Top 10 All Black-Wales flashpoints

Ali Williams and the All Blacks perform the Haka in the dressing at the Millennium Stadium in 2006. Photo / Getty Images

It is one of the most hyped rivalries in rugby, though with a record that reads All Blacks 21 wins, Wales 3, it is sometimes hard to work out why. The fact is Wales have a rarely matched passion for the game and while recent history has not been kind to the men from the valleys, they are still masters of generating controversy out of nowhere. Dylan Cleaver looks at some of the most memorable moments

1 Bob Deans, no try, 1905

The foundation block in the All Blacks-Wales "controversy industry", a century later the Deans incident still resonates. As recently as 2000, Lloyd Jones published a semi-fictional account of the 1905 tour, The Book of Fame, to great acclaim.

But back to Cardiff Arms Park and Wales are leading 3-0 when the All Blacks burst from deep through Billy Wallace. Deans took the ball and was tackled, planting the ball, according to black-tinted accounts, a good 15cm over the line.

However, by the time Scottish referee John Dallas arrived on the scene, dressed in his street clothes as was the custom, Deans had been dragged back by the desperate Welsh defenders and he awarded a scrum.

Nobody will ever know for sure, but Deans, a regular churchgoer, a non-smoker and teetotaller, was regarded as a man of unwavering integrity and he was emphatic in his belief he scored.

Tragically, he would die just three years later, from complications resulting from appendicitis.

2 Andy Haden's giant leap, 1978

If the All Blacks have Deans, the Welsh have Haden. Same ground, similar scenario, with the All Blacks trailing by two points late in the game, their hopes of a first Grand Slam seemingly stranded at second base.

In truth, it would have been no more than the All Blacks deserved. By most accounts Wales had dominated, yet with three minutes left Brian McKechnie was lining up a shot for goal to win the match for the tourists.

Quite how he came to be doing that is a sore point for the men, women and children of the valleys.

In a rare foray into the Welsh half, the All Blacks fed a lineout 10 metres outside the Welsh 22. As the ball went in, the two rather bulky frames of Frank Oliver and Andy Haden came flying out as if expelled by explosives.

Roger Quittenton, a mathematics lecturer from Sussex, determined that the angle of Oliver's ejection pointed to Geoff Wheel leaping off his shoulder. This was in the days before the metre-gap and it looked a very soft penalty. Haden? Well he just dived, plain and simple.

Thirty-one years later, the Welsh have yet to come to grips with it.

3 Incident at the Angel, 1972

In the days before he became David Bain's caped crusader, Joe Karam could kick a handy goal, as he did on five occasions during this match, won 19-16 by New Zealand after withstanding a furious Welsh second-half comeback.

This was the first rugby test to be transmitted live via satellite back here and an estimated 200,000 watched it in the early hours of Sunday morning. They would have seen rugged prop Keith Murdoch score a try in the corner and would have seen him be part of a frontrow that stole three tightheads off the home team's scrum.

What they didn't see was what Murdoch got up to in the early hours of his Sunday morning, though most likely it involved thumping a security guard at the Angel Hotel. Murdoch was sent home after pressure was put on the New Zealand Rugby Union by the Home Unions, a decision that still haunts some of Murdoch's teammates to this day.

Murdoch came home, didn't like the attention he was getting, so went bush - or rather outback - in the north of Australia. Finding Murdoch, a play by Margot McRae, which told the story of tracking Murdoch down, premiered in 2007.

4 Clem Thomas' cross-field kick, 1953

This match warrants a mention if only for the fact it is the last time Wales drank from the cup of success against the All Blacks.

Whether they did so because of a piece of intuitive brilliance from flanker Clem Thomas, or a shanked kick that bounced fortuitously into the arms of an Olympic sprint medallist, is a moot point.

Despite the All Blacks pack playing out of their skins, the backs could not turn possession and territorial advantage into points. Thus, with five minutes remaining, the score was 8-8 and Alan Elsom was caught in possession deep inside the All Blacks half.

Thomas, who had spent time on the wing during this match while Gareth Griffiths had a dislocated shoulder popped back into place, recovered the ball and let fly with his boot.

There is some talk that the ball sliced off the side of his boot but it mattered not a jot to Ken Jones, 1948 Olympic 4x100m silver medallist, who gleefully recovered the ball, sidestepped Ron Jarden and scored.

5 Huw Richards sees red, 1987

There can be few things as ignominious as being sent off in a World Cup semifinal when the eyes of the rugby world are on you.

Except maybe being sent off in a World Cup semifinal, etc, only after being revived from the knockout blow you have just received from the opposing No 8.

