30 June 1976 – Border &North-Eastern Cape 0 / All Blacks 24

The match was played in perfect weather conditions at the Buller Rugby Union Ground in East Londen and attended by a crowd of 10 000 people.

The referee was Gert Bezuidenhout (Transvaal).

The Border combined team was: 15: Bernard Morrell; 14: Alan Stephenson; 11: Rob Taylor; 13: Henry Stewart ; 12: Bennie Rens; 10: Kevin Barnard; 9: Johan Streicher; 8: François van der Merwe; 7: Roy Solomon; 6: Derek Barter (Captain); 5: George Wilson; 4: Greg Barter; 3: Johnny Wood; 2: Garth Summers; 1: Bobby Joubert.

The All Black team was: 15: Kit Fawcett; 14: Bryan Williams; 11: Neil Purvis; 13: Bruce Robertson; 12: Joe Morgan; 10: Doug Bruce; 9: Sid Going; 8: Andy Leslie (Captain); 7: Kevin Eveleigh; 6: Ian Kirkpatrick; 5: Gary Seear; 4: Hamish Macdonald; 3: Kent Lambert; 2: Graeme Grossman; 1: Kerry Tanner.

Run of the game

Before the game incidents/issues/stuff

The All Blacks were received at East Londen airport with lots of cheering and with a hand clapping chant of: “Welcome, All Blacks, welcome, All Blacks”.

An editorial in the local newspaper the Daily Dispatch regretted that the tour was taking place before the Vorster Government was prepared to concede mixed sport. The mayor Joe Yazbek told the All Blacks at the civic cocktail party that surveys indicate that the majority of all races are in favor of mixed sport and that it only remains for the Government to catch up.

When the All Blacks entered the rugby stadium on match day the reception by the two to three thousand Africans was rapturous. The match was also attended by Transkei chief Kaizer Matanzima.

About the match

The game started slow but the All Blacks hit their straps late in the second half and eventually scored 6 tries with Williams scoring three and Going two.

Border’s famous scrumhalf Chicken Gendell didn’t play as a result of the combined selection process and Bennie Rens on 12 apparently also didn’t had a great day as he kept holding on to the ball while running full tilt into the All Black defense. The Border combined team forwards had a reasonable game but was no match for the All Blacks’ powerful eight-man shoves in some of the many scrums in the second half. Bobby Joubert the 38 year old Border prop was a survivor of the Border team that played against the 1960 All Blacks.

The All Black goal kickers did not have a happy day and between Fawcett and Williams they missed 10 kicks at goal.

Bryan Williams place kicking. At this stage the tourists still struggled with their place kicking and Williams was tried as an option without major success.

The New Zealand backline looked willing to run with the ball but not all was well in the backline; Fawcett in particular appeared head strong and inclined to do his own -and mostly not entirely satisfactory- thing. Bruce on 10 appeared a little tentative and slow to see or exploit gaps when they appear. Joe Morgan, Bryan Williams and Sid Going did however take control as the game progressed and Williams in particular was dynamic.

Sid Going passing the ball from behind the scrum. He was one of the senior players who took charge when All Blacks were struggling to find their rhythm in the first match. Super Sid had a great game and scored two tries and was also instrumental in at least one of the three Bryan Williams tries.

McLean describe Bryan Williams third try:

Going had made a sensational break; the ball was rooted beyond halfway, where Purvis and Fawcett began to run. Osborne took the pass and with perfect judgment gave “Bee Gee” room to run at Morrell. Morrell, you might say never gave Williams room to move. He jerked off his left foot in a stupendous sidestep and dashed in at the corner for his 51^st try for New Zealand.

Bryan Williams was dynamic and scored three tries in the first match in spite of the fact that his knee and ankle were heavily strapped and it was obvious that he was playing with some injuries.

Eveleigh on flank was strikingly fast in raiding into the Border backline and Kirkpatrick –fighting his way out of all kinds of tackles- impressed as a ball-carrier. Kent Lambert on 3 had a few break-way runs.

Ian Kirkpatrick had a few good runs against Border. Here he breaks away with the ball with him is Kevin Eveleigh (No7) and Andy Leslie.

After the game reactions/occurrences

It was early days and there were no post-game issues.

3 July 1976 –Eastern Province 15 / All Blacks 28

The match was played in Port Elizabeth on the Boet Erasmus stadium on a warm sunny day with a fresh westerly blowing. Match attendance was 20 000 plus of which about 2 000 were Africans.

The referee was Piet Robertse (Eastern Transvaal).

