24 July 1976 – South Africa 16 / All Blacks 7
King’s Park, Durban. Glorious summer’s day, temperature 30 degree’s. Crowd: 45 000. Referee: Ian Gourlay (Natal).
Teams
Springboks | All Blacks | |||
15 | Ian Robertson (Rhod) | 1 drop goal | Duncan Robertson | |
14
13 12 11 |
Edrich Krantz (OVS)
Johan Oosthuizen (WP) Peter Whipp (WP) Gerrie Germishuys (OVS) |
1 try
. . 1 try |
Bryan Williams
Bruce Robertson Lyn Jaffray Grant Batty |
1 pen
. 1 try . |
10
9 |
Gerald Bosch (TVL)
Paul Bayvel (TVL) |
1 Con, 1 pen
. |
Doug Bruce
Sid Going |
|
8
7 6 |
Morné du Plessis (WP)
Jan Ellis (TVL) Boland Coetzee (WP) |
Andy Leslie (Capt)
Ian Kirkpatrick Ken Stewart |
||
5
4 |
Moaner van Heerden (NTVL)
John Williams (NTV) |
Peter Whiting
Hamish Macdonald |
||
3
2 1 |
Rampie Stander (OVS)
Robert Cockrell (WP) Derek v/d Berg (WP) |
Kent Lambert
Tane Norton Kerry Tanner |
||
Lineouts
Rucks Tightheads Penalties |
13
4 0 17 |
19
4 0 9 |
The first test of the 1976 series was a classic encounter in almost every sense; lots before and after match controversy; some excellent tries; the match also panned out differently than expected with the NZ forward pack surprising the springboks with their physicality and superior technique and the Springbok backline outplaying the New Zealand backline. The match was eventually won by the team who made the least amount of mistakes.
Here are the pictures of the Springbok team originally selected and above are the names of the players who eventually played. Dawie Snyman had to withdraw because of a hamstring injury on the Wednesday before the test and was replaced with Peter Whipp with Ian Robertson moving to the fullback position.
Before the game incidents/issues/stuff
The drama started with some controversial team selections, on both sides, and ended with those selections being instrumental to the outcome of the match. On the New Zealand side the selection of Duncan Robertson –normally a flyhalf- on fullback ahead of the two touring fullbacks Laurie Mains and Kit Fawcett was a shocker. Laurie Mains did not impress up to this stage on tour, in particular, with his place kicking which cost NZ the match against Western Province. The Kit Fawcett saga was a much more interesting story. Fawcett’s selection for the touring side was questioned by many as he was not even able to maintain his place in the starting line-up of the Auckland university team. Just after arrival he made a remark, to a female reporter, to the extent that the All Blacks expect to score more off the field than on the field which irked the All Black management to the extreme.
McLean has the following on Kit Fawcett and his omission from the team for the first test:
Fawcett bounded into the team on the strength of a fine trail a month before the team was chosen without any succeeding recommendations. A bouncy 21-year-old, potentially an outstanding athlete, he was soon found to be the eternal youth, in excelsis –brash, super-confident, harum-scarum. He had scarcely begun the tour before he was announcing that one of his pleasures in life was not conforming. His genial greeting to John Stewart of “Hi Coach” while the All Blacks were preparing in East London for their first match produced such a ticking-off as might have reduced even an insensitive man to whimpers.
Kit, or, as he was known to his family, “Louie”, bounced along, charming himself each day with some new facet of his personality. In the background, Jay Jay” took to muttering that if some other bastard did not break Kit’s leg, or arm, he would.
When Jay Jay Stewart announced that, as for the first test, Duncan Robertson would play fullback, it was said to him: “It is a criticism that, if you believed Duncan was the man for the job, you did not play him a couple of times in the back before the test”. “I am aware of this,” said Stewart. “It is a fair comment. But I kept on hoping that Fawcett would come right”.
