KeithQuinnRugby
Thinking and talking about rugby every day for 50+ years
You are here: Home » News Comment » The 'Jerry Collins Took the Rap' story is commented upon.
10 June 2015
My story on the late Jerry Collins having to front for a TV interview straight after an All Blacks World Cup defeat in 2003 has been picked up and run on the New Zealand Herald. As a result of that the All Blacks media manager from that New Zealand team has sent his version of events. I thank Matt McIlraith and publish his comments.
"As the All Black media manager of the time as referred to by Keith, I remember the said incident well.
"There had been huge issues through that RWC about the All Black coach refusing to do the immediate post-game TV interviews but it wasn't within the existing tournament rules of the time, so he was within his rights to refuse, albeit as unwise as this course of action was.
"The rule was changed after 2003. In this instance, when John refused, Jerry, who was in ear shot of his rather terse reply within the dressing room, jumped up and said he would do it.
"A number of the players did this throughout that year when the head coach refused to do things, this was certainly not the only time, but it did reflect well on the leadership skills Jerry already had, and the fact that he cared, while perhaps reflecting less well on the head coach, although each individual will draw their own opinion on that.
"As Keith recalled, John did front the formal post game press conference. The women Keith referred to that Jerry went and saw after were his mother and another family member (I think his sister), whom had religiously waited for him outside after each of the games at that tournament.
"RIP JC.
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It was the Welsh RU's 100th Centennial game. Expectations were high in Cardiff that day for a big home win but Graham Mourie's All Blacks took the cake 23-3!
BAJADA
A term given to the rugby world by Argentina. Bajada (also known as bajadita) is the name given to the style of pushing in a scrum where the hooker keeps his feet back and the scrum pushes forward using the thrust of all eight men. While that in itself was not a new technique, Argentine teams, at both club and national level, shocked the rugby world with secret variations of the eight-man shove in the early 1970s.
The results were often astounding. South African players and officials were perhaps the first outsiders to feel the power of bajada when the Buenos Aires club, San Isidro, took the technique to South Africa in 1973. The locals there were shocked to find their teams, with all of South Africa’s history of powerful scrummaging, frequently pushed into a backslide.
Recent law changes have tended to deflate the power of the scrum, but the legacy of powerful scrimmaging remains with Argentine rugby today. The term ‘bajada’ (meaning ‘downhill’) deserves to be remembered.
What was different about the British Columbian winger Denny Veitch who played against the British and Irish Lions in Vancouver in 1966?
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