I'm a Hawkeye Guy
There's Something About a Magpie
1971
1971 MATCH RECORD:
Played 13, Won 5, Drew 1, Lost 7.
Points For: 163. Points Against: 173
The 1971 rugby season marked a distinct turning point for the Hawke's Bay representative side, on many levels, but the negative win/loss ratio specifically, was a first for the province for many a year. It was also the first time in almost a decade that, following his retirement, the Magpies would have to do without the service of their charismatic All Black talisman, Kel Tremain, so often the inspiration from which they had drawn strength over the past nine seasons.
It felt like what it was...a changing of the guard. Colin Le Quesne had often been criticised for not bringing more youth into the side during his reign as coach/selector and on the surface of things, this was exposed a little during the 1971 season. But some fine young talent that had been nurtured during the late 60's, Richard Robinson (in 1971), Richard Hunt and Robbie Stuart (particularly) would serve this side well, the latter going on to become an All Black himself by decades end. Terry Thornton (Hastings) and Jeff Wilson (Celtic) were regular members of the loose forward trio, Thornton also in his debut season.
Robbie Hunter was another youngster who made his debut in 1971. Hunter looked a class winger, scoring six tries and gaining selection for the North Island (the sole Hawke's Bay representative). He would also serve Hawke's Bay well throughout the 70's.
The nucleus of the Blair Furlong led side, was made up of other shield heroes; Hilton Meech, Graham Wiig, Phil Pratt, Hepa Paewai, Aidan Thomas, Ian Bishop, Doug Curtis and Mick Duncan.
An incoming asset was the (current when he arrived) All Black hooker, Bruce McLeod, formerly of Counties.
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The rep season began on June 7th, with the annual Queens Birthday clash with Wairarapa-Bush, in Masterton. Surprisingly (to most), the visitors were given a rather comprehensive beating by 8-17. It wasn't as if the Bay side were unduly weakened, with 13 of the side having defended (or been in the squad that had) the Ranfurly Shield only a couple of seasons before.
The Magpies without Tremain and Wairarapa without Brian Lochore, both features of this fixture for so long, took some getting used to. Their leadership in times of crisis was lost, albeit that both teams fielded strong and experienced forward units. On the day, the newly amalgamated Wairarapa-Bush unions pack was too good.
Vernon Marfell, Laurie Karatau (the captain) and Bill Rowlands scored tries for Wairarapa-Bush. Marfell added a conversion and two penalties. Ian MacRae and Doug Curtis scored for the Magpies, with Ian Bishop converting one. Centre, Mick Duncan was injured during the game and replaced by Peter Durham from the Tech OB club.
Duncan's injury necessitated selector/coach, Derek Tombs, to move Billy Davis in from the wing to centre as cover and for the second match on July 3rd against the Bay of Plenty, 19 year old Robbie Hunter (NHSOB) made his debut on the right wing. The Bay were beaten by 3-13 (Ian MacRae try) in this match played in Rotorua match, but a couple of electrifying runs saw Hunter retained for the third outing against East Coast.
With Duncan still out and Blair Furlong and Bruce McLeod rested, the Magpies turned on a blinder, running in 10 tries in the 44-3 romp in Te Araroa. It was like 'old-timers day' for the black & whites, with shield members Doug Curtis (3), Geoff Martin, MacRae, Davis, Gary Condon, Graham Wiig and Ian Bishop scoring tries (plus Robbie Hunter). Bishop could only convert four, but added two penalty goals.
Three days later, their final outing before the long awaited match up against the touring British Lions, the Bay side defeated Poverty Bay in Gisborne, by 15-12. McLeod, Curtis and Wiig scored the tries. Ian Bishop kicking another two penalties.
Form was patchy, pundits were worried. The test series was all square at a win a piece, but the Lions had not been beaten by any provincial union throughout the country. They'd consumed Wellington, monster-ed the Waikato and New Zealand Maori, whiplashed Otago, scrapped and beaten Canterbury, toughed it out against Taranaki and outfoxed NZ Universities along the way.
