Old Trophies Never Age!

17 October 2016

In the 1950s and 60s when a South African rugby team left home for a major overseas tour they always carried with them a splendidly mounted Springbok trophy head. The trophy would be presented to the first team that beat the South Africans on any trip.

In 1965 a confident Springbok team arrived in Wellington for just the second tour game, of a 24-match itinerary. Buoyed by a 32-3 win in their first game at Gisborne against Poverty Bay-East Coast they then ran into a powerhouse Wellington team. Though it was only 1-try each the final score favoured the home team by 23-6. So the Springbok head was duly handed over to the Wellington captain Ken Gray.

Such moments are not forgotten, nor are the trophies hidden away to gather dust. In 2016 at the Wellington Rugby Union's 'Old Timer's Day' 51 years after the epic victory, two of the senior players wanted to record their presence with the trophy one more time. Here are Gary Hermansson and Neven MacEwan, the number eight forward and lock forward respectively from the Wellington team

To this writer's eye not one of the three 'people' in this photo have aged a jot!

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Every day there is Rugby History 24 February, 1876

Click to show Ernest Edward 'General' Booth - first tour reporter.

the 1906-07 All Black fullback), Ernest Edward 'General' Booth was born. He was nicknamed after William Booth, the founder and first General of the Salvation Army. After touring Great Britain with the 1905-06 New Zealand team E.E.Booth later became a rugby writer and was one of the first touring rugby correspondents. He travelled with the 1908-9 Australian team to Great Britain. Later still he gained notoriety (in the strictly amateur game of the time) when he was hired as a professional rugby coach by the Southland Rugby Union.

A-Z of Rugby

Click to show CAMBERABERO, GUY, LILIAN and DIDIER

CAMBERABERO, GUY
La Voulte and France
14 internationals for France 1961–68

CAMBERABERO, LILIAN
La Voulte and France
13 internationals for France 1964–68

CAMBERABERO, DIDIER
La Voulte, Beziers and France
36 internationals for France 1982–93

As uncapped brothers Guy and Lilian surfaced in international rugby when both toured New Zealand with France in 1961.

Poor Lilian, one of the victims of the heavy early-tour loss to Waikato, was one of the three halfbacks for the 13-match tour and, though he was never injured, that was his only match.
He went on to play 13 internationals between 1964 and 1968, only once on a losing French side.

Flyhalf Guy played one test on the 1961 tour, the first of his 14 internationals, of which France won 10 and drew one. He scored 113 international points, including the France Five Nations championship’s record of 32 in 1967. He dropped a record five goals (in three matches) that season.

Guy’s son, Didier, also reached international level as a flyhalf, in 1982, 14 years after his father’s career had finished. Didier was a brilliant goal-kicker, setting a world record of 30 points in one game, in France’s World Cup match with Zimbabwe at Auckland in 1987. He was something of a curiosity – he played most of his internationals wearing a full hair-piece.

Didier was France’s vital goal-kicking and tactical flyhalf in the 1991 Rugby World Cup, appearing in three of France’s four games. An injury prevented him playing in the important quarter final with England. France, missing Camberabero’s authority in the number ten jersey, tumbled to defeat.

Didier Camberabero at that point in time, became the highest scorer in French test history and the first Frenchman to pass 300 points in tests.