The 1980 New Zealand tour of Wales was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the New Zealand All Blacks against Wales that also took in two international games in North America en route to

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. This was a single test tour against each of the countries played, with four games against Welsh club opposition. Although the games were played within a tight schedule, the All Blacks were victorious in all seven matches. New Zealand scored 32 tries for and only conceding 2 against, for a total points tally of 197 to 41 over the entire tour.

Results

Touring party

*Manager: R.A. Harper *Assistant Manager: Eric Watson *Captain: Graham Mourie (Taranaki)

Full-backs

* Brett Codlin (Counties) * Doug Rollerson (Manawatu)

Three-quarters

* Bernie Fraser (Wellington) * Bruce Robertson (Counties) * Stu Wilson (Wellington) * Fred Woodman (North Auckland)

Five-eighths

* Nicky Allen (Counties) * Bill Osborne (Wanganui) * Murray Taylor (Waikato)

Half-backs

* Mark Donaldson (Manawatu) * Dave Loveridge (Taranaki)

Forwards

* John Ashworth (Canterbury) * Andy Dalton (Counties) * Andy Haden (Auckland) *

Graeme Higginson Graeme Higginson (born 14 December 1954) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. A lock, Higginson represented Canterbury and Hawke's Bay at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, from 19 ...

(Canterbury) *

Geoff Hines Geoffrey Robert Hines (born 10 October 1960) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A flanker, Hines represented Waikato at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks The New Zealand nation ...

(Waikato) * Rod Ketels (Counties) *

Gary Knight Gary Knight (born 1964) is an Anglo-American photographer, editor and author. Co-founder of the VII Photo Agency, co-founder and CEO of the VII Foundation and founder and CEO of the VII Academy. Life and work Knight was born in 1964 in Oakh ...

(Manawatu) *

Murray Mexted Murray Graham Mexted (born 5 September 1953) is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played 34 consecutive tests for the All Blacks from 1979 to 1985. He also played 38 non-test games including 7 as captain. During his time with the All B ...

(Wellington) * Graham Mourie (Taranaki) * Geoff Old (Manawatu) *

Frank Oliver Frank Oliver may refer to: *Frank Oliver (American football) (born 1952), American football player *Frank Oliver (footballer) (1882–?), English footballer *Frank Oliver (politician) (1853–1933), Canadian politician *Frank Oliver (rugby union) ( ...

(Manawatu) *

Hika Reid Hikatarewa Rockcliffe "Hika" Reid (born 8 April 1958) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A hooker, Reid represented Bay of Plenty and Wellington at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks ...

(Bay of Plenty) * Mark Shaw (Manawatu) * John Spiers (Counties)

Matches

United States

Canada

Cardiff RFC

Llanelli RFC

Like the game played three days earlier against Cardiff, Llanelli proved tough opposition for the touring New Zealand side. Of the seven games played during the tour this was the closest in score, with only a six-point margin and at half time Llanelli were actually 10–3 ahead. This match is often remembered for a controversial refereeing decision by Scottish referee

Alan Hosie Alan Hosie (born c.1945) is a Scottish international referee and was the 116th President of the Scottish Rugby Union. Rugby Union career Referee career When the yellow card was introduced to rugby union - in addition to the red card - Hosie st ...

. Towards the end of the game, with the match still in the balance, Hosie appeared to send off the All Black lock, Graeme Higginson, only for a group of Llanelli players, led by Phil Bennett to challenge the referee over the action. Higginson was allowed to stay on the field with Hosie stating later that there was no sending off, and he had only giving Higginson a warning.

Swansea RFC

Newport RFC

Wales

The All Blacks returned to the Cardiff Arms Park in the final game of the tour and quickly showed a dominance of the game that would continue until the final whistle. The fact that roughly 85% of the match was played in the Welsh half of the field correlates with the final score and the four tries from New Zealand that were without a Welsh reply. The defeat would have been far heavier, but Rollerson managed to convert only three of nine attempts at goal. From this match only three Welsh players emerged with any credit. Full back

J.P.R. Williams John Peter Rhys Williams (born 2 March 1949) is a former Welsh rugby union player who represented Wales in international rugby during their Golden Era in the 1970s. He became known universally as J. P. R. Williams (or sometimes just as JPR) aft ...

, scrum half Terry Holmes and on the wing 19-year-old Robert Ackerman, whose excellent covering play of Stu Wilson earned him a standing ovation when he left the field with an injury before the final whistle.Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1981–82 Vivian Jenkins (1982) pg 42

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Zealand

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

1980 in New Zealand rugby union 1980–81 in Welsh rugby union 1980–81 in European rugby union 1980 in Canadian rugby union