More Blood, Sweat and Beers

by Lawrence Dallaglio

  Scott Hastings had pulled his hamstring in a warm-up game of touch rugby prior to the tournament starting and this was to be his first match of the World Cup. Someone may have a more accurate memory than mine but I recall he pulled his hamstring again about six seconds after the whistle was blown to start the match, ending his participation in the tournament. Thinking about it now, Scott may well hold the world record for the shortest time spent on a rugby pitch in international rugby. He definitely travelled further than anyone for a few seconds of participation in a World Cup. Shortly after Scott was replaced, our big lock forward Alan Tomes picked up a shoulder injury and also had to leave the field. Within minutes we’d used our two replacements and therefore couldn’t afford any further injuries. Shortly after half-time the game was still very much in the balance, we were leading by six or seven points but needed to press on and try to get a decent score. This was the point when our open-side flanker John Jeffrey managed to get himself concussed (not an easy diagnosis to make in John’s case).

  We couldn’t allow JJ to leave the pitch, the team would be down to fourteen men and more worryingly the pack would be down to seven against the huge Romanian forwards. We all gathered around as the trainer applied the ‘magic sponge’ to JJ’s head and listened to Colin Deans, our captain, issue his instructions. When Romania had a scrum, he decided, JJ would go to No. 8 and Iain Paxton would move to open side. This meant if they tried any back-row moves someone who had a brain still working would become the first line of defence, scrum-half Roy Laidlaw would then arrive on the scene to further disrupt the move, leaving JJ a little more time to ‘get in the way’ shortly afterwards. I clearly remember Colin saying to JJ, ‘Are you okay?’ to which he replied, ‘Aye, no problem.’ He then asked if he was happy switching to No. 8. Again the reply, ‘No problem.’

  As we made our way towards the next scrum I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning to my right I saw a slightly dazed John Jeffrey looking quizzically at me. ‘Soley, what’s No. 8?’ I tried to find a plus side of this encounter. At least he could remember my name. But I knew we had a real problem when he followed this up with, ‘Where are we?’

  ‘We’re in Dunedin, New Zealand. Are you sure you’re okay?’ He delivered the usual forward’s response, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just a little bit fuzzy, that’s all.’ As we reached the scrum he leant over and quietly whispered in my ear, ‘What the f*** are we doing in New Zealand?’

  For the record, the above is true and John remained on the pitch for the entire match, scoring three tries in our 55–28 victory. To this day he has no recollection of the entire occasion.

  Unfortunately the Scottish team still came second in the group and then lost to New Zealand in the quarter-final, while France faced Fiji and went on to contest the final against New Zealand a couple of weeks later. If JJ had managed just a couple more tries, who knows? It could have been us! Perhaps in his confused state we should have told him he was John Kirwan to see what might have happened.

  1991

  The 1991 Rugby World Cup was hosted in the northern hemisphere. With England as main hosts, various matches throughout the tournament were also dispersed around Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France, the final being held at Twickenham. Each country wanted a slice of the action so nineteen venues in total were scheduled for fixtures. The second Rugby World Cup saw the emergence of non-IRFB members onto the world stage.

  The tournament once again featured sixteen teams pitted against each other. This time, however, a qualification process involving thirty-three nations had been introduced from which emerged Argentina, Western Samoa, Japan, Italy, Romania, Canada, Zimbabwe and the USA to compete alongside the seven IRFB members. South Africa was once more excluded. Fiji filled the remaining space thanks to their advancement to the quarter-final stage of the 1987 competition.

  Hosts England kicked off the opening match against defending champions New Zealand on 3 October. The All Blacks won by a small margin, 18–12, but at least the England performance was of a far more advanced and confident nature than had been evident in their matches four years previously.

