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About a month ago, I speculated that the Rugby World Cup came four years too late for many of the games’ greats. Had the World Cup been held in 1983, it would have been one hell of a tournament, with all the likely talent available.
So here’s another “what if” fantasy: what if the first-ever Rugby World Cup had been held in 1971?
Those of you familiar with your rugby history would immediately appreciate the significance of 1971.
1971 represented 100 years since the first-ever test match, which was between England and Scotland (won by the Scots). 1971 was also the centenary of the birth of the English Rugby Union (RFU). The Scottish Rugby Union (then SFU) was formed in 1873.
To celebrate and mark the occasion, England played matches against Scotland (lost 6-26) and a President’s XV (lost 11-28). For trivial interest, the President’s XV was as follows:
Piere Villepreux (FRA), Steve Knight (AUS), Jo Maso (FRA), Joggie Jansen (SAF), Bryan Williams (NZL), Wayne Cottrell (NZL), Dawie de Villiers (SAF-vc), Brian Lochore (NZL-c), Greg Davis (AUS), Ian Kirkpatrick (NZL), Colin Meads (NZL), Frik du Preez (SAF), Hannes Marais (SAF), Peter Johnson (AUS), Roy Prosser (AUS).
What if the RFU and their fellow British unions had taken the celebrations one step further, by staging the inaugural Rugby World Cup?
Unfortunately, such foresight and vision wasn’t available in 1971.
It would have been a fascinating first-up World Cup, with no certainty as to who the winner might be. Wales were about to enter a golden period. Could they have done what Uruguay did in the football equivalent?
New Zealand and South Africa were both still formidable, despite the All Blacks implosion against the Lions. They were a team in transition, and much troubled.
The Springboks had gone through Australia undefeated despite widespread apartheid protests. But Australia wasn’t strong in rugby in 1971.
France were their usual dysfunctional selves, but could beat anyone on their day.
Ireland and Scotland were both solid and steady, without being spectacular. England, like Australia, would have brought up the rear!
For the purpose of the exercise, national captains Lochore (NZL), D.deVilliers (SAF) and Telfer (SCO) didn’t retire in 1970, but continued on to the world cup. Co-incidentally, each would have been 31.
Also Carrere (FRA) wasn’t embroiled in a club transfer scandal, youngster Goodall (IRE) deferred his defection to league, Thorne (NZL) returned from South Africa, and the brilliant HO.de Villiers (SAF) recovered from his career threatening injuries. He was still just 26.
Here are some composite teams of the time, with a little tweaking, for your interest.
AUSTRALIA: A.McGill, J.Cole, D.L’Estrange, G.Shaw, J.McLean, R.Fairfax, J.Hipwell, R.McLean, G.Davis (c), P.Sullivan, O.Butler, S.Gregory, R.Prosser, P.Johnson, D.Dunworth. Bench: S.Knight, G.Richardson, M.Barry, M.Flynn, B.Stumbles, J.Howard, R.Thompson.
NEW ZEALAND: L.Mains, B.Hunter, G.Thorne, J.Joseph, B.Williams, W.Cottrell, S.Going, B.Lochore, A. McNaughton, I.Kirkpatrick, C.Meads (c), P.Whiting, R.Guy, T.Norton, B.Muller. Bench: K.Carrington, R.Burgess, C.Laidlaw, A.Wyllie, T.Lister, A.Hopkinson, R.Urlich.
SOUTH AFRICA: HO.de Villiers, S.Nomis, P.Cronje, J.Jansen, G.Muller, P.Visagie, D.de Villiers, T.Bedford, J.Ellis, P.Greyling, J.Williams, F.du Preez, H.Marais (c), P.van Wyk, T.Sauermann. Bench: I.McCallum, A.Roux, J.Viljoen, M.du Plessis, J.Spies, M.Louw, R.Barnard.
FRANCE: P.Villepreux, R.Bertranne, J.Trillo, J-P.Lux, J.Cantoni, J-L.Berot, M.Barrau, W.Spanghero, C.Carrere (c), P.Biermouret, B.Dauga, E.Celeste, J-L.Azarette, R.Benesis, J.Iracabal. Bench: C.Dourthe, J.Maso, M.Pebeyre, J-C.Skrela, C.Spanghero, M.Lasserre, M.Yachvili.
ENGLAND: R.Hillier (c), J.Janion, J.Spencer, C.Wardlow, D.Duckham, I.Wright, J.Page, R.Hannaford, A.Neary, P.Dixon, N.Horton, P.Larter, F.Cotton, J.Pullin, S.Stevens. Bench: P.Rossborough, A.Old, N.Starmer-Smith, R.Taylor, C.Ralston, D.Powell, A.Johnson.
WALES: JPR.Williams, G.Davies, J.Dawes (c), A.Lewis, JC.Bevan, B.John, G.Edwards, M.Davies, J.Taylor, M.Roberts, B.Llewellyn, J.Young, D.Williams. Bench: I.Hall, P.Bennett, R.Hopkins, D.Quinnell, G.Evans, D.Lloyd, N.Rees.
SCOTLAND: I.Smith, W.Steele, J.Frame, C.Rea, A.Biggar, C.Turner, D.Paterson, C.Telfer (c), R.Arneil, P.Brown, G.Brown, A.McHarg, S.Carmichael, F.Laidlaw, I.McLauchlan. Bench: I.McGeechan, I.Robertson, I.McRae, W.Lauder, P.Stagg, N.Suddon, Q.Dunlop.
IRELAND: T.Kiernan (c), A.Duggan, F.Bresnihan, M.Gibson, E.Grant, R.McGann, R.Young, K.Goodall, F.Slattery, M.Hipwell, W-J.McBride, M.Molloy, S.Lynch, K.Kennedy, R.McLoughlin. Bench: B.O’Driscoll, R.Milliken, J.Moloney, D.Hickie, H.Steele, N.Dwyer, D.Barry.
Enjoy the trip down memory lane!
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