The All Black team: 15: Laurie Mains; 14: Bryan Williams; 11: Terry Mitchell; 13: Bill Osborne; 12: Lyn Jaffray; 10: Duncan Robertson; 9: Lyn Davis; 8: Alan Sutherland; 7: Ken Stewart; 6: Lawrie Knight; 5: Pole Whiting; 4: Frank Oliver; 3: Bill Bush; 2: Tane Norton (Captain); 1: Brad Johnstone.

The Eastern Province team: 15: Hannes van Vuuren; 14: Hennie Kriel; 11: Cheeky Watson; 13: Andre Gerber (replaced by his brother Orlando in the 78^th minute); 12: Eben Olivier; 10: Gavin Cowley; 9: Tiekie Transell; 8: Rauch van Reenen; 7: Pieter Rademeyer; 6: Thys van der Merwe; 5: Pat Clarke; 4: Mike Ryan; 3: Ronnie Alan; 2: Basil de Coning (Captain); 1: Piet Karstens.

Run of the game

Before the game incidents/issues/stuff

No issues before the game.

During the game incidents/issues/outstanding moments

The All Blacks struggled with their goal kicking and Laurie Mains was successful with only one in five conversion attempts. He also missed penalties from 45 and 36 meters. Williams missed two of three penalty attempts failing from 45 m and 40 m.

Cheeky Watson missed penalty attempts from 41 and 42 meter and Cowley missed with one from 31 meters. Watson had a good game and mowed down his direct opponent Terry Michell on three occasions when the latter should have run in tries.

The All Black scrum was impressive against the heavy Eastern Province pack; they had Piet Karstens on loose-head prop on 118 kg, Ronnie Allan weighing 113 kg on tighthead and a 111 kg No4 lock in Mike Ryan. The All Blacks secured 4 heels against the head against this massive EP pack with Basil de Coning –a fine player- on hooker.

Ken Stewart scoring against Eastern Province with Pat Clarke on his back looking up at the referee. In the back Lyn Davies is also looking at dominee Piet with a bit of a concerned frown no doubt expecting another sermon.  

The All Blacks started tentatively and the EP pack started with a hiss and a roar but began to fade after about 20 minutes. It was at about this time when the All Blacks started to string the phases and gave the ball some air.

The first try, on the blindside, through Davis, Robertson and Jaffray to Williams was classically simple writes Terry McLean.

By halftime the All Blacks led 11-3 after a charge down try by Davis and a dropgoal by Robertson.

In the second half Jaffray snapped into a gap and with a high pass put Mains in for a try that had the pavilion blazing with pleasure, according to McLean.

Lyn Jaffray get past his man in the EP game.

Eastern Province provided much excitement when they came back strongly late in the second half –with the All Blacks dropping of the pace a little- and made a couple of superb dabs on the blindside. In 71^st minute Transell “lethally” picked the ball out of the All Blacks second row, according to McLean to score; Cowley coolly converted. The All Blacks couldn’t even ask “what’s up ref?” with this decision because dominee Piet was too busy preaching for them to get a word in.

Gavin Cowley made a bit of an impression on the All Blacks. He kicked a dropgoal, two penalties and a conversion in this match.

After the game reactions/occurrences

The All Blacks was not happy with the way referee Piet Robbertse went about lecturing, preaching and schoolmaster them during the match. General feeling was that he lectured way too much and treated them like a bunch of kindergarten kids. Some of his remarks also bordered on being offensive. Terry McLean is of opinion that the referee -with the 1960 punch-up between the All Blacks and EP in mind- probably overreacted a bit and suggests that the little hustle and bustle that did take place was no way extreme and within the boundary of acceptable behavior at that level.

As it was stationmaster Piet penalized them 7 times in 10 minutes and it would have been 7 in 7 if he did not waste and extra three minutes with all the lecturing in between each penalty.

7 July 1976 – Proteas 3 / All Blacks 25

Match was attended by 10 000 people at Goodwood Oval in Cape Town. The field was wet with overcast weather and occasional rain falling during the game making the ball slippery.

The referee was Ian Gourlay (Natal)

The All Black team: 15: Laurie Mains; 14: Neil Purvis; 11: Terry Mitchell; 13: Bill Osborne; 12: Lyn Jaffray; 10: Doug Bruce; 9: Sid Going; 8: Andy Leslie (Captain); 7: Ken Stewart; 6: Lawrie Knight; 5: Gary Seear; 4: Frank Oliver; 3: Billy Bush; 2: Graeme Grossman; 1: Kerry Tanner.