That was the fate that befell Richards, drafted into the Welsh side because of an injury to first-choice lock Bob Norster.

Richards was throwing a few roundhouse haymakers in the vicinity of Gary Whetton when Shelford, the enforcer, decided to test the Neath man's jaw.

Shelford's heart was probably in his mouth when he contemplated the ramifications of his punch, but Australian referee Kerry Fitzgerald was clearly a fan of outlaw justice and, waiting until Richards approached something nearing compos mentis, ordered him from the field.

The match was a technical knock-out as well, the All Blacks winning 49-6 to advance to the inaugural World Cup final.

6 Haka hoo-ha, 2006

This was all a bit sad, really, with nobody coming out of it looking good, especially not the All Blacks, who decided they would not perform a haka in front of 74,000 fans at Millennium Stadium because the Wales Rugby Union wanted to repeat the sequence of events from the "centenary" match the year before.

That had the haka following God Defend New Zealand, but preceding Hen Wlad fy Nhadau, just as it had been in 1905. For that the All Blacks made an exception but refused in 2006.

Nobody was budging so the haka was not performed, much to the crowd's displeasure.

That might not have gone down too badly if the All Blacks hadn't decided to do the haka in the sheds instead.

Captain Richie McCaw defended the decision by stating that the haka was "integral to New Zealand culture and the All Blacks' heritage ... if the other team wants to mess around, we'll just do the haka in the shed".

They had nobody to blame but themselves when the critics started clambering over one another to label them precious.

Oh, the All Blacks won 45-10.

7 Haka hoo-ha (reprise), 2008

Much more edifying spectacle this, restoring a bit of lost lustre to the tradition, though it proved more fodder for those who believe Wales had given up on the real thing in search of "minor" victories.

Wales coach Warren Gatland had indicated pre-test that Wales were preparing a special response to the haka.

In great sporting theatre Wales refused to disperse following the haka, the All Blacks refused to budge and for what seemed like an eternity the two teams eye-balled each other before referee Jonathan Kaplan's berating convinced McCaw to order his men to retreat.

"What we were trying to show is it's our stadium, our fans and we weren't prepared to give up the ground," said Wales' captain Ryan Jones, after the match.

Despite the fraught situation, the All Blacks were afterwards full of praise for the Welsh.

"I thought it was a great way to face a haka and then stand proud. I thought it was awesome," said Keven Mealamu.

Oh, the All Blacks won 29-9.

8 Tarr breaks neck, 1935

As far as debuts go, this one ticks a few boxes.

Hooker Don Tarr, who would later rise to the rank of lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy, was part of the Swansea side who beat the All Blacks earlier in the tour (becoming the first club side to beat all three Southern Hemisphere giants), forcing his way into this side.

This was not a great All Blacks side by any stretch but they were leading 12-10 with 10 minutes to go.

After a scrum broke up, Tarr was left lying motionless on the ground. Referee Cyril Gadney called for a stretcher and, more importantly, ensured no one moved the stricken rake.

Tarr was lifted face down on to the stretcher and taken to hospital where it was established he had broken his neck. Gadney's actions are credited with saving his life.

The tragedy lifted 14-man Wales, who scored late through Geoffrey Rees-Jones to win.

9 Jeffery's disastrous debut, 1967

In the end the insidious creep of foot-and-mouth disease prevented this fine All Blacks side travelling to Ireland to attempt a Grand Slam sweep, but their quest might have been stopped a month earlier had it not been for the misfortune of Newport No 8 John Jeffery.

Up 8-0 at the half, few thought that would be enough All Black points to defend turning into driving rain.

It should not have been either. Wales closed the gap to 8-3 before Fergie McCormick attempted a kick from 40m into the teeth of the wind. It fell well short and was collected by Jeffery.

Under pressure to make a decision, the 22-year-old made the wrong one, flinging it back towards his own line only to see speedy Hawkes Bay centre Bill Davis win the race to the ball. McCormick's conversion pushed the lead to 10 and the All Blacks survived a number of failed Welsh attempts at goal to win 13-6.

Jeffery never played for Wales again.

10 Diesel channels karma, 1988

For those fans of symmetry, the number 10 spot is reserved for battling Canterbury halfback Bruce Deans, the great nephew of Bob and brother of would-be Australian Robbie.

In an otherwise nondescript 52-3 thrashing of the tourists at Lancaster Park, Deans made his debut and scored a try.

It might have been 83 years late, but karmic law insisted that eventually a Deans would get over the line against the Welsh ... and the try would count.