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Great moments in Lions tour history: When the All Blacks were so boring the locals supported the visitors

1959 All Blacks vs Lions

Jamie Wall takes us back to the upside-down world of 1959 when a freewheeling try-scoring Lions side met a conservative kick-happy All Blacks in Dunedin.

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There is an irony in the dour 2017 edition Lions being in Dunedin to play the Highlanders on Tuesday. Fresh from a bruising, unexpected but otherwise pretty boring win (depending on which part of the world you’re from) over the previously unbeaten Crusaders, they now find themselves in a city where the old reputation of the freewheeling, entertaining Lions was born.

It was the first test of the 1959 series that saw the tourists score twice as many tris as the 2017 side have managed on the whole tour so far. But they still didn’t win, despite the fact that the All Blacks didn’t manage to cross their line once.

The All Blacks got home off the boot of legendary fullback Don Clarke, who kicked six penalties for an 18-17 win – back in those day tries were only worth three points.

https://youtu.be/kalBoK-4U7M?t=5m26s

Another thing worth bearing in mind is that the referees back in those days weren’t brought in from overseas. The man in charge that day wasn’t just a kiwi though – Alan Fleury was a Dunedin local controlling a game in front of many people who knew him personally.

The four tries he awarded were highly entertaining. Welshman Malcolm Price bagged a double, Englishman Peter Jackson and Irishman Tony O’Reilly got one each.

It was all set up to be a triumph of running rugby over the dour, kick-happy game of the All Blacks. Except Clarke was nailing his shots from everywhere, most importantly the one that gave the All Blacks the lead with two minutes to go.

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It’s worth mentioning that the stats indicate that Fleury gave out a whopping 20 penalties to each side that day – half that number would be considered a whistle-happy performance in this day and age. It’s not his fault that the tourists couldn’t kick their goals.

However, it meant little to the Dunedin crowd. They turned on him and the All Blacks for what they perceived to be an unfair result. Legend has it they were chanting ‘red, red, red!’ as the clock ticked down and booed when Clarke’s winner went over.

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Yes, that seems a little unbelievable given what rugby is like now. The All Blacks being so boring their own crowd wanted the other team to win? The British being the bastion of entertaining, enterprising rugby? A ref who could have probably walked back to his house after the game?

Saturday night’s result that saw the tourists grind down the Crusaders is probably proof enough that this year’s Lions aren’t going to flick a switch and try and emulate their 1959 counterparts. Especially considering Dunedin hasn’t been the most hospitable city results-wise for them – in addition to the test in 1959, the Lions were thrashed 26-8 by Otago in the midweek game.

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Since then they’ve lost twice more to the local side, including another hiding in 1993. However, they did claim a famous first test win at the old Carisbrook ground on the victorious 1971 tour.

There’s no test at the impressive new Forsyth Barr Stadium on this tour, much to the consternation of the locals. However the way the Lions are playing so far, it’s highly unlikely that if there was the crowd would be switching their allegiance during the game like their grandparents did back in 1959.

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Hellhound 29 minutes ago
'We struggled': Ex-All Black first five backs Springboks to end Eden Park streak

Blah blah blah. The Boks is 4 deep in every position and no top players in any position. Age won't be a problem. Neither will the Boks be a weak run over. Arrogance and over estimation of current AB's players is what is going to make the AB's go down 2-0 again. Clearly not having watched the Boks closely since the WC in 2023, you have missed the amount of players that's been used. The depth that has been build. It was all over the news and still is. Just by taking out 5 players alone, the Boks age grade drops by at least 2-3 years. By the next WC, they will already be more experienced than most players in other teams, including the AB's. This AB's team is good, but definitely not great and can barely beat a C team French. There is many good players in NZ, but very little depth. Despite SA losing so much talent to other countries, the wheels keep churning out absolute stars, and the sad thing is that many will be lost to the Boks due to other great stars already filling those positions, with other young great stars backing them up. The Boks have so many players in every position,they can employ any strategy they wish and still beat all comers. Can the AB's or other teams do that? No team is undefeatable, not even the Boks. However, unless the Boks lose deliberately or another team bring nothing but their A game and a near flawless game plan, they will lose. As usual these 2 Tests between them will be absolutely great and very very close. When it comes to the Boks vs AB's, ranking doesn't matter. Experience doesn't matter. Nothing matters except the game. Neither ever wants to lose against each other. Every game is like a WC final. But to write of the double WC champs as old? Players who have beaten the AB's 4 games in a row? Players who have won the last WC by 1 point each in the knockouts? Players who knows how to bend but not break in the toughest and tightest games? That knows how to win? Take off the blinders, judge not by emotion, but by logic and common sense. Stats. Facts. Performance. Skill. Everyone wants their team to win and that is a great thing. You and everyone wants to talk about the Georgians and Italy as no contest and the Boks going into the RC as “under cooked”. The Boks never moved out of 2nd gear, experimenting, changing of complete game plans, almost complete team changes, without losing a step. Absolutely destroying these weak teams. Something this AB's side couldn't do to a weak C French team. Last year the Boks used 55 players, and so far used 49 ( would be more if not for injuries ) this year, with the RC still to come, and the EOYT. Last year the Boks only lost 2 tests by 1 point each with these same so called “OLD” players. What's going to be the excuse when the AB's lose against these “OLD” players? The ref again? Or Rassie's innovative experiments? Do not be glib or blind. Show respect where it's due and respect the opposition and what they have achieved. Don't like the current narrative where more and more pundits calls this Bok team to be the best ever team? Better than the AB's of 2011-2015? To me, this is a different time, different players. I don't like to compare teams unless they are the same era. Then that team was the best. Currently it is the Boks. Should the Boks make it a triple WC crown, they would arguably be seen as the best ever team. That argument of the best team ever will carry on until the end of the 2027 WC. Currently this AB team have great potential with tweaks here and there, and with Mouanga back in the frame, it's a big step up. No win is guaranteed. Overhyping players and games does no good for the players on the field, just adding extra pressure that will lead to individual mistakes on the field that will cost a team a game.

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