KeithQuinnRugby
Thinking and talking about rugby every day for 50+ years
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Favourite Photos: People, places and stories from around the rugby world
From my travels I have collected many photos; had them sent to me or saved them, because, well, behind most of them there is a good story!
Fiji Rugby's famous day
23 October 2014
The things you find at home all these years later. While rummaging through some family shots I came across this picture I took from the commentary scaffold at what was then Buckhurst Park in Suva, Fiji. It shows the Fiji and British Isles teams coming onto the field before the playing of the last game of the Lions 26 match tour of New Zealand and Fiji in 1977. I think the high aspect of the shot might make it unique to Fiji rugby history. The scaffold was so rickety no photographers were allowed on it. This was the day Fiji's national team scored perhaps their most famous home victory. Fiji won 25-21. They could be rightly proud of course but it is true the Lions did not approach the fixture with true dedication. I can still recall their poolside party raging on and keeping me awake 16 hours before kickoff! Read more »
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I love this picture because it says so much about a typical rugby fan's view of a New Zealand rugby test in the 1960s. It was taken by a young Christchurch lad Warwick Burke, who later became an accomplished broadcaster in Wellington. He commentated rugby for a time and these days is a superb news reader on National Radio. I like the picture as it is a reminder of the old Lancaster Park in Christchurch, a ground which was smashed by the earthquakes of recent times and has been abandoned. This picture shows the view the everyday person got from the wide embankment which ran the length of one side of the field. A crowd of 50,000 saw this afternoon game when Brian Lochore's All Blacks beat Mike Campbell-Lamerton's Lions by 19-6. Note also the slightly muddy field - which is something the modern test player does not encounter to the same extent. And the winger No.14 is throwing the ball into the lineout. These days the ball is thrown to a lineout almost exclusively by the hookers. I also note the very dignified clothing some of the photographers are wearing. Pullovers and jackets being preferred by some. [Scroll down here for more great photographs]
A great shot of the much missed Lancaster Park
27 September 2014
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The amazing Scottish TV commentator Bill McLaren commentated on the game for the BBC for over 50 years. The much loved Bill prepared assiduously before EVERY game he was to broadcast. His family tell us he would often start on Monday for a game to be played the following Saturday. The result were these handwritten 'Big Sheets' about every player and official to be involved. He left nothing to chance. It was often said 'Bill knew mre about each player that they knew about themselves!' Note how he used different coloured pens to separate each fact. That there so there was no 'searching' for them during a live telecast. This 'Big Sheet' was drawn up for his call of the All Blacks v Barbarians Club at Twickenham in 1993. Details of the scores, scoring, players, referees and reserves and even those who were to sit in the official box are all found here if you look closely. After this game Bill would file the sheet away and two days later would begin another sheet for his next call.
Bill McLaren's Big Sheets - done before every game he covered
26 September 2014
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At the Nanjing Old City Wall 2014 - it was first built in 1366.
The Olympics Come to China - Again!
28 August 2014
I had been to China a number of times before 2014. The main time was for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, then for the Paralympic Games which followed. I was in the country then for nearly two months. I had been for rugby reasons too; Firstly to Shanghai for several IRB 7s rugby tournaments and then there was a similar event in Beijing in 2003. That time the IRB were hoping to impress upon the 2008 Chinese Olympic Games Officials how nicely their game would sit in an Olympic programme. That didn't happen then but it has now. So in 2014 here I was in Nanjing and forgive me if I felt part of a breakthrough rugby broadcast team for the Olympic movement. The Summer Youth Sevens event in Nanjing was great fun. So I made sure I found time to make an appropriate 'location' picture to mark my time in this city. Here I am at the Nanjing Old City Wall with the Olympic rings a backdrop. Construction on the wall was started in 1366. Read more »
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Danie Craven wasn't the first to specialise with this halfback's pass - but he was the best!