  Perhaps still complacent from their third-place glory of 1987, Wales encountered outsiders Western Samoa at Cardiff Arms Park. The match is still regarded as one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history, and in many ways encapsulated the spirit of the Rugby World Cup. With brutal tackling, strong attacking play and steely determination, the supposed minnows triumphed over one of the bigger fish with a 16–13 victory. One of the visions for the World Cup had been to open up the game to developing rugby nations, thereby nurturing a wider rugby community. Western Samoa grasped the opportunity on offer heroically, and emerged onto the world stage in a blaze of glory.

  So it was Australia and Western Samoa who progressed from Wales’s pool and they were joined in the quarter-finals by New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Canada. The latter team, also regarded as having minnow status, overcame Fiji and Romania to make it into the remaining eight and only narrowly lost to France. If further evidence was required that the ethos of the World Cup was working, here it was.

  Impressive as the outsiders’ efforts were, both teams would unfortunately crash back down to earth at the next hurdle. Canada, against defending champions New Zealand, fought bravely but were defeated 29–13, and Home Nation Scotland succeeded where Wales could not, defeating the Western Samoan debutants with a 28–6 victory. England continued their success, progressing into the semi-finals following a superb 19–10 win over the French in Paris. This quarter-final saw the ninety-third and final appearance by Serge Blanco, the French hero who had been superb four years earlier in France’s semi-final victory against Australia.

  The most impressive quarter-final saw favourites Australia take on Ireland at their home ground, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. In a tightly contested match the Aussies, just five minutes from time, trailed the Home Nation 18–15. Regarded as one of the best matches of the tournament, Ireland lost out in the final minute after the Australian fly-half Michael Lynagh literally bounced over the line to give Australia a 19–18 victory and a place in the semi-finals for the second time in a row.

  England met their oldest foe Scotland in the first semi-final. Despite maintaining ball possession and dominating territory, full-back Jonathan Webb’s unreliable kicking ensured the scoreboard did not reflect England’s dominance (that’s how I remember it anyway). Only a dropped goal from the disciplined boot of Rob Andrew secured the game for England 9–6. This is the furthest Scotland have progressed to date and they would end up finishing fourth after losing the third-place playoff.

  As four years previously, the 1991 final featured a northern versus southern hemisphere battle. In front of a capacity crowd at Twickenham, England and Australia contested the match and for both it was unfamiliar territory.

  In the final England adopted an open, running style but failed to crack the Australians. Yet they came close and had it not been for a controversial incident in the second half, the outcome might have been very different. Facing a 12–3 deficit, England had secured an attacking overlap and as Peter Winterbottom passed to winger Rory Underwood the ball was knocked down by David Campese. Many perceived this was a deliberate knock-on, designed to prevent an England score. The English camp argued for a penalty try, insisting that Underwood would have easily made it over the line. However the referee, Welshman Derek Bevan, awarded only a penalty. Jonathan Webb converted his second penalty of the game but no further England points were to follow.

  Despite the controversy of the final, David Campese had made his mark on the wing and was arguably the star of the competition. Ultimately the better team on the day (true, I’m afraid), and the best throughout the competition, Australia were rewarded for their efforts as captain Nick Farr-Jones lifted the Webb Ellis Cup.

  Though doubts may have remained about the future of the Rugby World Cup following the initial tournament in 1987, the 1991 competition guaranteed the event a place on the interna
tional sporting calendar. It was an unquestionable success, and captured the imagination of a television audience of 1.75 billion viewers compared with 300 million in 1987. If there had been even a glimmer of doubt before, it had now been firmly extinguished. The Rugby World Cup was here to stay.

  A Dish Best Served Cold

  The 1991 tournament was much more of an event for me than that of four years previously. Having started to play rugby at school and then joined Wasps in 1990, I knew the sport was going to play a significant part in my life. The England team had gone on a bit of a march following the appointment of Geoff Cooke as manager/coach, completing a Five Nations Grand Slam in the World Cup year. England were captained by Will Carling, whose partner in the centre was an even younger lad called Jeremy Guscott. Little did I know at the time as I watched the matches on television that Jerry and I were destined to become international teammates and partners in crime during numerous off-field misdemeanours.