Fawcett’s relaxed style clearly did not fit into the All Black culture of respect for traditions and for senior members of the team. This lack of respect and some on the field incidents which demonstrated lack of discipline and commitment to pre-arranged game plans -which caused the team to leak tries against provincial sides- had much to do with the decision to play Duncan Robertson on fullback.
On South Africa’s side the inclusion of Edrich Krantz – a 21-year old winger from Free State who captained the SA u/21 side to South America the previous year- was the big surprise as was the inclusion of Ian Robertson the Rhodesian fullback on centre which broke-up the established Whipp/Oosthuizen Western Province centre combination. Jan Ellis was playing in his 38th test match, equaling Frik du Preez’s national record. The three Transvalers in the team –Ellis, and the halfback combination of Bayvel and Bosch- were considered, before the match, as key to Springbok victory. As it turned out all three had very average matches.
The three Transvalers -Paul Bayvel, Jan Ellis and Gerald Bosch- in the Springbok team who was considered to be key players for the Springboks.
Derek van den Berg one of two members of the South African team who followed in the footsteps of their Springbok fathers.
Two Springbok players followed in their father’s footsteps. Derek van den Berg was the son of Mauritz who locked the scrum in all three internationals in 1937. The other one, who received a lot more attention, was Morné du Plessis who completed a unique double when he emulated his farther Felix by leading the Springboks against New Zealand. Morné was also primarily responsible for coaching the forwards. The Springboks, under the guidance of Morné looked impressive in their workouts. Selection convener, Johan Claassen stayed true to his word that he would not don his tracksuit at the training when asked who would really be handling the coaching of the side. Ian Kirkpatrick –the former Springbok centre and coach- put the backs through some slick handling drills done at smart pace.
Morné du Plessis leading the Springboks on the field in the first test of the 1976 series. Du Plessis was captain and coach and it was his infectious enthusiasm, will to win and leadership more than anything else that rubbed off on the 1976 Springboks and which settled the team in the nerve-wracked first and lifted them to victory in the crucial third test.
The preparations were, however, severely hampered when Dawie Snyman –the vice-captain and a vital link in the plans as an attacking fullback- had to withdraw due to a hamstring strain. Rumours buzzed about the Springbok camp when it was learnt that Snyman was flying home on the first flight and not staying for the test. Was there distention in the camp and did Snyman withdrew because we was told to pull out? That was just some of the questions and speculations flying around at the time.
The biggest disaster was yet to come and on the Friday morning Gerald Bosch was in bed with a heavy dose of flu running a temperature of 102 degrees. It was going to be a desperate close race to get him in any sort of condition to play a rugby test and this news had to be kept from the enemy at all cost as it could gave them a serious psychological boost.
Here is Gerald Bosch being led off by the Springboks team doctor Jack Sweidan –to be replaced by De Wet Ras- 10 minutes before the end. The Springboks gambled heavily with Bosch in this test and he could not do himself justice missing with 5 normally easy penalties, for him, and with the conversion of Krantz’s try –which hit the upright- and two drop goal attempts. Those characteristic long Bosch field kicks deep to the corners driving the opposition back on their heels were also missing from his game and there was no snap about his general play.
The general predictions before the match were that South African should dominate set piece forward play and that New Zealand would be the better side when it comes to backline play.
Moaner van Heerden and John Williams on the charge in the first test. The Springbok forwards did not dominate as expected in this test but van Heerden was a menacing presence right through the series and made his presence felt in no uncertain terms with an infamous stepping incident in one of the later tests culminating in some grim exchanges between him and the All Blacks in the third and fourth test.
Run of play
Time | Event | Score |
11th minute | Williams penalty goal, 31m. | 0-3 |
30th minute | Bosch penalty, 34m. | 3-3 |
41st minute | Jaffray try. | 3-7 |
50th minute | Germishuys try. Bosch converts. | 9-7 |
73rd minute | Krantz try. | 13-7 |
86th minute | Robertson dropgoal. | 16-7 |
Williams missed penalty kicks from 42 and 31 meters. He also missed the conversion of Jaffray’s try.
