Battling the Lions: Listen … it's a live broadcast!

Keith Quinn

The history books tell us that British rugby teams have been coming to New Zealand since 1888. But radio commentaries and visual recordings, which we accept so readily these days, did not happen for the best part of 50 years.

The fourth visiting team, calling itself Great Britain, toured in 1930 and it is from around this time that fans could see and hear action from tour games.

Radio broadcasts had first started in this country in 1927 in Christchurch. By 1930, the first test against the All Blacks in Dunedin was given a full running commentary on station 4YA, and became the first instance of a test match heard on radio. The commentator was Alfred Canter.

There is also flickering film coverage of a number of tour games from 1930, including the four tests.

These were shot for the new fashion of the day, the neighbourhood cinema. The films of those games are now safe in the TVNZ Archives in Lower Hutt.

By the time of the next tour, the popular singing team of 1950 had all their tour games broadcast on radio, with the famous Winston McCarthy calling the tests.

With his unique catch-phrases (Listen! It's a goal) he became one of this country's most recognisable people. But that first Lions team were very popular for other reasons.

Under the leadership of their soft-spoken Irish captain Karl Mullen, they became big hits on New Zealand radio. A few years ago the 29 songs the Lions recorded were discovered in the loft of one of the team in England. I have heard that plans are afoot for a public release of those recordings this year.

By the time of the next tour, in 1959, (when I was a young lad on ballboy duty for the tour games in Wellington) McCarthy's commentaries of the test matches were live on radio but the other Saturday and midweek games were recorded and replayed only at 5pm.

The New Zealand Rugby Union had a stern belief that live broadcasts on radio would seriously affect crowd attendances.

McCarthy's descriptions of Ronnie Dawson's Lions' tour games were so well received they were released on long-playing records. The tests on that tour were again covered for filmed cinema release.

After the team departed for home, a 90-minute documentary of the whole tour showed in cinemas as a full-length feature. It was one of the most popular films of the year.

By 1966, full-scale video telecasts were available for home TV viewers. But live telecasts were still years away. The NZRU still held on to its conviction that live coverage would hurt crowd sizes.

Therefore, the Saturday agonies of Mike Campbell- Lamerton's Lions team being swamped 4-0 in the tests by Brian Lochore's All Blacks was not seen until 5pm on Sunday afternoon.

There was resentment over the broadcast arrangements at the end of the 1971 tour by John Dawes' hugely successful series-winning Lions. It was the policy then for the main NZBC radio commentator to do full descriptions of the test matches wherever the game was being played. Bob Irvine of Auckland was by then the touring radio man. But when the Lions got to Auckland for the vital final test, the NZBC decided not to use fellow-Auckland commentator Colin Snedden on the TV coverage.

Instead the BBC's Cliff Morgan, himself a great former Lion, was called in to broadcast the series decider. His call was to go to the New Zealand audience as well as for his home TV viewers.

As a young reporter living in Auckland I recall that we felt this did the excellent and loyal Snedden a complete disservice.

While Morgan was a fine commentator, there were rumblings that the Welshman was not one of us.

It seemed a cultural cringe had prevailed among the NZBC hierarchy. They preferred the dulcet tones of Morgan. The decision was the broadcasting equivalent of the Herald deciding to dispense with T. P. McLean's reporting on that day and use instead only British writers.

In 1977, Phil Bennett's team endured the worst weather in decades as they travelled around New Zealand for 25 games. There was hardly a match where dank rain and cloying mud did not feature on the new-fangled coloured TV pictures.

In the Wellington test, All Black Grant Batty intercepted and raced away to score a matchwinning try. When you see that moment today you will note that the video picture is distorted. That was because a group of young lads, sheltering from the rain, banged and shook the camera scaffold in support of Batty's famous run.

By 1983, standards of New Zealand TV and radio coverage had greatly improved. The visual images of Ciaran Fitzgerald's team in action went back to Britain via live satellites. But ask the NZRU chairman, Jock Hobbs about coverage of his first test try. Hobbs, the ever-diligent openside flanker, received a short pass from Murray Mexted from an attacking All Black five-metre scrum.

Hobbs crossed for a try but the TV cameras were showing a replay of a previous incident. Thus Jock's proud moment has never been seen.

And from the most recent Lions tour here in 1993, there was a curious incident during the test at Wellington.

I was that day filming profile stories with a sideline cameraman, Roger Duncan. Late in the first half a New Zealand team official walked right around the field and approached us. Roger and I were told that All Black coach Laurie Mains didn't want us to film his team during their on-field halftime break. Being disinclined to follow such an instruction, Roger set his camera on a wide-shot of the New Zealand team's halftime huddle and kept recording. Later I viewed the video and it showed a small slip of paper which was carried from the grandstand out to the All Black captain, Sean Fitzpatrick.

Those were the days when no replacements, apart from injury, were permitted in any test. Apparently the note contained instructions that Mark Cooksley, the All Black lock forward, should feign an injury immediately and leave the field before the second half started. Cooksley looked disgruntled as Fitzpatrick passed on the news to him. He was led away by the team doctor, not limping, but holding the back of one of his legs to give the impression he was hurt.

That video makes hilarious viewing these days, though at the time it was tantamount to a rugby deception by the New Zealand team. That incident is also now safely tucked away in the TVNZ archives. It is part of the many stories of times gone by from the rich Lions-All Blacks radio and TV history.

This year's TV coverage

* All 2005 Lions tour matches will screen live on Sky Sport 1 and live in widescreen on the Rugby Channel.

* Replays of some games will run on both Sport 1 and Rugby Channel.

* The three tests will be preceded by buildup featuring Lions archive footage.

* On TV3, delayed coverage of each game starts 90 minutes after kick-off. TV3 also has delayed full coverage of all Saturday games and will screen highlights only of the weekday provincial games, from 11pm to midnight on the night of the game.

* Games will also be broadcast live on Radio Sport and Newstalk ZB.