I'm a Hawkeye Guy

McLean Park, Napier. Saturday, September 7th, 1968

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HAWKES BAY 18, COUNTIES 3 (Half-time: 6-3) 

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For Hawkes Bay: Blair Furlong and Gary Condon tries. Ian Bishop, 4 penalty goals.

For Counties: Bill Hardgrave, a penalty goal.

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Hawkes Bay: Ian Bishop, Dennis Smith, Mick Duncan, Doug Curtis, John Dougan, Blair Furlong, Hepa Paewai, Tom Johnson, Gary Condon, Rod Abel, Kaaran Crawford, Kel Tremain, Neil Thimbleby, Myles Reddy, Hilton Meech.

Counties: John Graham (Onewhero United), Michael Knight (Manurewa), Bill Hardgrave (Ardmore College), Stewart Dickey (Manurewa), Bob Lendrum (Papakura), Eain McRobbie (Bombay), Graham Lewis (Ardmore College), Albie Cook (Maurewa), Ken McMillan (Onewhero United), Sam Peti (Army), Mel Gudgeon (Ardmore College), Garry Hadfield (University Engineers), Harry Rau (Onewhero United), Bruce McLeod (Manurewa/captain), Owen Joyce (Papakura)

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Referee: L (Laurie) O’Keefe (Taranaki)  Crowd: 13,241  Net profit to HBRFU: $5,155.13

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“The Counties defence was the most awkward one to win because they came here determined to defend and a team set in this way is the hardest thing in the world to break. They had no attack at all and their sole objective was to keep the score down”

Colin Le Quesne (Shield ’68)

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With the tremendous build-up and excitement generated by the Marlborough challenge, it was inevitable that the Counties fixture would be ‘poor fare’, when offered up in comparison and that is how it transpired - at the turnstiles and on the field.

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There were few who could genuinely muster any interest or enthusiasm for the game in the Counties district, let alone in the Hawkes Bay. A victory over Thames Valley in Papakura (35-17) was the Unions sole victory to date in six outings, with losses recorded against North Auckland in Whangarei (6-11) and in a Coronation Shield match in Papakura (5-18), Bay of Plenty in Tauranga (11-21), Auckland in Papakura (6-35) and Waikato in Hamilton (3-15).

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The Counties challenge would also attract only 13, 241 through the gates, the lowest attendance of any challenge throughout the three seasons with the Ranfurly Shield. In 1968, only the Marlborough challenge so far had brought in a crowd in excess of 20,000. Although the shield was still creating considerable interest, the demand for seating did not remotely match that of 1967, when an average of 21,000 attended the seven defences and seating was completely presold before every game. Before the Counties challenge, the 1968 average had been only around the 15,000 mark.

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Lack of true ‘invasions’ by challenging unions was cited as being partly accountable in the current season, with only Marlborough creating any feeling of ‘shield fever’ and even that had paled by comparison to the atmosphere created during the matches of the previous season, particularly those against Waikato, Taranaki and Wellington.

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McLean Park at the time had a seating capacity of 15,000 and the variable factor was the embankment, which could accommodate up to 10,000 more. The embankment became like a thermometer measuring the match temperature, which had hit near boiling point during the Wellington challenge of the previous season when the grounds record attendance was reset at 25, 580. 

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The Counties Union had produced many good teams and players since their inception in 1955, most notably Pat Walsh, All Black full back and midfield back, who played 13 tests between 1955 and 1964. But the current side were essentially a young team, with a nucleus of experienced, homegrown talent, supplemented by players from the large student body in the district, Ardmore College in Pukekohe being one of the country’s leading facilities for future school teachers.

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And there was a percentage of Hawkes Bay talent that had drifted north also, students now living in the Counties district. The most noted of these was the 1968 All Black to Australia, Michael Knight, who played in eight tour matches but no tests. Although born in Auckland and schooled in the Taranaki, Knight made his senior debut for Hastings High School Old Boys in 1964 and the same year, played for a Hawkes Bay XV.

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Centre, Bill Hardgrave had impressed as a schoolboy at Colenso High School and the 19 year old was in his first season with Counties. In 1972, playing for the Taradale club, he made the Hawkes Bay side (but only played in the first match of the season, ironically against Counties, a 4-15 loss in Hastings). 

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Half back, Graham Lewis, would later return to play for Hawkes Bay in 1970 (1 match, for a Hawkes Bay XV versus Bush in Pahiatua, in which he scored two tries), in the same fateful match for the Magpies as Hardgrave in 1972. He then wasn’t required again until 1975, when at first five-eighth he played in twelve of the sixteen representative fixtures that season. In 1976 he was principally understudy to Jock McCarroll, one of the most promising half backs in the land, who had already represented NZ Universities, Juniors and the North Island.

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20 year old lock, Mel Gudgeon, a member of the Napier Boys High School First XV in 1967, played for Counties throughout 1968-1970 (first for Ardmore, then switching to the Manurewa clubs) and was a member of the Hawkes Bay side in 1977.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Counties two 1968 All Blacks; Bruce McLeod and Michael Knight

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The star of the Counties side though, was their All Black hooker, Bruce McLeod. Unlike Knight, Lewis and Hardgrave, McLeod was a local lad who had gone to school at Manurewa Primary (then Otahahu College), played his club rugby for Manurewa and had represented Counties since 1962, aged 22. He first made the All Blacks in 1964 for the home test series against Australia, playing in all three tests. He kept his spot for the four tests against the Springboks in ’65 and then the same against the 1966 Lions.

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Injury meant that he was unavailable for the Jubilee test against Australia in 1967 (replaced by Taranaki’s John Major), but was back for the end of year tour, playing in all tests against England, Wales, France and Scotland. He had played both tests against the Wallabies in June and more recently had been the All Black rake for all three tests against the French.

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A 20 year old in his debut season for Counties, second five-eighth, Bob Lendrum, would become an All Black in 1973, where he played at fullback in the infamous 10-15 loss to England at Eden Park (from which he was not forgiven for letting the ball bounce, allowing England to score their match winning try). 

Although it was to be his only All Black appearance, Lendrum played for the North Island on six occasions between 1969 and 1978 and had been a New Zealand Junior against Tonga in 1969 (contributing 16 points in the 43-3 win in Wellington) and then again in 1970, scoring 11 points in the 20-9 victory over Fiji on Athletic Park. He was a perennial All Black trialist from 1971 to 1974.

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In the forwards, flanker Ken MacMillan had toured Australia with the New Zealand Colts in 1964 and at lock, 23 year old NZ army soldier, S A Peti had earned a spot in the Combined Services side the week before (a 13-32 loss to Thames Valley in Te Aroha). 

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Peti had, in fact, been ‘released’ by the Services management to enable him to play for Counties in their shield challenge. Had they not, he may have taken the field for the NZ Services side in their second tour match, on the same day as the shield match, a 25-3 win over Wanganui, in Wanganui. Lin Sparks at fullback and Kerry Hodges (who came on as a replacement) who had both played for Marlborough a fortnight earlier, were in the Services side that played Wanganui.

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Hawkes Bay and Counties had met regularly since the formation of the new Union from South Auckland, with Hawkes Bay having the slightly better record of six wins to five in the previous eleven encounters. Recent fixtures were not so close though; In 1966 the Magpies thumped Counties by 34-6 at McLean Park and the following year were successful 20-12 in Papakura.

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The Counties Union had challenged three times previously for the shield, being beaten on each occasion; 1958 (Taranaki, 5-11), 1960 (Auckland, 3-14) and 1961 (Auckland, 12-17). They weren’t given much hope of faring any better in their fourth attempt, even when Bill Davis, experiencing further trouble with his hamstring muscle, pulled out of the match following the Thursday night training run and announced his unavailability for the remainder of 1968.

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The consolation for Hawkes Bay fans was that the re-arranged backline that had functioned and performed so well against Marlborough would now again take the field against Counties. And with the weather fine and sunny and the ground in tip top condition, the backline were expected to run riot over the park, even allowing for the fact that Counties were given first use of a considerable breeze.