  The stage was set. New Zealand were the world champions having won the tournament four years earlier on home soil, so surely it was now primary host England’s turn to reign. At the time I had no idea which body of stuffed shirts was responsible for organising the tournament, but there couldn’t have been an Englishman amongst them, as we were given that opening game at Twickenham against the holders. The 12–18 defeat was hardly the ideal start to the campaign but comfortable victories against Italy and the USA meant England finished second in the group, qualifying for the knockout stages.

  Anyone who watched the quarter-final against France in Paris will remember perhaps the defining moment. English winger Nigel Heslop was on the wrong end of a mighty wallop delivered by the French back-row forward Eric Champ, who had taken offence to his (slightly) late tackle on the French hero and full-back Serge Blanco. Nigel has no recollection of what happened next or indeed anything else that took place during the rest of the day, but the image of England’s newly appointed ‘enforcer’, Mick ‘The Munch’ Skinner, standing eyeball-to-eyeball with Champ and Champ taking a step backward, will remain with me for ever. In any environment, and rugby in particular, it’s a great feeling when you know your team-mates are prepared to step up to the plate and look out for you (although sadly a little late for Nigel on that particular day).

  I will always take a 19–10 victory away from home against France and it was with a degree of confidence the team headed to Scotland and Murrayfield for the semi-final against the Auld Enemy. Once again the match provided the viewers with a memorable moment. The match was finely balanced at 6–6 when Scotland were awarded a penalty twenty metres from the English try line, slightly to the right of the posts. The Scottish full-back Gavin Hastings stepped up to take a kick which would give the Scots a potential match-winning advantage in what was a very tight contest. Gavin scored 667 points for Scotland during his long and illustrious international career, a total which would have been 670 had he not missed that kick on 26 October 1991 (bless you, Gav). The door had been left open for England and Rob Andrew duly walked through it with a late drop to secure a 9–6 victory.

  Everything was going to script, England had reached the World Cup final, with more good news the following day as New Zealand went down 16–6 to Australia at Lansdowne Road. Surely we could defeat Australia with our forward dominance? England had spent the entire tournament relying on their huge pack to grind down the opposition, which together with the reliable boot of Rob Andrew had proved a winning formula. Bizarrely they threw this game plan out of the window for the final, instead opting for a more open, expansive, running style in a bid to crack the Australians. A bad decision as it turned out, confirmed by the 12–6 final scoreline in favour of captain Nick Farr-Jones and his men.

  Many years later, I spoke to the Australian rugby legend John Eales about the 1991 final. John is quite simply the most successful captain in his nation’s history. It’s well known in rugby circles he used to have the nickname ‘Nobody’ because nobody’s perfect. He played eighty-six times for Australia, notching up an incredible 173 points in the process. Even more impressively, he has two World Cup winning medals, from 1991 and 1999, the second as captain. For the Twickenham final John was a mere pup in terms of his international career and as he recalled when we were chatting, the English support had a big impact on him that day.

  ‘I can distinctly remember running onto the pitch for the final. Given my tender years and the enormity of the occasion I had never experienced a crowd atmosphere like it. The stadium was filled with the sound of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and apart from a small but vociferous pocket of gold Australian shirts, tucked away in the seats with a restricted view, it seemed as though only one set of supporters had been allowed to enter the ground. As we lined up to start the game I looked over at our captain Nick Farr-Jones, who nodded his head and gave me a big smile which had a calming effect on me. At the time my interpretation was him saying, “Enjoy yourself, I have every confidence in you.” Years later, having had experience of the captaincy myself, I believe he was probably saying, “You’re young and raw, for God’s sake don’t stuff it up.”’

  England may have shot themselves in the foot to some extent with their change of tactics for the final, but it is clear from John’s recollections of the Australian changing room afterwards that the boys in white gave it everything they had.

