Great moments in Lions tour history: The time Allen Prince flipped off Rory Underwood on his way to the tryline
Jamie Wall remembers one of rugby’s greatest – and most ill-advised – middle fingers.
I was 12 years old in 1993, and the second test of the Lions tour that season at Athletic Park was the first All Blacks match I ever went to. I probably should have stayed at home – the 20-7 result remains the Lions’ largest ever test win in New Zealand.
The test is probably best remembered for the classic Rory Underwood try which sealed the game. But the corner of Athletic Park in which he scored had already seen plenty of action on that tour. One incident in particular, which also involved Rory Underwood, happened a few weeks earlier when the Lions played the New Zealand Maori.
Allen Prince isn’t a name that would spring to the minds of many rugby fans. Unless, of course, you preface it with ‘that guy who pulled the finger when he scored against the Lions’.
Unforgettable piece of NZ #rugby history: Allan Prince flipping the bird to Rory Underwood on the way to the tryline pic.twitter.com/9K1pM5fW9e
— Jamie Wall (@JamieWall2) January 3, 2016
A product of the small time, then-second division and now-merged Nelson Bays union, Allen Prince was playing on the left wing for the Maori that day. For the first 40 minutes his side completely dominated the tourists and led 20-0 at halftime, thanks in part to his try in what was then known as ‘Bernie’s Corner’ (a reference to prolific Wellington winger Bernie Fraser).
Prince brushed off his marker, Welshman Ieuan Evans, then found himself with a clear run to the line. Naturally, he pulled the fingers at his nearest opponent: Rory Underwood.
This prototype of the Kiwi rugby bird-flip lacked the refinement of the later efforts of Andrew Mehrtens and Carlos Spencer. More specifically, it crucially lacked the bit where you win the game. Prince flipped the bird about 10 minutes into the game, giving Underwood more than enough time to exact a bit of revenge on this lower-division upstart.
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The Lions started their comeback with Evans redeeming himself by scoring in the opposite corner. He then sparked the movement that saw Underwood switch on the afterburners and leave Prince for dead as he crossed Bernie’s Corner to pull the deficit back to 3. He resisted the temptation to flip off, trash talk or even look at his opposite in doing so. However, it’s not hard to think how sweet it would’ve been for him when Gavin Hastings crashed over for the winner with 10 minutes to go. Final score: 24-20.
From a British point of view, that game and the second test were the high-water marks of a very up and down tour. They were beaten by Otago, Waikato, Auckland and second division Hawkes Bay, and thrashed in the final test at Eden Park – not helped by the fact that captain Hastings had been ruled out with injury.
Athletic Park remains the last venue in New Zealand where the Lions won a test match. It has long since been demolished, with the site now ironically a sprawling retirement village. The next time the Lions played the All Blacks in Wellington was across town at the new Westpac Stadium in 2005… and we all know what happened that night.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments