Off the ball: The stuff of legend, not cash

RICHARD BOOCK reckons the money-making Tri-Nations has robbed a generation of that special tour spirit.

I can clearly remember the day my father had his first heart attack.

It was in 1977, and we were on the terrace at Carisbrook watching the Lions beat Merv Jaffray's Otago side 12-7.

At the time it was a gripping, white-knuckled ride for all concerned, and in hindsight it was no surprise that the old man's pump chose that moment to communicate its distress.

Little things stand out, but none more so than my father's insistence on watching the game to the final whistle, a feat of madness matched only by the performance of Otago flanker Rex Smith, who also appeared to defy death on several occasions and at one stage ran back into the game after dismounting a stretcher.

Smith was about the size of Andrew Mehrtens, but he raced around the field like a hare, getting to the ball milliseconds before being bulldozed, trampled and left for dead by a huge Lions pack that included front-rowers Fran Cotton, Peter Wheeler and Graham Price.

There was the cleverness and ever-so-slight prissiness of Lions captain Phil Bennett, the only try - scored by local hero Bevan Wilson, and the hair-raising departure at the game's end, when terrace patrons were swept off their feet as they neared the narrow exit.

Call me old-fashioned, but the latter-day Tri-Nations tournament has proved a poor replacement for the international tour: that nationwide rugby challenge in which not only the All Blacks, but also the provinces strutted their stuff against the visitors.

Instead of the full-course thrill of following a major touring team, we seem to have been dished up the equivalent of a TV snack, in which the All Blacks play the same opponents year-in and year-out in a competition designed solely for making money.

The subsequent profits may well have pleased the television companies, the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and the affected players, but the move has robbed a generation of kids of the fascination that comes with a full tour, and for that the game has suffered.

If the 1977 Lions tour was to be ruled out, my next most vivid rugby memory would probably be the All Blacks 1976 tour of South Africa, and after that, the 1971 Lions tour of New Zealand.

But if you talk to people with more experience on their side, the really big rugby event in New Zealand was the 1956 tour by the Springboks, when it seemed the whole country was waiting to avenge the series defeats of 1949 and 1937.

You still cannot go far in the South Island without bumping into someone who was at Lancaster Park the day prop Kevin Skinner swapped sides to sort out the South African front row, or at Eden Park when Peter Jones ran 35m to score the series-winning touchdown in the fourth test.

Some will point to the 1959 Lions tour and New Zealand's introduction to twinkle-toed backs like Tony O'Reilly and Peter Jackson, and others will remember more recent tours, possibly the 1981 Springboks and the phenomenon of Danie Gerber and Naas Botha.

Where were you the moment Allan Hewson kicked his match-winning goal at Eden Park?

This is where the All Black legend lies, it is the heart and soul of the national game, and it did not deserve to have the eyes picked out of it by people who appreciated nothing but dollar signs and bottom lines.

Let's be frank, the Tri-Nations is a poor substitute. Over the years it has blurred into one continual, slightly boring struggle, just as cricket lovers have found with their much vaunted one-day game.

Hopefully, the NZRFU will soon recognise this, just as we all recognised the enormous attraction of the recent Lions-Australia series.

As for my father, he passed away in 1994 - the year the Springboks treated New Zealand to their most recent meaningful tour. I hesitate to speak on his behalf, but I doubt he would have thought much of the present setup.