NECTAR & TWIGGY - Part One
Part One of Nectar & Twiggy deals with my personal (and long awaited) debut at a rugby fixture as a six year old, the impact the match had and my subsequent fascination for the sport. Bus trips to Athletic Park or Carisbrook to watch Wellington or Otago were highlights of my formative years, with the odd match at McLean or Nelson Parks with my grandfather to watch the famous Magpies of Hawkes Bay, thrown in as a bonus.
From an early age I was an astute critic of the game of rugby union (and of cricket) and I was forever collecting programmes, scouring provincial newspapers for information, photo's and match reports. Part One covers the period from 1969-1972, where I was a keen student of the game, both on and off the field.
Special emphasis is placed on the 1972 season, a fascinating one in New Zealand rugby history, which culminated in the 1972-73 All Black tour of North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France. Most infamous because of the 'Keith Murdoch Affair' - as it is called 50+ years on - but the incident was just one of the tribulations the young touring party had to overcome.
Vilified by an arrogant British press contingent, still smug over the 1971 Lions success in winning a test series in New Zealand, enduring animosity and hostility from a seething Welsh public, the seventh All Blacks were painted as a humourless and dour bunch, hick and unintelligent.
NECTAR & TWIGGY - Part Two
The story of Kirky's All Blacks, the 1972-73 tour of North America, United Kingdom, Ireland and France.
After being written off following a couple of early tour defeats against some of the best provincial outfits (and combined sides) in the country, the All Blacks - forced to internalise to survive the tirade - registered three wins and a draw in the test series against the four individual home unions (losing the fifth test against France, the 32nd and final match of a three and a half month tour).
The full story of that famous tour, makes up part two of Nectar & Twiggy, as my first two rugby heroes (Ian Nectar Stevens and Mark Twiggy Sayers), both pretty much as dark horses, bolter's, found themselves in the 30 man touring party (along with their Wellington compadres, Joe Clock Karam and Grant Batts Batty).
The capital city quartet had benefitted from a timely late run of favourable results, just as the selectors were ticking the final boxes, while evaluating potential players and a season full of hopes and promises, after recent failures. Don't delay, the whole saga of the 1972/73 All Blacks story is a fascinating read...and it begins as the team board their plane in Auckland, bound for Honolulu, with Keefy the soul of alcoholic joviality...