Great Britain v New Zealand 1989 1st test - rugby league

[Hugo]

I enjoyed watching this, was a nice bit of nostalgia. Remember watching this live on Grandstand and had been meaning to look it up on youtube for a while. Game played in front of a 3/4 full Old Trafford with the old terracing still up. Those NZ tracksuits.

Some good rugby played in the second half by the Kiwis and then a great individual try by Offiah to make the match competitive near the end. Alan Tait at fullback, Sean Edwards comes on the second half and plays well enough to get into the starting XIII for the second test.

[LenCohen]

It's quite amazing how crap almost all sport was back then.

[Kawazaki]

Rugby League literally had it all back then (despite what RL fans will tell you). They usually had a live match on Grandstand every Saturday - when Grandstand would get 5m+ viewers across the UK. They had the pick of just about any RU player they wanted with zero defence put up by the home unions who were still staunchly amateur (despite what RL fans will tell you), the only RU on television outside the 5Ns test matches was an hour of Rugby Special just before Ski Sunday and RL crowds were at least 10x the big RU fixtures. RU was on its knees back then and RL still couldn't expand outside the M62!

[GogLais]

Rugby League literally had it all back then (despite what RL fans will tell you). They usually had a live match on Grandstand every Saturday - when Grandstand would get 5m+ viewers across the UK. They had the pick of just about any RU player they wanted with zero defence put up by the home unions who were still staunchly amateur (despite what RL fans will tell you), the only RU on television outside the 5Ns test matches was an hour of Rugby Special just before Ski Sunday and RL crowds were at least 10x the big RU fixtures. RU was on its knees back then and RL still couldn't expand outside the M62!

I'm old enough to remember RL before the six passes rule - I've checked - pre 1972. God it was boring, especially in black and white.

[Hugo]

Rugby League literally had it all back then (despite what RL fans will tell you). They usually had a live match on Grandstand every Saturday - when Grandstand would get 5m+ viewers across the UK. They had the pick of just about any RU player they wanted with zero defence put up by the home unions who were still staunchly amateur (despite what RL fans will tell you), the only RU on television outside the 5Ns test matches was an hour of Rugby Special just before Ski Sunday and RL crowds were at least 10x the big RU fixtures. RU was on its knees back then and RL still couldn't expand outside the M62!

You raise a great point here - why were RU international matches shown live but club matches only on Rugby special? Was there a specific aversion in the game or in the beeb to showing club matches on TV?

Its actually funny to think about - as a kid all I knew about rugby was what I saw on the beeb and it was a mishmash of the 5 nations, club rugby league with rugby special and the occasional Great Britain league match thrown in.

[Grandpa]

I enjoyed watching this, was a nice bit of nostalgia. Remember watching this live on Grandstand and had been meaning to look it up on youtube for a while. Game played in front of a 3/4 full Old Trafford with the old terracing still up. Those NZ tracksuits.

Some good rugby played in the second half by the Kiwis and then a great individual try by Offiah to make the match competitive near the end. Alan Tait at fullback, Sean Edwards comes on the second half and plays well enough to get into the starting XIII for the second test.

Kevin Iro - The Beast... he seemed like Lomu back then, but seeing him again now, he doesn't seem that big compared to today's players...

[frodder]

I worked in Runcorn for ICI in 1989. They sponsored Widnes back then so cheap tickets. Jiffy and Chariots in the same team was quite something

[Niegs]

Rugby League literally had it all back then (despite what RL fans will tell you). They usually had a live match on Grandstand every Saturday - when Grandstand would get 5m+ viewers across the UK. They had the pick of just about any RU player they wanted with zero defence put up by the home unions who were still staunchly amateur (despite what RL fans will tell you), the only RU on television outside the 5Ns test matches was an hour of Rugby Special just before Ski Sunday and RL crowds were at least 10x the big RU fixtures. RU was on its knees back then and RL still couldn't expand outside the M62!

I'm old enough to remember RL before the six passes rule - I've checked - pre 1972. God it was boring, especially in black and white.

Assuming you mean 'six tackles', I didn't realize that it wasn't always part of the game. Just read that they brought in four tackles in 1966, so it could be virtually unlimited before that, until a mistake was made?

[GogLais]

Rugby League literally had it all back then (despite what RL fans will tell you). They usually had a live match on Grandstand every Saturday - when Grandstand would get 5m+ viewers across the UK. They had the pick of just about any RU player they wanted with zero defence put up by the home unions who were still staunchly amateur (despite what RL fans will tell you), the only RU on television outside the 5Ns test matches was an hour of Rugby Special just before Ski Sunday and RL crowds were at least 10x the big RU fixtures. RU was on its knees back then and RL still couldn't expand outside the M62!

I'm old enough to remember RL before the six passes rule - I've checked - pre 1972. God it was boring, especially in black and white.

Assuming you mean 'six tackles', I didn't realize that it wasn't always part of the game. Just read that they brought in four tackles in 1966, so it could be virtually unlimited before that, until a mistake was made?

Yes, I'm pretty sure that was the case.

[MungoMan]

I'm old enough to remember RL before the six passes rule - I've checked - pre 1972. God it was boring, especially in black and white.

Assuming you mean 'six tackles', I didn't realize that it wasn't always part of the game. Just read that they brought in four tackles in 1966, so it could be virtually unlimited before that, until a mistake was made?

Yes, I'm pretty sure that was the case.

It was, just as there is no statutory limit on how many successive tackles can be made on a team on the XV-a-side code. A side that avoided being penalised or doing something to cause a scrum (knock-on, forward pass, etc, kicking or being forced into touch, etc) could retain the ball if it so chose until and unless some other reset intervened.

Needless to say, kicking the ball away wasn't considered a clever ploy most times. And field goals (drop goals) were rarer than rockinghorse shit despite being worth two points back then when an unconverted try was worth only three.

The idea of four tackles was nicked from US football's four downs system and, when first introduced, was followed by a scrum rather than hand the ball over to the oppo. RL scrums were still contested back then, which had the effect of making a proven ball-wining hooker a pearl of great price.