Danie Craven did it best
16 August 2014
Is this the best photograph ever taken of a rugby dive-pass? If it's not then show me a better one. This is the great Danie Craven playing for South Africa v New Zealand in the third test match of 1937 at Eden Park in Auckland. Some old historians claim Craven 'invented' the dive-pass for a halfback in the 1930s but in fact it was first used to best effect by an earlier Springbok half, by the name of Dauncie Devine - in the South African team which played New Zealand in South Africa in 1928. Read more »
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January 1954 and on TV for the first time New Zealand beats England 5-0
All Blacks first time on TV - 1954
17 June 2014
The All Blacks in full colour playing their test matches are a familiar sight these days. But it was not always that way. This is a freeze-frame photo taken from the first ever live telecast of New Zealand's famous team on television. Coverage was in black and white only and only four cameras intercut the action. Focus on the play a far from the high definition of the modern digital coverage of today. New Zealand beat England in this match in 1954 by 5-0. Read more »
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Every day there is Rugby History 1 September 1928
Click to show The first All Black tour of South Africa is squared
The first All Black tour of South Africa is squared.
With South Africa leading the 4-match test series 2-1, NZ had to win this game in Cape Town. They did by 13-5.
A-Z of Rugby
Click to show FARR-JONES, NICK
FARR-JONES, NICK
New South Wales and Australia
63 internationals for Australia 1984–93
As captain of the superb Wallaby World Cup-winning team of 1991, Nick Farr-Jones became one of the best-known men of modern rugby. His authority as a player and captain was crowned when he received the cup at Twickenham from Queen Elizabeth II and held it high for the rugby world to see. For Farr-Jones the 12–6 win over England was a culmination of a long pursuit of success for him and Australian rugby. Looking back, it can be seen that his career was regularly signposted with success, and not just in 1991.
Two significant records tumbled for him in 1990. First, in his seventh season as the Wallaby halfback, he took over from the great John Hipwell as Australia’s most-capped player in that vital position. He also became Australia’s most-capped captain, the World Cup final being his 31st appearance as team leader. And he and his partner Michael Lynagh cruised past John Rutherford and Roy Laidlaw’s old record for most tests together for any country as a scrumhalf–flyhalf combination.
Nick Farr-Jones made his first tour to Fiji in 1984 and played his first test on Twickenham against England. He was an immediate success, and in combination with Mark Ella played a vital role in the Wallaby team that went on to win a Grand Slam over British countries. Two years later he helped Australia win the Bledisloe Cup in New Zealand.
The elegant yet aggressive style of Farr-Jones marked him as one of the world’s most significant modern players. He was possessed of a slick pass (in the Australian scrumhalf tradition of men who had gonr before him; Cyril Burke, Des Connor, Ken Catchpole and John Hipwell), he was a fast and explosive runner, and had a wide tactical knowledge of the game (including the best ways to exploit the blindside). His strength and fitness, enthusiasm and popularity among his fellow players, not to mention his from-the-front style of captaincy made him one of Australia’s best of all time. Many critics also considered him, in his time, the world’s best halfback. Injury around Rugby World Cup time in 1987 restricted his appearances and performances in that series.
Farr-Jones took over the captaincy of Australia in 1988 and although Wallaby teams under his leadership lost a number of series and games, his own form did not diminish. He could count numerous successes as captain, including the World Cup final of course, plus beating England in Australia in two tests in 1988, and beating Scotland, France and New Zealand at least once on their home soil in a little over 18 months.
Nick Farr-Jones also made a tremendous contribution to Australian rugby by his personal example. He has always been a learned rugby thinker and an eloquent speaker. In the face of the enormous popularity of rugby league in Australia he has always represented his game with true style.
After his career as a player was over he also made a significant contribution as a TV commentator and in local politics and business.
10 Questions to well known sporting people
Today's KQ Rugby Quiz
Which New Zealand Tennis Sponsor's representative always included two of his 'own' invented words in his speeches at the Heineken Open prize givings in the 2000s - and what were the words?
What do you think?
Click here to show the answer.