Barbarians vs New Zealand, 1973
 Cardiff Arms Park | |||||||
| Event | 1972–73 New Zealand rugby union tour | ||||||
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| Date | 27 January 1973 | ||||||
| Venue | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | ||||||
| Referee | G. Domercq (France) | ||||||
Barbarians v New Zealand was a 1973 rugby union match between the Barbarians and New Zealand. It was played as part of the 1972–73 New Zealand tour of Britain, Ireland, France and North America. The game featured what has been described as "the greatest try ever scored". It was scored by Gareth Edwards. It is widely considered one of the best tries ever scored in high level rugby union. [1][2] The Barbarians won the game 23–11. [3] It was also the first time New Zealand lost to the Barbarians.
The game (between the Barbarians and the New Zealand All Blacks) is one I will never forget and those of us who played in it will never be allowed to forget. It is a match that will live with me forever. People tend only to remember the first four minutes of the game because of the try, but what they forgot is the great deal of good rugby played afterwards, much of which came from the All Blacks. After the success of the 1971 Lions tour, which captured the imagination of the whole country, it was an opportunity to bring a lot of that side together again.
Gareth Edwards
The greatest try ever scored
The try scoring move started with a deep kick from the New Zealand winger Bryan Williams. The ball dropped towards Phil Bennett near his goal line. Bennett sidestepped and evaded three tackles, in turn passing the ball to JPR Williams, who managed to offload the ball after Bryan Williams had tackled him around the neck. It next passed through four pairs of hands (Pullin, Dawes, David and Quinnell) before Edwards, slipping between two team-mates and seemingly intercepting the last pass, finished with a diving try in the left-hand corner.
The commentary itself is sometimes described as the greatest ever, although it very nearly didn't happen because until just 2 hours before the match Bill McLaren was due to commentate; but he was recovering from 'flu so Cliff Morgan was called in at the last minute.[4] Morgan commentated the try:
Kirkpatrick to Williams. This is great stuff. Phil Bennett covering. Chased by Alistair Scown. Brilliant! Oh, that's brilliant! John Williams, Bryan Williams. Pullin. John Dawes, great dummy. To David, Tom David, the half-way line! Brilliant by Quinnell! This is Gareth Edwards! A dramatic start! What a score! Oh, that fellow Edwards!
A moment later, at the restart, he added,
If the greatest writer of the written word would have written that story, no one would have believed it. That really was something.
In a UK poll conducted by Channel 4 in 2002, British rugby supporters voted Edwards's try number 20 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.[5] The 40th anniversary of the try sparked renewed interest.[6]
Teams
| 27 January 1973 |
| Barbarians | 23–11 |  New Zealand |
| Edwards (4 – 1t) Slattery (4 – 1t) Bevan (4 – 1t) Williams (4 – 1t) Bennett (7 – 2c, 1pg) | Report | (8 – 2t) Batty (3 – 1pg) Karam |
| Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Referee: G. Domercq (FFR) |
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References
- ^ "The greatest try ever scored?". BBC. 26 January 2013.
- ^ Gallagher, Brendan (4 December 2009). "Barbarians v New Zealand '73 - the greatest try of them all". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "International Matches". Barbarianfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010.
- ^ Gallagher, Brendan (3 December 2009). "Barbarians v New Zealand: the greatest commentary that never was". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "100 Greatest Sporting Moments - Results". Channel 4. 2002. Archived from the original on 15 January 2002.
- ^ Morgan, Cliff (25 January 2013). "Cliff Morgan salutes 'greatest try' when Gareth Edwards scored for Barbarians against All Blacks in 1973". Daily Telegraph.