Bryan Williams had an average day with the boot.
Bosch missed penalties from 48, 45, 34, 22 and 48 meters. Bosch hit the upright when trying to converts Krantz’s try and he also missed two drop goals. De Wet Ras who replaced Bosch missed with a 48 meter penalty.
About the match
In between all the crises and controversies there was also some rugby, much of it error-ridden and nerve-wracked; some positively breathtaking in execution. In the end the 45 000 spectators and millions in front of the TV –this was in all likelihood the first ever Springbok test shown live on TV in South Africa- were served up a sort of match that one tends to equate with a test between the Springboks and the All Blacks.
South Africa kicked off and within a couple of minutes Gerald Bosch was having an attempt at goal –which failed- from near the halfway line.
Gerald Bosch kicking for goal in the first test with Krantz and Whipp in the background. Slotting goals under pressure of Test match demands require a clean bill of health. Yet the flu ridden Bosch -repute for his place kick and drop kicking- although missing with 8 kicks were still able to contribute 5 points slotting a penalty by halftime to make the scores 3 all and succeeding with the extremely vital conversion of Gerrie Germishuys’s try from an acute angle.
It was New Zealand who had the next scoring opportunity when Leslie chased a kick –initially he had a huge slice of luck as Boland Coetzee put him onside when the kick overhead touched him- and dribbledthe ball past Springbok fullback Ian Robertson before kicking it ahead for the goalline. He had three meters start on the nearest Springbok. A certain 6 points loomed, but then, at the last second as Leslie began to lunge for the try the ball developed a wicked curl and snuck around the upright, so that Leslie couldn’t get to it. “I’ve never been more frustrated than I was at that moment,” the All Black captain declared later.
Two interesting incidents during the first test. Above Tane Norton is landing a kick on Paul Bayvel. Bayvel didn’t get much protection from his forwards with the All Blacks dominating procedures upfront in this is one of quite a few occasions when the New Zealanders got to him. Below is a picture of the close-Andy-Leslie-try with players lying all over the place after the Springboks were able –thanks to a fortunate bounce of the ball- to dot it down.
It was all New Zealand for the first 15 minutes and there were a few more scoring opportunities for the All Black during this long period of almost complete dominance which but they were unable to convert it into point. Bryan Williams succeeded with a penalty in the 11th minute but missed with a second one and Sid Going was only inches away from dotting down –a Springbok hand winning the touchdown fractionally ahead of Going- under the posts after Paul Bayvel got caught near the line as he tried to run his way out of trouble.
The Springbok pack was being outplayed and the much-vaunted line-out jumping strength was playing second fiddle to a big match-inspired Peter Whiting. Whiting’s controlled lineout deflecting was a revelation. The department, in which the Springboks based so much pre-test faith, was taken over by the Kiwi’s. With a stream of possession from line-out, scrum and more important ruck and maul, the New Zealand bombardment continued unabated.
Terry McLean writes:
A serious error of judgment by the Springboks was the apprehension that their leading lineout players, John Williams and Moaner van Heerden, would demolish Peter Whiting and Hamish Macdonald in the battle for the ball within the lines and that, at the lineout’s end, du Plessis, 1.98 meters tall, would make a mockery of his contest with Stewart or Leslie. The All Blacks won the lineout contest by 19 clear-cut possessions to 13. It was a remarkable achievement. But the sum of South Africa’s blunder big and small was much, much less than the sum of New Zealand’s.
Some pictures of the battle between the locks in the first test. It was intense and New Zealand made serious mistake by not playing more with their set piece in the second half because Whiting and Macdonald outplayed menacing Moaner and the Jolly Jumper Johnie.