  ‘It actually represented something more akin to a war zone with players lying around on the benches and the floor, physically and mentally exhausted. When I was growing up I’d played in finals of rugby and cricket tournaments and experienced the joy of winning and the pain of defeat. But it was only after the 1991 World Cup ended that it struck what this of all finals meant. One game to determine how you and your team would be judged in years to come. All the work came down to eighty minutes after which you were either a world champion, or not. Whatever way it goes, your life will never be quite the same again.’

  John is spot on here in his description of the emotions that come with victory or defeat in a World Cup final. I know, I’ve experienced both, although it took us 100 minutes to enjoy the sweet taste of success. But more of that later.

  One individual who played in the 1991 final was also a member of the England team that won the World Cup twelve years later, Jason Leonard. In his words he remained in international rugby long enough to put right the wrong of 1991. He wanted his revenge and he was going to hang around as long as he possibly could to get it. Another player I want to mention from 1991 is Brian Moore, England’s combative hooker. Known as ‘The Pitbull’, Brian is a seriously competitive individual who physically gave everything he had in that second World Cup final, and ended up with a loser’s medal for his efforts. The medal remained at home for a year or two, but every time he opened the drawer in which he had stashed it he was reminded of the defeat, so one day he placed it in his pocket, went for a walk and threw it into the River Thames. Following the England victory in 2003 Brian freely admits to a feeling of jealousy, and actually shed a few tears for the simple reason Jason Leonard had taken the opportunity to make amends for the 1991 result, something he couldn’t do. To put Leonard’s longevity into perspective, I recall a conversation I was having with him concerning an international match he’d played early in his career when a certain Jonny Wilkinson, who was nearby, said, ‘I remember that match, I was playing for Guildford Under 9s at the time.’

  The Agony and the Ecstasy

  Michael Lynagh

  Michael represented Australia in seventy-two Test matches from 1984 to 1995 and held the world points-scoring record when he retired with a total of 911. He also played three seasons of club rugby in the UK with Saracens from 1996 to 1998. He was the first major signing after Nigel Wray took control of the club and his name attracted many overseas stars to join him at Sarries as well as a legion of new supporters.

  ‘It was during his time at Saracens when I got to know him best and found him to be a top man both on and off the pitch. As a fly-half with a considerable (and deserved
) reputation, I have fond memories of trying to flatten him during the matches we played against each other. Sadly he has more memories of successfully sidestepping, leaving me with a desperate expression on my face as I grasped fresh air.

  ‘Most players in the world of international rugby have a few fans and the occasional detractor; in all the years I’ve known “Noddy” I’ve not heard a bad word said about him. He was a master at controlling a match and always seemed to find the time to talk to supporters from both teams after a game.

  ‘He is still seen regularly on our television screens as an analyst for Sky Sports, a role he approaches in the same calm and measured way he approaches life. Having played in the first three World Cups he is more than qualified to provide a memory or two for this book. Here he provides first his thoughts on the 1987 tournament and then how he, sort of, captained his country to victory in 1991. I’m guessing he prefers the second one.

  Whatever Will Be, Will Be, We’re Going to Rotorua . . .

  I now live in the UK and see a few of my rugby contemporaries on a fairly regular basis. Occasionally the conversation will turn to the first World Cup in 1987 and many of the guys from the Home Nations tell me how it was a trip into the unknown, like a tour with no fixed return date. Although New Zealand was principal host, we played all our pool games, quarter-final and semi-final in Australia, travelling between Sydney and Brisbane. In fact many of the guys from Queensland and New South Wales would work in the mornings and then turn up for training in the afternoon with the rest of the squad. Most of these guys were also living at home while the rest of us were kicking our heels in the team hotel, waiting for their daily arrival. It was a very strange situation, some of us were ‘on tour’ in our own country, with the remainder working full time in their normal jobs and dropping in for training sessions whenever work permitted. Whilst not ideal preparation, particularly when compared with the modern era, we still felt we were in with a great chance of winning the tournament.