As part of their 1972–73 tour of the Northern Hemisphere, the

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

's fourth match saw them take on

Llanelli RFC Llanelli Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872. The club's historic home ground was Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they moved in 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent Pemberton. The club song is " ...

of Wales at

Stradey Park Stradey Park (Welsh: ''Parc y Strade'') was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of ...

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

, on 31 October 1972. In one of the most famous results in

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

history, Llanelli won the match 9–3 in front of 20,000 spectators. Llanelli centre

Roy Bergiers Roy Thomas Edmond Bergiers (born 11 November 1950) is a Welsh former rugby union player. Born in Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), comm ...

scored the only try of the game, charging down a clearance by All Blacks scrum-half Lin Colling after a penalty from

Phil Bennett Philip Bennett (24 October 1948 – 12 June 2022) was a Welsh rugby union player who played as a fly-half for Llanelli RFC and the Wales national rugby union team, Wales national team. He began his career in 1966, and a year later he had taken ...

rebounded back into play off the crossbar. New Zealand full-back

Joe Karam Joseph Francis Karam (born 21 November 1951), also known by the nickname of "Clock", is a New Zealand former representative rugby footballer who played for the All Blacks. After retiring from rugby, he became a businessman. However, he is mo ...

scored a penalty to give them their only points of the game, before Llanelli wing Andy Hill hit a penalty to secure victory for the Scarlets. The result was immortalised by Welsh entertainer

Max Boyce Maxwell Boyce, (born 27 September 1943) is a Welsh comedian, singer and entertainer from Glynneath, Wales. He rose to fame in the mid-1970s with an act that combined musical comedy with his passion for rugby union and his origins in a South Wal ...

, whose poem ''9–3'' appears as the opening track on his '' Live at Treorchy'' album.

Background

As part of their 1972–73 tour of the Northern Hemisphere, the

played 32 matches, of which their visit to

to play

was the fourth. In North America, they had already beaten sides representing

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

(31–3) on 19 October 1972 and New York Metropolitan (41–9) on 21 October, followed by a 39–12 win over a Western Counties side in Gloucester on their arrival in England a week later. They were unbeaten since the British Lions had visited New Zealand in July 1971, a run of 16 matches without defeat.

Match details

Touch judges:
J. Kelleher (Wales)
D. G. Watts (Wales)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Llanelli RFC 9-3 New Zealand Llanelli 1972 New Zealand 1972 1972–73 in Welsh rugby union 1972 in Wales October 1972 sports events in the United Kingdom

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...