The NZRFU needed Hawke's Bay to do them a favour and the big Bay pack was called upon and asked to make it a physical contest, with the all-important third test just 14 days away in Wellington.
“That was a sore one (a punch received on the jaw). It was one of their forwards who hadn’t made it into the All Black squad. He was a nasty piece of work, so he resorted to violence. It was a dirty game. I recall that things got so out of hand that a woman in the crowd chased Gareth Edwards to hit him with her umbrella – quite heated, you might say.”
John Pullin, The Press & Journal (Scottish Daily Newspaper), 2021 (Neil Drysdale)
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McLean Park, Napier. Saturday, July 17th, 1971
HAWKES BAY 6, BRITISH ISLES 25 (Half-time: 3 - 11)
For Hawkes Bay: Terry Thornton dropped goal. Ian Bishop penalty
For British Isles: Gerald Davies (4) tries. Barry John 2 conversions, 2 penalty goals and a dropped goal.
Hawkes Bay: Ian Bishop (Celtic), Robbie Hunter (NHSOB), Mick Duncan (HHSOB), Doug Curtis (Celtic), Ian MacRae (Marist), Blair Furlong (Marist) captain, Hepa Paewai (Dannevirke Aotea), Jeff Wilson (Celtic), Terry Thornton (Hastings), Graham Wiig (NHSOB), Kaaran Crawford (MAC), Gary Condon (Marist), Neil Thimbleby (Celtic), Bruce McLeod (Colenso-Pirates), Hilton Meech (NHSOB).
British Isles: JPR Williams (London Welsh & Wales), Gerald Davies (London Welsh & Wales), John Dawes (London Welsh & Wales) captain, John Bevan (Cardiff & Wales), Mike Gibson (North of Ireland FC & Ireland), Barry John (Cardiff & Wales), Gareth Edwards (Cardiff & Wales), Mervyn Davies (London Welsh & Wales), Fergus Slattery (University College Dublin RFC & Ireland), Geoff Evans (Gisborne HSOB), Gordon Brown (West of Scotland & Scotland), Rodger Arnell (Leicester & Scotland), Ian McLauchlan (Jordanhill College & Scotland), John Pullin (Bristol & England), Mike Roberts (London Welsh & Wales)
Referee: R J Watson (North Auckland) Crowd: 24,500
"New Zealand rugby has been given many lessons by the Lions on their tour this year, but perhaps the most telling came at McLean Park on Saturday"
Lindsay Knight, Britain's Finest Lions (Dominion & Sunday Times publication), 1971
Davies and Williams Bewilder the Bay
Fired up as they were, the Hawke's Bay forwards made a grand beginning to this encounter and soon had the tourists on the back foot. The Magpies put the Lions under some early pressure, having them camped inside their own 25 for the opening seven minutes. Several dabs at the line were made, unfortunately to no avail, Ensuring that the concerted effort was rewarded with points, flank forward, Terry Thornton, propped and drop kicked a goal. HB 3-0.
The Bay weren't finished however. Peeling back the years, Thimbleby, Crawford, Meech and company, ripped into the Lions like it were a shield defence and after 11 minutes, Ian Bishop had a pot attempt hinself (which would have put the Magpies out to 6-0), which struck the right hand upright. Here the game turned.
JPR Williams fielded the ball, looked up and -rather than clear to touch - seized an opportunity to counter attack. Already rated as one of the all-time great fullbacks, Williams ran from his own line with Mike Gibson, John Bevan, Rodger Arnell and Mervyn Davies all handling in the swift counter movement.
Davies lobbed a ball across to his namesake, Gerald, which dipped as it approached the winger. He simply toed it ahead, got a good bounce and outstripped all in sundry to score behind the posts. Barry John converted. 3-5.
Two minutes later, Gerald Davies went in for a second try following an attack down the left, which the forwards brought back into the middle of the park. Gibson was checked, but placed a superb kick in behind, Davies gathered and sped away for the try. 3-8.
