Monday, July 13, 2009
All Blacks sneak the 1st Test against the British Lions in 1993
The 93 Lions were the last of the amateur era. Led by Gavin Hastings, they were coached by Ian McGeechan, who upon taking the reigns became the first man to coach the Lions twice.
The makeup of the squad was entirely different to what weve seen this year, as it was dominated by English players, with no less than 17 of the 30 players on tour, the most ever.
The first Test took place in Christchurch, ending in a narrow 20-18 win for the All Blacks who scored a controversial try within two minutes of kick off as Frank Bunce dived over after collecting a Grant Fox high kick.
The Lions came back strongly and played some good rugby in the second half, as Hastings and Fox exchanged penalties. The Lions led 18-17 with little time left, before Australian referee Brian Kinsey awarded a hotly disputed penalty.
Fox coolly slotted the kick, snatching the win away from the Lions, causing anger amongst Lions fans and coaching staff.
The All Blacks went on to win the series 2-1, and well show you footage from the other two matches if youre interested.
In his report after the tour, Lions coach Ian McGeechan highlighted the differences between the approaches of the northern and southern hemispheres.
He said that the north plays a more static game, which is in contrast to the souths dynamism and continuity. Its now sixteen years later, and the debate continues.
Look out for some superb play by Jerry Guscott, as well as a great run and big hit by Inga The Winger Tuigamala.
Va'aiga Tuigamala Try - Barbarians vs New Zealand 1993
Posted at 2:53 pm | 42 comments
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Viewing 42 comments
Anonymous July 13, 2009 1:45 pm

1. The "try" that Bunce was given was never a try.
2. The last minute penalty was crap. Bunce was stopped by an Andrew tackle, and wrapped up and turned by Dean Richards. The ball was coming back the Lions's die and the ref gave a penalty to the All Blacks. Unbelievable!
The All Blacks played no rugby in this series until the 3rd test. The Lions played even less.
All Blacks scored 5 tries to 2 in the series.
Joe July 13, 2009 2:01 pm

Anonymous July 13, 2009 2:34 pm

However, the penalty at the end was bullshit. The Lions should have won that match, and the series.
And i'm pretty sure the Lions would have won this series as well, except for some horrible reffing decisions...
Dan July 13, 2009 2:35 pm

KeepItRelevant July 13, 2009 2:37 pm

Scotsdale July 13, 2009 3:11 pm

That, and because it's a great piece of classic footage that many might not have seen before.
Cheers
pete July 13, 2009 3:30 pm

Anonymous July 13, 2009 3:35 pm

Also after Guscott chipped around Bunce and regathered, Michael Jones pulled back Carling off the ball, which should have been a definite penalty try.....in the end the Lions just got a penalty.
Anonymous July 13, 2009 3:36 pm

About the penalty you can see how the Lions number 8 tackles and never roll away preventing from the floor that the other all blacks ruck over.
Anonymous July 13, 2009 4:05 pm

pretty inconclusive replaying the try to see if there was downward pressure so would have been impossible for the ref to tell. best thing that could have been done in the days without 4th offical is to give 5m scrum to ABs
Anonymous July 13, 2009 4:35 pm

Anonymous July 13, 2009 4:51 pm

They couldn't beat the springboks, in spite of them having a braindead coach. The boks were there for the picking, and the poms were to shit to pull it off.
goodNumber10 July 13, 2009 6:28 pm

Great kick by fox to win it.
I remember laying in bed watching this as a kid. Grate stuff, great memories - good work RD.
Also nice to see the forum has taken off again...
Anonymous July 13, 2009 9:18 pm

sacricketer July 13, 2009 9:23 pm

Anonymous July 14, 2009 2:16 am

FrontRowBias July 14, 2009 2:18 am

Nice footage, thanks for posting.
Anonymous July 14, 2009 3:04 am

Anonymous July 14, 2009 3:21 am

Jon July 14, 2009 10:03 am

Who knows if it was a penalty, who ever knows what's a penalty in the ruck, then or now? You could probably find a penalty in any ruck if you looked hard enough. The ball was being killed by someone in that ruck though.
As for being tackled in the air, that was legal when this test was played, the rule didn't exist.
To be honest the rugby on display isn't the greatest anyway, those teams would get killed by a modern team. They were only just going professional.
Anonymous July 14, 2009 10:45 am