Big Moaner charged downfield on a number of occasions in storming rage but the lack of Springbok drive on the sides of the scrum was glaringly apparent. Jan Ellis and Morné threw the ball to each other ineffectively behind the scrum making everyone wonder what exactly they were trying to accomplish while what they needed to do was to drive the ball up. Ian Kirkpatrick, on the All Black-side, was almost unstoppable on the burst, running wide to make valuable yardage across the advantage line. Kirkpatrick was clearly the forward of the match his only mistake doing the runs maybe too often and getting isolated from his support creating turnover ball for South Africa in the process. The Springboks forwards owed a debt of gratitude to their inside backs for the way these little guys went in on defense pulling down, hustling, bustling and hampering the likes of Ian Kirkpatrick, Ken Stewart and Andy Leslie as they tried to punch holes in the south African midfield.
Jan Ellis and Ken Stewart chasing after the ball. Ellis was outplayed at the breakdowns and looked just a bit tentative with the ball in the hand not taking it to the All Blacks and it was no surprise when he was replaced by Theuns Stofberg for the second test.
Boland Coetzee here in action. He had to play a lot tighter but played well enough to get a recall for the second test.
The halftime was 3 all and the All Black looked clearly in control. They opened the second half quite sensationally when they switched the kick-off with Leslie kicking to the wrong side. Morné du Plessis got to the ball first but then threw a pass that was superbly read and intercepted by the illusive and inventive little Grant Batty. He plucked the ball out the air and set-off; slipped inside Edrich Krantz as if debutant 21-year-old Free State winger was not there and with beautiful controlled running, cleverly supported by Stewart, the ball went to centre Lyn Jaffray who scored in the corner. The score suddenly 7-3 in favour of the All Blacks.
Lyn Jaffray who scored at the start of the second half after some clever running by Grant Batty.
This was the supreme test for Du Plessis’s captaincy credentials and indeed for the character of the 1976 Springboks.
Nine minutes later the Springboks moment of glory manifest itself in a glorious Gerrie Germishuys try after the wingman legged it down the left hand touch line eluding the defense of the two Robertson’s Bruce and Duncan with just a hint of an classic in and out.
The move started with the ball -for once- flowing down the backline. Peter Whipp quickly summed up the situation and send a long pass past Oosthuizen into the hands of Ian Roberston coming in from fullback.
This allowed Ian Robertson to pull Williams in on defense before putting the flying winger in space.
Germishuys had little room in which to manoeuvre but the sheer speed with which a ran into the ball allowed him to slip past Bruce and then with just a slight in-and-out he shed off Duncan’s attempt to get hold of him and scored a great try in the corner that set the crowd roaring. Bosch slotted the conversion and the boks where ahead and stayed ahead for the remainder of the game.
Gerrie Germishuys scoring a magnificent Springbok try in the left hand corner.
There was 7 minutes left on the clock when Bayvel broke from a scrum going blindside. He showed a surprising turn of speed and was slipping away from Going when Sid in a despairing dive were able to ankle tap him. Bayvel started stumbling –eventually falling forward- but was able to slipped the ball backwards. Duncan Robertson was coming in at speed and bent to pick it up, missed, and swooping in to collect and score was Edrich Krantz.
Series of pictures showing Edrich Krantz’s try in his first test. At the top Bayvel breaking away. Second picture Bayvel at full speed with Going diving forward to ankle tap him. Third picture showing Krantz lying in disbelief on the ball after scoring. Fourth picture big Jolly Jumper John Williams walking hand over shoulder with Krantz after he helped the stunned Edrich of the ground who was lying in disbelief flat on his stomach staring at the ball.
The All Blacks came back with a vengeance after kick-off. They tried hard to score through spirited use of the backline, but the Springbok defence held. Five minutes from the end Ian Kirkpatrick stormed away from a line-out. Going kept things moving and when Doug Bruce got caught the whole pack enveloped him and drove forward in a wave of bodies that the Springboks seemed powerless to check. Only yards remained and a try looked a certainty when referee Ian Gourlay, “criminally” penalized Leslie, seemingly, for being in front of the ball. No such penalty exist, of course, and Ian Gourlay did not do himself or South African referee’s any favours with vague evasive responses after the match like “I don’t remember that” or “I don’t know” or “when was that?”