Dennis Smith (pictured at left) had also called it a day at the end of the 1970 season. The former NBHS 1st XV wing-threequarter had played 73 matches for his province since 1964, scoring 46 tries. He was also a useful goal-kicker at club level for Clive. Smith scored seven tries in six matches in '64, but was a more permanent fixture in following years, playing in 10 of the 'A' sides 11 matches in 1965.
13 tries in 1966 saw him named in the Rugby Almanack New Zealand XV (along with Kel Tremain and Ian MacRae) and - when not injured - he was a first choice on the right wing during the shield tenure. Two tries, described as being 'of rare quality', came in the final outing of the '66 season during a 6-20 loss to Wellington at Athletic Park. The week before the Magpies had lifted the shield from Waikato and with this performance, soothsayers were already claiming that the new holders grip could be fleeting.
Dennis Smith saved his best for lat though, scoring nine tries in his final season in 1970.
If it weren't for the lure of a match against the touring British Lions - the expected highlight of the fixture list - others probably would have followed suit, including Ian MacRae (no longer available for higher honours) and the rest of the South Africa '70 AB quartet; Bill Davis, Blair Furlong and Neil Thimbleby. Like those named, Ranfurly Shield hero, Kaaran Crawford, also called it quits at the end of 1971 and Gary Condon couldn't make it through the season before announcing his own retirement.
Neil Thimbleby attempts a toe through, to disrupt Fergus Slattery providing Gareth Edwards with clean possession. Others in shot, from left; Ian MacRae, Gordon Brown, Jeff Wilson, Rodger Arnell, Mervyn Davies, Terry Thornton, Geoff Evans, Mike Roberts, Kaaran Crawford and John Pullin (2).
Welsh right winger, Gerald Davies, runs in one of his four tries in the Lions/Hawkes Bay match in Napier. Davies and fullback, John Williams were exceptional throughout the 80 minutes.
Right on half-time, Welsh team-mate, Gareth Edwards, threw a long pass out to Davies on the right, the winger outpaced Doug Curtis and bamboozled Ian's MacRae and Bishop (amongst the most staunch defenders in the country), to score his third. The sides went to the break with the British Lions ahead by 11-3.
Despite the score-line, the Bay had been in the game and had looked good for periods of time. Only the Lions counter attacking abilities had blown the score out, the forward battle was evenly contested, although Neil Thimbleby and Hilton Meech were exerting some pressure on 'Mighty Mouse' McLachlan and Mike Roberts in the front row.
The first half had been hectic and entertaining, but the second quickly disintegrated into nastiness and became a scrappy affair.
Front row dust-up's became commonplace throughout, Meech even taunting McLauchlan..."are you Mighty or Mickey Mouse?" The game was the most robust since the infamous match against Canterbury.
Members of each were left with scars to remember their troubles by. John Pullin was taken off with an eye injury. Hilton Meech remained on the field, but he too had vision issues. McLauchlan had a bloodied nose. Even captain Furlong and King John exchanged unpleasantries at one point.
Depending on which side you listen to, Barry John was overtly petulant or he was just exhibiting confidence in a non-arrogant way. He opened the scoring in the second half with a penalty from 46m, after Terry Thornton was caught offside. 3-14.
“I remember another dirty match at Hawke’s Bay when, after they had kicked long again, Barry John picked up the ball and sat on it. As they huffed and puffed, he nonchalantly got up and kicked it out of play. He had so much confidence in himself. It was not arrogance; he just knew what he was capable of.”
Gerald Davies, The Guardian, 2017 (Paul Rees)
On another occasion, John stood stock still and juggled the ball behind his back, before delivering his touch finder. Whatever the finding, these alleged 'acts of petulance' did not endear him to the crowd. He added a second penalty after 55 minutes following a scrum infringement, when referee Watson u-turned his initial decision, awarding the penalty to the tourists.
This appeared to anger Blair Furlong, who made little effort to hide his disgust at the verdict. Two minutes later however, an Ian Bishop penalty closed the gap slightly...6-17. But not even 'hark back to the shield days' scissors moves (MacRae and Furlong chiefly) could make any inroads into the seemingly impenetrable Lions defence.