Flooz July 14, 2009 10:54 am

and win (sometimes) their series because of their "incredible" will
sour grapes..
few ref mistakes are part of rugby life
Anonymous July 14, 2009 11:27 am

Anonymous July 14, 2009 1:14 pm

Bunce try may have been we didnt see ot from the other angle .....ref looked to be in a good position ......who knows
As far as the penalty goes ...what was it for . When the penalty was awarded Sean Fitzpatrick looks almost apologetic to the Lions
These are the sort of things rugby men will talk forever about in the pub over a few pints , great to see the footage again and great to start the debate again.
Thats what sport and in particular rugby is all about.
Please post the other 2 test match higlights , great web site
Abbyno7 July 14, 2009 1:46 pm

Anyway the last penalty. Guscott said that when the penalty was given the ABs looked very surprised to have gotten it. Even they expected it to be Lions ball.
Abbyno7 July 14, 2009 1:56 pm

Paddy totally agree-WTF?????
Anonymous July 14, 2009 2:17 pm

andy July 14, 2009 3:20 pm

Anyway tough for the ref with no replays. Got to respect their decisions. The best team always wins no?
penalty at the end was very poor refing, can't understand that one.
Anonymous July 14, 2009 5:04 pm

Here is a compilation of All Black World Cup chokes for you to enjoy from CombatBok.....
Anonymous July 14, 2009 5:32 pm

As for the last minute decision - someone show me how that was not a penalty - turned or not, he held him the entire time with his big "8" plainly visible to both the camera and everyone on that side of the stadium...clearly a penalty...
Anonymous July 14, 2009 6:41 pm

I'll have to set aside a couple of hours tomorrow
Anonymous July 14, 2009 6:47 pm

The all black chokers video is gRRRRRRRRRRRRReat......
The All Blacks are going get stuffed by the Boks in the Tri Nations..I cannot wait!
Broussouw is going to kill McCaw....watch him do the Broussouw bounce on the AB pack....gooo BOKS!
Anonymous July 14, 2009 8:00 pm

If you are making excuses, you are losing.
Anonymous July 14, 2009 9:12 pm

seems like the inclusion of pacific islanders led to the slow demise of NZ domination!! lol
Barry July 14, 2009 10:01 pm

Anonymous July 14, 2009 10:41 pm

I remember Kirwan getting destroyed by Ben Clarke on a scissors move on the blind side, and then also getting hammered by Winterbottom.
Also remember Grant Fox juggling a pass from Kirwan and getting wiped out by Scott Gibbs.
jon July 15, 2009 2:53 am

It was a long time ago, ya know?
Honestly, it's just rugby, the ref has a lot of say in this game, probably too much (that's why the IRB toyed with the ELVs, most of which have been kept).
The key is to play so well that you take the ref out of it. Easier said then done, obviously.
As an Australian fan, I could sit for ages and think of all the times we lost a test match on the back of penalties from the ref that I didn't agree with, but what would be the point. If we'd been good enough, it wouldn't have mattered.
andyT July 22, 2009 1:39 pm

seems like the inclusion of pacific islanders led to the slow demise of NZ domination!! lol
There's something racist about that stupid comment, when you consider that players of Samoan descent have been amongst the best rugby players of this or any other era, including at least Jones and Bunce from this AB side (both of whom were born in Auckland by the way) .. and last time I looked the NZ "demise" has left them still at #1 in the world rankings. They recently won the Tri-Nations, Bledisloe Cup and had a Grand Slam tour of GB .. how dominant do you want them to get? What an idiot you really are.















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