Sometime later, sources close to Gourlay reveal that he penalized Leslie for over-robust play. It appears that Leslie was penalized for kicking at Du Plessis’s groin after the Springbok skipper had grabbed his counterpart by the throat in a fierce exchange. Somehow even that just doesn’t have a ring of truth.
“I knew at that moment we could not win this test,” said a dejected Leslie later.
The last points came in the final minutes of the match when Duncan Robertson failed to find touch from inside his 22 and Ian Robertson slammed a low flying drop goal.
After the game reactions/occurrences
Apart from the Leslie penalty in the last 5 minutes there were a number of other incidents which caused some controversy and spirited debate afterwards.
The replacing of Bosch 10 minutes before the end being one of it with the Kiwi’s complaining that South Africa bent the substitution rule by replacing someone who went onto the field ill and was not injured or indisposed by anything that happened on the field. They were also highly skeptical when it was revealed that Bosch left the field due to a blow to the head.
The All Blacks felt afterwards that they allowed this match to slip away by making too many errors in execution, on the defence and not reading the game tactically well enough. There were defensive lapses with both the tries by Germishuys and Krantz and tactically they should have played more with their forwards as they were clearly in control up front. They failed to take their changes and they made collectively more blunders than South Africa.
They were warned before the match, by the survivors of 1970, about debilitations of Durban’s humility and it was felt by the South Africans that the heat got to them contributing to lapses in concentration towards the mid later parts of the second half.
Grant Batty cooling off during the test which played in 30 degree and which Terry McLean call the shirt-sleeve test.
Grant Batty also re-injured his knee in this test. Here he is curling in pain on the ground while being ignored by the South African players.
Not sure if I read this. McLook did you not post this a few months back? Anyhow always enjoy these history articles. More so by printing them and reading them at leisure later on.
Thanks Mclook.
Puma@1. This is a new one on the 1976 series. Posted it yesterday.
Did the score change 😆
JL1 wrote:
Did you learn something that you didn’t know? Does it provide a historical record of the match -with pictures- on the internet? Did this record exist before on internet? These are better questions to ask. Go see if you can find any other information on internet about this particular test match or any of the other matches played during the 1965, 1970 and 1976 tours that I’ve already discussed.
If you follow what I’ve been doing for the last year you’ll notice a complete record of all the matches played during the 1965 and 1970 tours with pictures. A substantial number of these pictures as well as the books documenting some of these tours are not available anymore or extremly expensive and hard to get.
I wonder how many rugby supporters knew anything about players like Boet Mulder, Trix Truter and Wynand Mans to name but a few who played on the 1965 tour to New Zealand and who have been introduced in my match descriptions.
My purpose here is to discuss all Springbok tour and test matches played against New Zealand sides since 1921 so that the hero’s that helped to built the proud history of Springbok rugby can be remembered and so that their contributions can be presevered. More importantly so that this information can be available on internet for everyone. This in my mind is time better spend than spending hours on the blogs argueing with or abusing other people for their views. I don’t get any money for it and don’t need any remarks of appreciation because I do it for the love of it so thanks for your support.
McLook, I’d love to know how you got your hands on this material in the first place. Are you still researching or have you actually acquired it yourself through the years, if it is the latter, I am suitably impressed.
Saint@7. It is actually a combination of the two. I started sampling rugby pictures and clipping of matches in 1970. At that stage I got hold of quite a number of pictures and magazine articles written in the mid and late 1960’s by virtually paging through every magazine I could lay my hands on at my grantparents home.
So from 1965 up to today I’ve got heaps of self-sampled material.
However, because it’s has been a non-stop hobby over the years I’ve bought books about tours written by people like Terry McLean, Gerhard Viviers, Gabriel David and other journalist who went on these tours.