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*****

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From the outset, the Bay pinned Counties back on their goal line, but were unable to break through and score. The challengers repelled the early advances and in turn kept the holders inside their own half for most of the remainder of the first forty minutes.

 

Referee, Laurie O’Keefe pinged the Bay on several occasions and the crowd waited with baited breath as McMillan and Hardgrave attempted four times between them to kick goals from penalties. Had all gone over, Hawkes Bay may have found themselves well embarrassed at the break. Hardgrave was eventually successful and Counties had drawn first blood, but not for long, Ian Bishop put over two kicks of his own, into a difficult wind and Hawkes Bay went to half time ahead by 6 points to 3. 

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Hawkes Bay opened the scoring in the second half, with a Blair Furlong try. Hepa Paewai had darted from a scrum and flipped Furlong a neat reverse pass. The five-eighth cut inside Hadfield and lunged for the line in the tackles of Knight, Lewis and Peti. Referee O’Keefe awarded the try amid Counties contention that the ball had been grounded short of the line. 

 

O’Keefe had positioned himself well to judge the incident, having run from behind the reverse pass to the open side of the field, so that when Furlong grounded the ball, he had an unobstructed view along the goal line. To many at the Centennial stand end of McLean Park, Furlong appeared to ground the ball in the ‘mown lawn’ section in front of the line. Those nearer the play however, considered that the ball had hit the line.

 

Bishop’s conversion attempt struck an upright. He made amends with two further penalties and at 15-3, the game was all but safe. With ten minutes to play, Gary Condon snapped up a loose ball from in front of the Counties posts and with great strength, forced his way between, through or over three defenders to ground the ball for a try. The Tremain-esque try was similar to that which Condon scored earlier in the season against France and it was noted by many that he was currently playing the finest rugby of his career. Bishop’s conversion from right in front missed. Hawkes Bay 18, Counties 3. 

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No one appeared terribly sorry when O’Keefe called full time. It had been ‘lack-lustre’ rugby with Counties having most of the defensive answers when dealing with Hawkes Bay’s attacking ploys (and to their credit, defended furiously throughout), but offered little of their own on the offence and were subsequently kept on the score board to the solitary Hardgrave penalty.

 

Their tactics for the match were particularly negative and the close marking – and continual stoppages for infringements – did not allow the game to flow at any point. This seemed all the more unreal, as four days later they absolutely decimated East Coast in Tokomaru Bay by the unbelievable scoreline of 72 points to 8, scoring sixteen tries (four to Hardgrave, three to Knight and Joyce, two to Dickey, with Graham, McRobbie and Lewis one each). Further victory over Poverty Bay by 30-3 the following Saturday left most wondering why they hadn’t taken this attacking approach into their shield challenge.

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Laurie O’Keefe had been praised for his sound judgment in refereeing the Marlborough challenge, particularly his control and use of the advantage law, which contributed to the movement and excitement in that game. The referee – who at the time was also managing the athletics section of the New Zealand Olympic Games team, destined for Mexico City – was also disappointed that the Counties match did not have the same zest or flow.

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The game had been so dull that some were forced to talk weather instead, noting that the wind had been an interesting, if not unpredictable factor at McLean Park so far in 1968. Winds which had been strong and troublesome tactically in the first half had often dissipated by the second and by fulltime were often no more than a zephyr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hawkes Bay scored two tries against Counties (Left) Blair Furlong weaves through defenders Lewis (9), Peti and Knight to score, after taking a reverse pass from Hepa Paewai. (Right) Gary Condon takes three would be defenders with him, including John Graham (15) to score his try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Despite the intentions of Bruce McLeod, Karaan Crawford gets a pass away to his skipper, Tremain. In support are Neil Thimbleby, Hepa Paewai and Gary Condon. Photo: NZ Weekly News

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Article from a September edition of the NZ Weekly News;

 

Counties hopes of lifting the Ranfurly Shield from Hawkes Bay were virtually extinct before the match began at McLean Park in Napier.

  For Counties, like most of the other 12 unsuccessful challengers, conceived their tactics in a negative, destructive frame of mind. They appeared guilty of spending so much time figuring out how to stop Hawkes Bay from scoring that their attacking play was barren, unimaginative and obviously neglected to pre-match considerations.

  And after all, no union will take the shield from Hawkes Bay unless they can score tries and put points on the board.

  So far this season, only Marlborough has gone into its shield challenge with an attacking, positive style. The others appear to have weighed up Hawkes Bay's tactics, aided perhaps by television and primarily framed their own play to counter them.

  One feels the successful challenger will be the team with the ability to stamp its own character on the match from the start and let Hawkes Bay worry about counter-tactics.

  As a match, Counties challenge was a disappointment. Without the injured All Blacks, Ian MacRae and Bill Davis, the Hawkes Bay backline looked frustrated. It could well have done with MacRae's forceful running and Davis' shrewd elusiveness.

  But even so, Hawkes Bay tried to vary its tactics and the backs adopted the ploy of standing behind each other to put Counties in two minds about which way the attic would come.

  The match pushed full-back, Ian Bishop's points tally for the season to 92. With three games to come, he seems certain to reach a century for the third consecutive season.

  Hawkes Bay also has the notable record of conceding only two tries in 13 shield defences - against Otago last season and Poverty Bay this year.

This underlines the formidable character of the Hawkes Bay defence when the shield is at stake. It is without doubt a formidable combination and one which will be overcome only by some superb attacking play by the remaining two challengers; Bay of Plenty and Auckland.

  Hawkes Bay are reported to be thankful that the 'easy matches' are over. Their attitude was summed up by an official who said after the Counties match; "Thank goodness that is over. Now we get down to the real business of defending the shield against Bay of Plenty and Auckland."

  The last word on the match can be left to the Counties skipper and All Black hooker, Bruce McLeod, who said; "There's no doubt in my mind Hawkes Bay is the best team in New Zealand."

 

 

 

 

It was another big day around the country for rugby fixtures as the season was slowly drawing to a conclusion; At Ashburton, Mid-Canterbury were too strong for their Southern neighbours, South Canterbury, winning by 18-8, while in Christchurch, Canterbury were victorious in the match that often settles South Island supremacy, defeating Otago by 9-6, although tries were one a piece.

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Auckland were too strong for Waikato on Eden Park winning 23-8, while at the other North Island test venue, Athletic Park, the home side Wellington were trounced by Taranaki by 24-3. Manawatu gave neighbours Bush an old fashioned hiding in Pahiatua by 22-0 and in an exciting match in Invercargill, New Zealand’s northernmost union, North Auckland, defeated the southernmost, Southland by 24-20.

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Marlborough defeated their neighbour, Nelson, in Blenheim by 9-5 while the New Zealand Combined Services side had a resounding 23-3 victory over Wanganui in Wanganui. The following weekend, the Hawkes Bay side travelled to Wellington to take on the team from the Capital on Athletic Park.

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“We were only really worried about ten matches this year; the seven shield games and those against France and, of course, Wellington and Canterbury. The Wellington match on Athletic Park was used by us as the training ground and tactical exercise for the last two defences against Bay of Plenty and Auckland.”

Colin Le Quesne (Shield ’68)

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With the attitude as expressed above, Le Quesne was done with experimenting and resolutely focused on giving his current ‘A’ XV as much playing time as possible. This meant the same starting fifteen as the Counties match, with the sole exception of Gus Meech who had been given the hooker job and an opportunity to stake a claim for the remaining two shield fixtures. Carney, Brownlie and Wiig, on the reserves bench against Counties, were not required for the match in the Capital.

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Wellington at Athletic Park was usually one of the more daunting prospects when looking at any season’s fixture list, but in 1968, the boys from the big city were in a relative state of flux. Selector, Bill Freeman was faced with a few headaches to solve at the start of the season. Nev McEwen had retired after 100 appearances and Tom Lister and Terry McCashin had transferred to South Canterbury and Horowhenua respectively.

