All Blacks: Rugby's greatest rivalry

The All Blacks train for Sunday's test where Stephen Donald will be hoping he can repeat his Bledisloe Cup performance. Photo /Getty Images

As the 1924 Invincibles cruised unbeaten through the British Isles, there was a growing wish among the Springboks to test their quality against the All Blacks.

The invitation to tour the Republic was made, but not accepted for a further 18 months.

The logistics for a such a tour were enormous; players would be away from home for six months.

However, the New Zealand Rugby Union finally agreed on a 22-match programme which began when the Euripides docked in Durban in late May 1928 and concluded when the Ceramic left Cape Town in September bound for home.

Some of the travel was staggering. They took six weeks to get to Durban, 64 hours to go by train to Cape Town and within 60 hours of their arrival had won their first game at Newlands.

The introduction in Ron Palenski's book All Blacks is leavened by facing photographs showing the All Blacks in 1928, in their kit, on board the Euripides, drinking tea as they readied for training on the voyage from Sydney to Durban.

Contrast that with the facing picture of the All Blacks sitting in business class on their flight to the Republic tuned into their individual laptops as they look through their plays and footage of their rivals.

In the 14th match of that initial tour in 1928, the All Blacks played their first match in Bloemfontein, beating Free State 15-11, but they have played just two tests in that city, in 1960 and 1976, for a draw and a win.

Back in 1928 when the All Blacks played and lost their first test, 17-0, on South African soil at Durban, one local newspaper journalist colourfully wrote that five-eighths "Bennie Osler was the murderer!"

The great rivals did not meet in a test at Bloemfontein until 1960. At that stage the series was level and with just six minutes left the Boks led 11-3 before the tourists' stirring fightback.

Don Clarke kicked a 50m penalty before Frank McMullen scored in the corner, leaving Clarke with a most awkward sideline conversion to claim the draw.

The pressure kick travelled between the uprights which persuaded coach Jack Sullivan to describe it as the best kick he had ever seen from the massive fullback.

Durban writer Reg Sweet, who covered the tumultuous tour of New Zealand in 1956, correctly picked the 11-all deadlock and pocketed the loot from the newspaper scribes' sweep. He promised drinks that evening but the hotel had run out of staff, meals and beer by the time the media finished their work.

The All Blacks traipsed into Bloemfontein again in 1976 with the irrepressible Kit Fawcett picked for his test debut. Joe Morgan was brought into the midfield, from where he scored a sensational solo try, and Kevin Eveleigh and Brad Johnstone were chosen in the pack.

As 71,000 spectators screamed their instructions and the All Blacks held a solitary point advantage, Sid Going biffed a pass back between his legs and Doug Bruce dropped a remarkable goal. The test was won 15-9.

The All Blacks have not played a test there since. Not until Sunday morning, when they run on to the retooled 46,000-capacity stadium in Bloemfontein.

In 1992 the All Blacks travelled to the city for the second match of their short tour. Ian Jones captained the side that day as the tourists won 33-14 in an ill-tempered match at the Free State Stadium.

Bloemfontein is not one of the world's most exhilarating cities, indeed a scribe once delivered a line about reverse parking the car being one of the most exciting tasks during a visit. But there is always drama in the footy.

Alcohol was forbidden in the ground in 1992 but locals intent on sampling during the game used to inject their choice of booze into naartjies (mandarins) and when nature called, some risked their lives as they spent their pennies from the top of a rickety wooden stand.

New facilities have been built at the renamed Vodacom Park where the All Blacks smashed Japan 145-17 at the 1995 World Cup as the tourists rested captain Sean Fitzpatrick and Jonah Lomu.

While stand-in skipper Paul "Ginge" Henderson made ESPN's play of the day and Simon Culhane remarkably missed just one attempt out of 21 kicks at goal, all the media attention was on Lomu. The giant winger was very obliging that day, but his mind was probably elsewhere as he had just met Tanya Rutter, the woman who was to become his first wife.

The All Blacks have not played in the "city of roses" since that visit. They flew there yesterday while the Boks have been in camp in the test city since last week. The old rivalry resumes.