1956 - a mission accomplished

THE BIG EVENT WAS ...

The fourth and deciding test against the Springboks on September 1, 1956.

AND IT WAS MOMENTOUS BECAUSE ...

Seven years earlier, South Africa hosted the All Blacks and belted them All Blacks 4-0. New Zealand had never beaten the Springboks in a series. The combination of those two elements merged to make 1956 the year when those two "wrongs" would be righted. At least in the eyes of thousands of New Zealanders.

LEADING UP TO THE FOURTH TEST ...

The All Blacks won the first test in Dunedin, 10-6, then lost a brutal contest 8-3 at Athletic Park. In the third test at Lancaster Park, the All Black selectors wheeled up a young Waikato fullback who could kick like a mule, and recalled toughie Kevin Skinner in the front row. Don Clarke kicked the goals and Skinner took care of rugged Springbok props Chris Koch and Jaap Bekker, who were causing the All Black scrum heaps of grief. The All Blacks won the best test of the series 17-10, meaning for the first time since we began playing the Boks, New Zealand could not lose a series against them going into the final test.

SO THEY HAD A FULL HOUSE AT EDEN PARK THEN ...

You bet. Crowds queued overnight. More than 61,000 squeezed into the ground. It was the biggest attendance for a test in New Zealand. Talk about a nation united in beating their greatest rival. Those in thrall of that winter still talk of the will of the nation getting behind the men in black. Which might sound a bit overly dramatic. I guess you had to be there.

AND THE ALL BLACKS WON BY ...

11-5. But it was tight until five minutes into the second half when Peter Jones, the beloved giant kauri of the north, swooped to grab a loose ball and charge 35m down the touchline to score the winning try. That made it 8-0 and, funny as it sounds in these days of 80-point matches, that was the ball game. It was one of those throw your hat in the air moments. The Boks' try came three minutes from the end.

WASN'T THAT THE DAY PETER JONES SAID ...

Dead right. "I'm absolutely buggered," he told the country. The first time THAT word had been heard on the radio. Was he rapped on the knuckles? Not on your life. Became a folk hero, to be exact.

I'LL BET THE SOUTH AFRICANS WERE GRUMPY AS ALL HELL ...

Actually manager Danie Craven was magnanimous afterwards. "It's all yours, New Zealand," he told the crowd. There wasn't much else he could say. After all, they'd lost their treasured Springbok head - which they were to give to the first provincial team to beat them - in the opening game to Waikato, and been beaten 3-1 in the test series.

WASN'T THAT THE TEST TINY WHITE WAS CARRIED OFF ON A STRETCHER ...

He was brutally kicked in the back by a Springbok, whose identity was the subject of years of debate until Bekker tearfully owned up to doing the deed, not long before his death in 1999. It is quaintly described in the bible of All Black test rugby, Men in Black, as "White was injured in a flurry on the terrace touch line and had to leave the field". As it happened, it was the final test for both men.

SO PRESUMABLY THAT HERALDED THE START OF A GOLDEN ALL BLACK ERA ...

Well, not really. Of the All Black XV, six were destined to end their test careers that day. Besides White, Skinner retired, as did lock and captain Bob Duff and flanker Bill Clark. Second five-eighth Bill Gray toured Australia the next year but didn't make the test XV, and legendary wing Ron Jarden, aged only 26, announced beforehand that Eden Park was to be his finale. Two years later, they lost a test to the Wallabies, the Lions won the final test in 1959 before the All Blacks returned to South Africa. That result? 2-1 to the Boks.

YES, BUT I DON'T GET IT. SURELY, IT WAS JUST ANOTHER TEST SERIES. OKAY, AN IMPORTANT ONE, BUT ...

Try telling that to anyone who was around the day the Springboks' iron grip was loosened forever.