Newport beat the All Blacks

[alyndavies]

They call that a Haka? Looks more like the Hokey Cokey... =/

[liliameave]

This is the only clip I can find which shows a brief glimpse of the finest fly half of all time, Dai Watkins.

What a fantastic day, and yes, I WAS THERE!

[MrCEreviews]

*WORLD RECORD*

Newport RFC hold the world record for the first club team to beat Australia, New zealand AND South africa!

[liliameave]

@MrCEreviews  And I was there each time

[prosser211]

this team was almost the test team and had their only defeat of the tour and remember tours were 3 months long then what a day and fantastic cellebration in the clubhouse..

[dandoman01]

I bet the haka was intimidating.

[MrTommyProductions]

I don't understand why people are comparing Llanelli's win over the All Blacks to Newport's. This All Blacks team was the finest and possibly the best All Blacks team that ever tourned the UK.

[greatmav]

thanks for that, just shown my dad, he was there! awesome bread of heaven at the end

[Luis2900R]

on a toughness level people from newport are the hardest people in britain

[ChSKiDChRiS]

ino hard people who cant play rugby for shit

[rorsabest]

makes me proup to be from newport...bout the only thing that does

[ldnearthesea]

Ever see the haka done before the Barbarian vs. New Zealand match in 1973? It was the only haka performed on tour that fall in the British Isles and France. All those out there on the pitch had real day jobs, because they only got some expense money, as this was well before 1995 when rugby union went pro; the All Blacks going on tour for their country, giving up wages and salaries in doing so, and Newport players maybe taking some time off work if this was a mid-week match.

[johnfrostsquare]

Forget all that we won for Gods sake!!!!

[Stylops]

Amazing match. Also, it was interesting how amateur the haka was...suggests it is a relatively modern development. Surely it is time that, in the professional era, this was ended, or at least restricted to those actually born in NZ! What other professional sport gives one, and only one (OK, Samoa as well) the chance to psyche out opponents before they even start the game?

[karlo000]

umm samoa, tonga, fiji, New Zealand all have a haka

[Stylops]

But the difference is they are all different! That's the point. It's like Mel Gibson Morris Dancing in Braveheart. Samoa, Fiji and Tonga all speak different languages. It is a fabricated ceremony, out of place in the modern game.

[Nickthetoast]

Agree with you, Stylops. This haka has more the air of church-hall amateur dramatics than a call to battle. Never mind 'facing up' to it, I'd have to turn away not to laugh.

Who do the modern players think they are, ancient south-sea island warriors?

[mikebarc63]

Yeah the haka was only really taken seriously from 1987 when Buck Shelford became captain for the World Cup.

It was good to see them do it properly but as a New Zealander, I think it is overdone now and taken too seriously.

By the way, Tongan Samoan and Maori are very similar languages and cultures - rather like Italian, Spanish and Portugese.

Thanks Casnewyd for posting this - does anyone have any coverage of the 1972-73 All Black tour.?