Barry is king as Fergie suffers Northern exposure

* Dunedin, 1971
All Blacks 3
Lions 9

It was the end of the road for Fergie McCormick and the beginning of the end of the feeling of superiority over Northern Hemisphere teams that New Zealanders had enjoyed for well over 10 years.

It was largely down to a Welsh bloke called Barry John, who looked a bit like a French poodle with all the fur cut off - all white, spindly legs and a shock of hair on top. He had a crab-like, scuttling run which nevertheless kept him out of the clutches of those nasty, hairy forwards. And kicking? John's judgment and control over the rugby ball effectively ended Fergie McCormick's test career.

Only two years previously, an anonymous John had to watch as McCormick kicked a world record 24 points as the All Blacks beat Wales 33-12 on Eden Park. John became 'King' John after the 1971 series and the manner in which he dethroned McCormick was clinical.

The All Black fullback - who gave way to Laurie Mains for the rest of the series - was reduced to fetching John's tactical kicks as the Lions controlled the forward exchanges and John controlled the match.

The All Blacks had a distinctly odd look about them for this test. The great Bryan Williams was played out of position at centre while the wingers were Bruce Hunter and Ken Carrington - neither previously regarded as test match material and who tried hard but compared unfavourably to the Lions fliers: Gerald Davies, John Bevan and David Duckham.

In the forwards, Richie Guy (a future chairman of the New Zealand Rugby Union) made his debut and the new No 7, Allan McNaughton, was also not selected again after this series - one of six in the All Blacks to whom this description applied (although one of them was a certain C. E. Meads playing his 55th and final test match in the fourth test against the Lions).

McNaughton it was who made the late tackle from which John kicked a penalty to make the game safe for the Lions. That came after, against the run of play, the comparatively tiny Scottish prop Ian McLauchlan, known as 'Mighty Mouse', charged down a kick by All Black No 8 Alan Sutherland and scored the try - provoking a deafening silence at Carisbrook.

The Lions deserved their win. They gave notice they could not only compete but dominate up front, as well as with the dashing backs seen so often to good effect in the provincial games.

And they helped produce the folklore that now surrounds All Blacks and Lions' series.