About two years ago I realised that all my pictures (especially the newspaper) is getting very delapedated and that I need scan it to persevere it. It was at that stage that I started writing pieces about the various matches to go with the pictures so this project sprang in to life.
I then started with extended research for more info and pictures utilizing the local library, the university library and rugby museum here in Palmerston North. I also found a few websites of antique book dealers on sport memorabilia that I constatly search for books, DVD’s, recordings and so forth. I for instance have video material of all four the 1965 and 1956 test matches as well as recordings of the 1960 and 1948 test matches.
Whenever I can I take my kids to the library and work my way through old newspapers (mostly on microfilm) to get more info and pictures of the various tour matches played; not always good quality the pictures but the articles is good stuff. The 1921, 1937 and 1956 tours especially require research as that was way before my time.
Most of the info about the 1976 tour -that I am writing about at the moment- is material collected in 1976 while I was in high school.
I’ll soon start with the 1956 tour and are currently reseraching it in my spare time but were able to find a few good books in antique bookshops about that tour.
Here is a few interesting facts info that I learned while writing this piece on the first test.
1. Derek van den Berg the Western Province prop was the son of a Springbok.
2. Morné du Plessis coached the side.
3. Edrich Krantz was captain of the SA u/21 side which toured to South America in 1975.
4. Theuns Stofberg replaced Jan Ellis after the first test but lost his place to Klippies Kritzinger for the fourth test.
5. New Zealand went into this test with a flyhalf on fullback and no recognized place kicker.
6. De Wet Ras went on the field illegally when he repalced Bosch in this first test.
7. We lost the forward battle in both the first and second tests and won the third test because we bulked the forwards up with Johan Strauss, Kevin de Klerk and Piston van Wyk.
8. Peter Whipp was not selected for the first test and only came in after Dawie Snyamn got injured. He lost his place again for the second test when Ian Robertson was again selected on inside centre but was brought back in the third and fourth tests.
9. Ian Robertson played fulback in the first test (orginally selected on centre), played centre in the second, didn’t play in the third and was selected and played fullback in the fourth test.
10. There was much controvery about the way Johan Strauss scrummed in the third test so much so that the scrum was intensely policed in the fourth with the effect that we didn’t dominate the set piece at all like we did in the third test.
11. Kevin de Klerk made a huge impact in this series when he replaced John Williams who broke his nose in the second test.
O yes and Joggie Jansen -the hero of the 1970 series- was one of the reserves for the first test.
Great article McLook, very interesting indeed. Few things I forgot over the years, but nothing new for a guru like me. 🙂
However the numbers for the Boks are not correct. Krantz had 14 on his back, Whipp 11, Oosthuizen 12 and Gerrie 13.
Did you know that Morne was the WP captain/coach too at the time, and that was where it all started?
Rugbyprof wrote:
The thing about the numbers I’ve discussed in one of the previous post. New Zealand were already on the modern numbers system while SA still used the old system of centres being 11 and 12 and the left wing 13. For comparison purposes and to avoid any probably confusion on who played where I use the modern numbers in my discussions and will do so when I later write about the 1956, 1937 and 1921 tours which used totally different numbers with the fullback being no 1.
Rugbyprof wrote:
I knew Morné coached Province and wrote about that in my piece on the AB/WP game. Fact that Johan Claassen didn’t help “at all” with the coaching of the Springboks (not even putting his tracksuit on) was news to me. Well that was the case in the first test I’ll be scrutinizing my info on what happened after the lost in the second test. I am thinking that there might have been more involvement from Claassen and Kirkpatrick during the preperation for the third test.
G’day McLook, I always enjoy reading your historical articles. You obviously put a lot of time and effort into their compilation and I certainly appreciate them. As I’ve stated previously, I know Grant Batty and Kerry Tanner quite well and remember the 1976 tour. A great period in our game’s rich history. Thanks again for all the articles and photos.
Must say, I also appreciate these history articles, and can’t wait for them to appear. Love the photo’s too. Thanks McLook!
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