 

From the 1967 pack, Paul Delaney and Jim Finn were also unavailable and injuries had prevented Ken Gray from taking much part in the first half of the season, likewise flanker, Graham Williams.

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Experienced backline campaigners, Gerald Kember, Pat Myers and Barry Hill were also not available for various reasons. Mick Williment played in the first rep outing against Wairarapa, but on June 15th, in a match between his club side, University and Wellington College Old Boys, he left the field with a serious thigh injury that ended his career. All Black trialist, John Dougan, had transferred to Hawkes Bay.

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Seven days prior a hapless Wellington had been put to the sword on their home patch by Taranaki to the tune of 3-24. The loss left most Wellington supporters numb. Few would have expected a side which had been thumped 3-19 by a makeshift Canterbury side only a week before to have won so easily. But everything the experienced Taranaki side did turned to gold, while Wellington – despite some thumping runs through the midfield by Mark Sayers and Robert Gray – were let down by a poor pass or some form of fundamental error.

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So for once it was the Magpies who on paper were the better side and their 19-9 victory was comfortable enough, scoring three tries to one. Hepa Paewai, Rod Abel and Dennis Smith scored them, with Ian Bishop adding two conversions and a penalty. Blair Furlong chimed in with a dropped goal. 

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Ian Stevens scored Wellington’s only try with the ex-Taranaki man (who had come on as a replacement for that province in their shield challenge of ’67) Brian Gilhooly, on debut for Wellington, adding two penalties. In 1973, Gilhooly (from the Celtic club) played one match for Hawkes Bay, a 16-21 loss to Auckland on Eden Park, kicking a conversion and two penalty goals.

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*****

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The Hawkes Bay ‘B’ representative’s concluded their representative programme on the same day, with a 13-6 win over their Wellington counterparts in Napier. The Derek Tombs coached ‘B’ side won five of their six encounters throughout the season, a loss to Bush first up (as a ‘Hawkes Bay XV’) the only time they were defeated. Of the original 21 as selected, six were called into the ‘A’ side to play; Paul Carney, Ken Darlington, Bruce Albert, Phil Pratt, Graham Wiig and Jeff Brownlie, with Peter Hobdell (before breaking his ankle), Richard Robinson and Richard Hunt drafted into the reserves.

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The side were captained by Kit Halford, who led by example in the forwards, with support from the experienced Ted Kitchen (Colenso Pirates) and two excellent and vigourous props in Dave Harding (Hastings HSOB) and Kevin Picone (Tech OB).

 

When Bruce Albert and Ken Darlington were required by the ‘A’s’ for the southern tour, a most admirable replacement was found in Duncan Hales of Dannevirke, who in 1972 (as a Canterbury representative while at Lincoln College) would become an All Black. 

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After only a handful of club matches in 1971, he was called into the Canterbury team, mainly as a centre or three quarter and also played centre for the South Island in their 9-31 loss in New Plymouth. 

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Hales first made the All Blacks under a new initiative, an internal tour (to replace the usual New Zealand trial) where he played in seven of the nine match tour (scoring seven tries). He was then selected for the three home test matches against Australia, where he played on the left wing.

 

Later that year he toured the United Kingdom, France and North America, playing in 17 of the 32 matches, including the first test against Wales (won 19-16 by the All Blacks), made forever famous for going’s on after the game, when as a result of an incident involving a security guard at a Cardiff Hotel, ex-Hawkes Bay player, Keith Murdoch, was sent home to New Zealand, disembarking from the plane in Brisbane, Australia to be virtually not heard of again.

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Other members of the 1968 Hawkes Bay ‘B’ side included; Frank Jones (MAC), Neil Bishop (Tech OB), Laurie Guillemot (Tech OB), Geoff Martin (NHSOB), Trevor Arnold (HHSOB), David Selby(NHSOB), Tom Castles (Dannevirke), Richard Robinson (NHSOB), Derek Snow (Tech OB), Tom Davis (NHSOB), David Gage (Marist) and Mike O’Malley (Marist).