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Why 1996 is still the greatest year for All Black rugby and what we can learn from it now
Nostalgia never gets old.
And certainly not at a time like this, when live sport is out of the question. Thankfully Sky, and other networks, are digging into the vault to bring us games from a bygone era.
There’s plenty of us, be we media types or simply fans, who have expressed a disenchantment with modern rugby. Who’ve said we don’t like the way the game’s played, what players are paid or the proliferation of rest weeks, sabbaticals and restricted minutes.
Well, for the time being at least, we’ve got our game back and we might as well enjoy it.
I hadn’t intended to stay so long on the All Blacks’ 2005 series against the British & Irish Lions, on Tuesday night. In the end I couldn’t turn it off.
Dan Carter's performance in 2005 against the Lions is regarded as one of the most spectacular seen in the modern era. ? pic.twitter.com/aeBtoj2Ljf
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 23, 2020
But as much as I was enthralled by those games, I couldn’t stop thinking about 1996 and what – to me at least – will always be the greatest All Blacks year of them all.
I’ll never forget being stood at the northern end of Athletic Park, as New Zealand thrashed Australia 43-6 in driving wind and rain. I’m not sure everyone at that end of the ground was too stoked with standing, but we weren’t about to sit and that was that.
I’ll never forget Zinzan Brooke’s surging run to the line, to set up Jeff Wilson’s try. Or what we yelled at Wallabies wing Ben Tune, after he spilled an Andrew Mehrtens grubber kick for Jonah Lomu to score.
What I don’t remember was who decided to start singing the national anthem late in the second half. All I do know is that everyone within earshot joined in.
We might have been wet through, but we were euphoric and keen for more fun. Rather than pile into town, though, we went back to a friend’s flat to watch a replay of the game.
Sure we’d just seen it, but there was a sense of needing to relive it again and to confirm that New Zealand’s performance had been as great as we thought it was.
We flew down to Christchurch for the All Blacks’ next clash against South Africa, which the internet tells me was won 15-11. I remember plenty from that trip, but nothing of the match itself.
It’s the last-gasp win over Australia in Brisbane that instead comes to mind. I played for a country club in those days – Te Kawau – but piled into Massey’s makeshift clubrooms at the Manawatu Showgrounds to watch that one.
Rightly or wrongly, we just assumed the All Blacks would win, even at 25-15 down. How fitting that Frank Bunce would score the match-winner, having had Wallaby No.8 Michael Brial try and punch his lights out earlier.
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Only the mighty All Blacks weren’t done for 1996. Not by a long chalk.
No, South Africa and history beckoned and, boy, what a few weeks that was.
The ‘Incomparables’ the All Blacks were dubbed afterwards, having avenged all sorts of history en route to that first away series win over the Springboks.
Don’t ask me what time it was when victory finally came in Pretoria. All I know is that back in Palmerston North, the three-tiered grandstand in the lounge of our flat – built with materials “borrowed’’ from the nearby timber yard – was packed.
Spent, although hardly as spent as skipper Sean Fitzpatrick and the boys, we rose from our seats at fulltime to perform a haka in the driveway. It seemed like the least we could do.
Who knows if the All Blacks will play in 2020. In all fairness, they probably shouldn’t. I mean who would they play against anyway?
In the meantime, beyond making sure we all stay safe and well, we have a chance to reconnect with the game. To watch Sky’s various replays and to just enjoy the footy. Not worry about the result, or the composition of the teams or fuss about who’ll be rotated for next week.
And when live rugby finally returns, there’s every reason to expect it might resemble what we enjoyed so much in 1996.
Guys aren’t going to keep being paid the fortunes they earn now and teams maybe won’t travel so frequently. But a market will develop again for watching our own players and our own rugby, perhaps supplemented by a full tour from a respected foe such as South Africa.
Sky’s archives don’t just have to fill a gap in the schedule or take us on an enjoyable trip down memory lane.
They can also instruct us on the best way to get rugby back on its feet again.
The decade of the All Blacks in the Tri-Nations:
Comments on RugbyPass
Exciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
11 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
3 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
3 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
3 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
11 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
26 Go to comments