Ten minutes later, a neatly taken dropped goal by Barry John made the game safe. He'd received a pass from Gareth Edwards as the Lions were camped on the Hawke's Bay goal-line. 6-20.
The dourness of the second spell was forgotten in the 75th minute, when Gerald Davies scored his fourth try. JPR came into the line outside Gibson and fed Davies - now playing in his old position at centre - who first sold a dummy, then knifed through a gap to score halfway between the posts and the corner flag. Barry John added the icing. 6-25.
There was also an unsavoury incident near the end of the match involving Meech and Edwards and such was the ill-feeling, it appeared that a section of the boisterous crowd might actually invade McLean Park.
But Gerald Davies and JPR Williams were the undoubted stars in this decisive win, over the province considered the best in the country just a couple of seasons prior. Williams running was bold and positive and his defence was as impregnable as it had ever been.
Davies performance was mercurial and quite simply sublime. His pace was dazzling, but his ability to change direction off either foot, with relative ease, had the beleaguered Magpies wrong-footed for most of the match.
"These Lions backs do everything we are told not to do! As a New Zealand back, I would have done only one thing when that ball rebounded off the upright. I would only have thought of kicking it out."
Blair Furlong, Britain's Finest Lions (Dominion & Sunday Times publication), 1971
The Carwyn James coached side went on to win the test series by 2-1, with the fourth drawn, thus becoming the first British Lions side to win a test match rubber in New Zealand.
*****
The Magpies next fixture was against a rare opponent in Nelson-Bays, the southern side on a four-match tour of the North Island.
Nelson-Bays was an amalgamation (in 1969) of the two provincial unions of Nelson (formed in 1885) and Golden Bay-Motueka (1920). In terms of population catchments, the new province was still low, especially when compared to the number of players most North Island unions had at their disposal. Their northern sojourns were rare and on July 27th they were cordially welcomed onto McLean Park.
Nelson-Bays tour had begun three days prior, with a hard fought 14-9 win over Poverty Bay in Gisborne. Tries were scored by Mervyn Little (from the small Takaka club in Golden Bay) and the exciting young winger, Terry Mitchell, who had entered first class rugby as a 17-year old with Golden Bay-Motueka in 1968.
Mitchell gave note of his considerable potential by scoring a hat-trick of tries in a match against Nelson. By 1971 he had made the move to the big city and was playing for the Nelson Celtic club.
His early season club form was good enough to warrant a call up to trial for the All Blacks on May 15th, where he was in the Probables side, beaten by 17-18 (Mick Duncan, playing at centre, scored a try for the Possibles. Bill Davis was on the wing). Mitchell missed national selection, but did make the New Zealand Maori side, beaten by 12-23 by the touring Lions in Auckland on June 2nd. Barry John knocked over 18 of the Lions 23 points in this match, with six penalties.
Terry Mitchell also played against the Lions for the amalgamated provinces of Marlborough & Nelson Bays on June 22nd, a 12-31 defeat in Blenheim. The tourists were up by 23-0 at half-time, but the local XV set Lansdowne Park alight, outscoring the lions by four tries to two in the second spell
Selected to play in that match, but forced to withdraw through injury, was 1970 AB trialist and New Zealand Junior, Terry Julian, also from the Nelson Celtic club. Having failed to make the All Black tour to South Africa, Julian was in the Juniors side which defeated Fiji on Athletic Park by 20 points to 9, on August 1st. Mick Duncan scored one of the Juniors three tries. Mike Natusch and Hepa Paewai (reserve) were also involved in this fixture. Terry Julian had played against Poverty Bay, but would miss the match against Hawke's Bay.
The Magpies won the encounter by 14-5, a rather more modest scoreline than most Magpie fans had been hoping for. Kaaran Crawford, Hilton Meech and Bill Davis scored tries, with Ian Bishop's younger brother, Neil, converting one and adding a penalty. Terry Mitchell scored Nelon-Bays try, with John Scott (another from over the hill in Takaka) adding the extra points.
Following the Nelson-Bays match, Mick Duncan, who had shown so much promise as a youngster and had served the Bay admirably throughout their shield campaign, 1966-1969, was draughted into the All Black reserves for the third test against the Lions in Wellington.
Waipawa born, Duncan was a member of the Central Hawke's Bay Ross Shield primary school team in 1959 and again in 1960. After a move into Hastings, he was in the Lindisfarne College 1st XV from 1962-1964 (he made the 2nd XV in his third form year, 1961).
Upon leaving college, Duncan joined the Hastings club in 1965, making the Hastings Sub-Union and Hawke's Bay Junior sides that same season. In 1966, he transferred to Hastings High School Old Boys and made his 'A' team debut for the Magpies on June 22nd, scoring in try in a 44-9 win over East Coast in Hastings.
He made 10 appearances for Le Quesne's Magpies in '66, scoring six tries and was nominated by Messrs. Swan, Masters and Carman as one of the 'five promising players' in the 1967 Rugby Almanack of New Zealand.
His non-selection for higher honours had irked many rugby supporters in Hawke's Bay and again in 1971, he had been bypassed for Auckland's Ken Carrington, Otago's Bruce Hunter in the first test and then Canterbury's Howard Joseph in the second.
But with Bryan Williams ruled out of the third through a hamstring injury, although Ken Carrington was brought back into the side (having been dropped after the second test), Mick Duncan was added to the reserves.
And with 15 minutes to play in the international in Wellington, when Manawatu's Bob Burgess was badly concussed, Hawke's Bay's Michael Gordon Duncan became All Black #698, the first New Zealander to make his test debut as a substitute. The test was lost by 3-13 and described by Lindsay Knight as 'a dismal day for New Zealand, one of the drabbest in the country's entire test rugby history'.
But the fact was, the All Black forwards lacked drive and had shown some alarming looseness, which was exploited by the Lions, pouring through gaps in the line-out. The AB's failed to make the most of opportunities on offer and Laurie Mains had a poor day with his goal kicking.
But that's just the home verdict. The respective backlines were the major difference between the two sides, which doe not take away from the gallant of the Lions forward effort, the prime reason for their historic victory.
In fact, Mick Williment, the ex-All Black and one of Wellington's favourite son's, was moved to comment after the game; "Barry John is the greatest fly half I've ever see, Mike Gibson the greatest centre, Gerald Davies the greatest winger and JPR, the greatest fullback!"
*****
The Nelson-Bays game was the second of eight back-to-back home fixtures on the rugby calendar for 1971, the next being against Manawatu in Hastings on August 7th. The Magpies won the match at Nelson Park by 18-14. Mick Duncan, who'd made his test debut the previous Saturday, scored twice. Ian Bishop added four penalty goals.
Duncan's brace, no doubt, influenced the New Zealand selector's decision to play him at centre for the fourth and final, do-or-die test match in Auckland the following weekend. Howard Joseph was dropped to the reserves bench and replaced by Duncan. Inside Mick was another new cap, another strange option, bringing in North Otago's Phil Gard.
In opting for Gard, the selector's were making a typical New Zealand-esque statement, in that the experience of Gerald Kember, who had been mooted as an inside centre replacement, would be overlooked because of his reluctance to play provincial rugby. This after they'd hauled Brian Lochore out of retirement to play in the third test, because they considered they had no other option.
The All Blacks scored early, when a backline movement, involving a detached Alex Wyllie, saw Wayne Cottrell score a try which sent Eden Park into raptures. But, without labouring the point, the All Blacks thereafter failed to drive with purpose or use any initiative at all, or so it seemed and the best they could get was a 14-14 draw. The series was lost. Mick Duncan had aquitted himself well against the Lions captain, John 'Sid' Dawes.
Next up for the Magpies was another South Island Union on a North Island tour, Southland. Having lost to Bay of Plenty by 6-37 on August 18th, the maroons of the deep south were no doubt ecstatic at drawing 12-12 with Hawke's Bay. Mick Duncan and Robbie Hunter scored tries for the Magpies, with Ian Bishop kicking a penalty and Billy Davis drop kicking a goal. 18 year old future All Black, Ken Stewart scored a try for Southland. Doug Nichol landed three penalty goals.