The Proteas team: 15: Ronnie Louw (Swartland); 14: Eddie Gillion (Southerns); 11: John Noble (Stellenbosch); 13: Charles Williams (Stellenbosch); 12: Hennie Shields (Strand); 10: John Stubbs (Malmesbury); 9: Attie Lategan (Malmesbury); 8: Jack Juries (SWD-Captain); 7: Randy Marinus (Paarl); 6: Hannes Meyer (Northerns); 5: Piet Boonzaaier (Stellenbosch); 4; Louis Paulse (Northerns); 3: Turkey Shields (Strand); 2: Ciscoe Jooste (Swartland); 1: Tom Peterson (Northerns).

Run of the game

Before the game incidents/issues/stuff

The match against the coloureds (proteas) was historic as it was the first time an All Black team played against a non-white team in South Africa.

Terry McLean starts his pièce on this match with the following:

Cuthbert Loriston, the 63-year-old high school principal who was president of the South African Rugby Football Federation, which fielded the proteas, said that for 300 years his people, the Coloureds, had been treated as sub-human by South African Whites. Coloureds were only permitted to become human by arrangement, he said. (“He was very bitter,” John Stewart remarked.) Well, this was one of the days of arrangement.

It is a sad fact but the white South Africans (definitely me and the people I had contact with in 1976) did not realize how the apartheid situation looked for outsiders. Here, the All Blacks were playing a group of people who in their own country would be regarded as equals and judging by their ability to communicate and the quality of the rugby the played not inferior to anyone else they’ve met on tour. Yet the people were regarded as sub-human and not allowed to play rugby in the provincial championship.     

During the game incidents/issues/outstanding moments

McLean and the rest of the Kiwi contingent were impressed with the handeling and technical skills of the two coloured teams that played in the curtain-raiser.

McLean had many good things to say about the Proteas as well but do point out that their approach was probably just a bit to negative; being focused more on spoiling and disrupting rather than playing their own game.

McLean writes:

It was true that the Proteas were negligent about the niceties of keeping on-side. Mr. Ian Gourlay tried by penalty and fatherly advice to dissuade the Proteas from practicing the kind of illegalities which are common in Rugby world over when a team without hope but endless enthusiasm takes on a crack side.

The match against the Proteas was characterized by lots of late tackles. Here a protea is piggy bagging on Laurie Mains with the ball nowhere is sight.

The sad feature was that the Proteas had enough ability to play tidy Rugby efficiently and effectively. They were amazingly quick. Eddie Gillion and Charles Williams moved to quell those attacks by Osborne and Purvis with shattering speed. Ronnie Louw behind them was genuinely quick, too, and as fullback would be greeted with joy by many New Zealand provincial selectors.

Piet Boonzaaier and Louis Paulse, the locks, won about two-thirds of the completed lineouts, while Ciscoe Jooste, though beaten 4-0 in the tighthead count, made many heels at admirable speed. Randy Marinus on the side of the scrum was quite remarkably quick, too, and if Lategan didn’t persist after Super Sid, he did. In short the Proteas, having average speed superior to both border and Eastern Province, needed no more than coolness and confidence –for which qualities one could perhaps substitute discipline- to become a team capable of competing in the second division of the provincial championship with more success than most.

Mains missed penalties from 23 and 41 meters away but by the good fortune that the Proteas committed too many late tackles and other acts of negligence, Mains was able to place 5 penalty goals. The All Blacks won the lineouts 19-12, the rucks 14-5, the scrum 16-12 (including four tightheads) and the penalties 15-9.

The Proteas’ style of swarming and amazingly swift defence was deucedly difficult to combat and the All Blacks were able to score only two tries namely by Jaffray in the 43^rd and by Mitchell in the 79^th minutes, respectively.

Here is McLean description of the two tries:

Mitchell’s try on the left was made after a long plunging burst by Stewart placed the defence under such strain that a smart nipping run on the blindside by Bruce put Mitchell well clear of Noble and Louw.

The other try was the beter of the two. Osborne threaded between Williams and Gillion and when he saw that Purvis outside him was well covered and too close to touch, he twisted his torso by maybe 120 degrees and made a pass back to Jaffray to his left. Jaffray was untroubled to skid through.

Lyn Jaffray scoring against the Proteas with Ronnie Louw and Clive Noble too late to stop him.

Louw missed with a penalty from 31 meter

After the game reactions/occurrences

There were some pursed lips among the All Blacks’ leaders as they cogitated about the game. Jaffray’s thrust into the midfield defence wanted the speed which ought to have carried him past the centers and right up to Louw before he passed to Osborne. Osborne, too, did not make his thrusts with quite sufficient speed.   The corner was mounting in the leadership that the All Blacks were short of true international quality in the midfield, according to McLean.