The good, the great and the ugly. The week of the 1949 Wallabies' first Test against New Zealand in Wellington, the world-class fullback Brian Piper pilfered a bottle of Scotch from vice-captain Col Windon's room only to fall from a fire escape in the darkness and fracture an arm.
Piper never played Test rugby again, failing to join the immortal few to win the Bledisloe Cup in New Zealand.
Fame is a cruel mistress. Australia won both Tests, capturing a trophy it failed to hoist again for 30 years. Australian team manager, ''Wild Bill'' Cerutti, greeted the homeward-bound All Blacks at Sydney dockside after their 4-0 Test mauling in South Africa, brandishing the Cup and yelling, ''Here it is! We've got it now!''
Through the '70s Queensland emerged, providing the likes of Tony Shaw, Mark Loane, Paul McLean, Michael Lynagh and Stan Pilecki as did NSW Country with John Hipwell, Geoff Shaw, Greg Cornelsen and Peter Horton.
Since the first Test against New Zealand in 1903 and initial Bledisloe Cup Test in 1931, there has been an army of superb players, a myriad of brilliant and brutal performances: Jonah Lomu's swooping try down the left wing in the ''Greatest Test''; George Gregan's Test-winning tackle of Jeff Wilson; Richard Loe's nose-smashing forearm after Paul Carozza's try. Memories of Simon Poidevin's machine-like fury, the tackling of Jules Guerassimoff, the courage of Greg Davis and David Wilson, artistry of Mark Ella and John Brass, the power of Jim Lenehan and Roger Gould, bursts of Michael O'Connor and Daniel Herbert, the versatility of Rod Phelps and Michael Hawker, the genius of Ken Catchpole and David Campese, the passion of Chris Handy, Dick Cocks and Sam Scott-Young, the ghostly running of Steve Larkham and Chris Latham, the bullet passing of Hipwell, lineout jumping of Steve Cutler and David Hillhouse, the scrummaging of Roy Prosser, John Meadows and ''Topo'' Rodriguez.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times
Email a friend