ian Kirkpatrick's All Blacks 9-3 at Stradey Park. South Wales's pubs famously ran dry by 6pm. Roy Bergiers scored a try from his own charge-down and Andy Hill scored a colossal long-range penalty. Skipper Delme Thomas was carried from the field by fans, and fly-half Phil Bennett had a fantastic game.
1973 - One of the best trys you are likely to see. The famous Gareth Edwards try for the Barbarians vs. the all blacks. Cliff Morgan's famous commentary went like this: "Kirkpatrick to Williams. This is great stuff. Phil Bennett covering, chased by Alistair Scown. Brilliant! Oh, that's brilliant! John Williams, Pullin, John Dawes. Great dummy! David, Tom David, the half-way line. Brilliant by Quinnell. This is Gareth Edwards. A dramatic start. What a score!"
Video (click and wait approx. 1.7Meg).
Gareth Edwards said "The game against the All Blacks is one I will never forget and those of us who played in it will never be allowed to forget".
March 10th - Tries from Jim Shanklin, father of Wales centre Tom, and Gareth Edwards secured a 16-12 win for Wales over Ireland at the National Stadium. The incomparable Mike Gibson was on the scoresheet for the Irish as the tournament ended in the only-ever four-way tie for the Five Nations title. All five sides won two and lost two games.
1974 - Michael O'Brien became the first streaker at a major sporting event at the England vs. France game at Twickenham in January 1974. The word streaking was added to the English language the same year.
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Micheal O'Brien (credit Getty) |
March 2nd - Jean-Pierre Romeu became only the third player in Championship history to score with a full house of actions - try, conversion, penalty and drop - helping France to a 12-12 draw against England in Paris. The match was described as "fast and furious and abounding in mistakes", and from 12-3 down ten minutes into the second half, England fought back through the boot of Alan Old and a David Duckham try.
1975 - Rugby in the USA enjoyed a renaissance, beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. This created the need for a national governing body to represent the USA in the International rugby community. Four territorial organizations gathered in Chicago, Ill., in 1975 and formed the United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby). Today, USA Rugby is made up of seven Territorial Unions (TUs) and 37 Local Area Unions (LAUs),and supports more than 40,000 members.
March 1st - A record crowd for a Championship match (estimated at 104,000-plus although the official attendance was 80,000) witnessed Scotland beat Wales 12-10 in a bitty match at Murrayfield. The Scottish RFU was forced to issue an apology to the "thousands who paid to get in but had been unable to see the match" and said it would consider introducing all-ticket games. The match itself went to the wire, and five minutes into added time Allan Martin's touchline conversion, which would have tied the scores, floated narrowly past the post. Wales had the more than adequate consolation of winning the Championship after Scotland lost to wooden spooners England a fortnight later.
Ireland, the defending champions, thrashed France 25-6 in Dublin, with Willie-John McBride, on his last Test appearance at Lansdowne Road, scoring the first try of his international career in the 84th minute. It was his 62nd game for his country, but there was to be no fairytale finish. A fortnight later in his final international, Ireland were thrashed by Wales in Cardiff.
1976 - USA Rugby fields several national teams, nicknamed the Eagles. The National Men’s Team, first took the field in 1976, and is becoming a prominent part of the International scene.
March 6th - Wales win the Grand Slam with a 19-13 win over France in Cardiff, but it was a match that left the home fans exhausted as the French, who outscored the Welsh by two tries to one, were camped in the home side's 22 in the dying minutes. It took some heroic defence, epitomised by JPR Williams' last-minute crunching tackle to check French wing Jean-Francois Gourdon within feet of the line, to clinch the victory.
1977 - HRH the Prince of Wales opens the new RFU offices at Twickenham before the Middlesex Sevens.
1978 - October 31st, Munster beat Graham Mourie's New Zealand 12-0 in Limerick - still the All Blacks' only defeat by an Irish side. Christy Cantillon scored a try for the men in red, with Tony Ward converting and slotting two drop-goals. Munster were coached by Irish great Tom Kiernan and were fierce in defence, with Shay Dennison notable by the ferocity of his tackling. "Munster played the type of game in Limerick we set out to play ... but played it better," said gracious skipper Mourie.
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