- There was extra poignancy to Sunday‘s Blues v Hurricanes post-coronavirus match; they had kicked off pro rugby in 1996.
- In South Africa those 24 years ago, our Super 12 challenge was placed in the hands of the best four Currie Cup ‘95 sides.
- The Natal Sharks, in the era of Louis Luyt‘s belligerent SARFU presidency, got as far as the Auckland final.
It was fitting that the Blues and Hurricanes produced a cracking contest in their Super Rugby Aotearoa first-round meeting at near-full Eden Park on Sunday, simultaneously helping to celebrate New Zealand’s full recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
As pointed out on television by popular commentary stalwart Tony Johnson, they were the very teams who had slugged out the first truly “professional era” match in the southern hemisphere almost a quarter of a century earlier.
On 1 March 1996 – more than 24 years ago – they met at The Showgrounds in Palmerston North (now branded the Central Energy Trust Arena) for the opening fixture of the Super 12 that season.
Rugby was still officially deemed an amateur pursuit in the earlier, less sophisticated Super 10 predecessor between 1993 and 1995 – and won by Transvaal in the first edition, followed by successive Queensland Reds conquests.
It had been one of sport’s worst-kept secrets for several years beforehand; of course at least some meaningful element of professionalism had already crept in.
In South Africa, so-called “koevertjies” (Afrikaans for small envelopes) represented the “petrol money” handed to provincial players for their services, but a few of those envelopes contained rather more dosh than others, if you like, for top-tier stars … some of whom were poached from other unions even if purportedly just “changing their nine-to-five jobs” for a different centre.
But when the Canes entertained the Blues in that landmark 1996 match, rugby was legitimately, for the first time, a professional entity.
The visitors from Auckland won 36-28, with tries for the Blues coming from Andrew Blowers, Eroni Clarke, Ofisa Tonu’u, Carlos Spencer and Craig Dowd.
Clarke, coincidentally, is the All Black-representing father of 21-year-old Blues rising star Caleb who scored a thrilling try from the left wing in Sunday’s 30-20 triumph over the side from Wellington.
As for the Hurricanes of 1996, their only try was registered by Alama Ieremia, with Jamie Cameron’s seven penalty goals needed to keep them suitably in the game for a decent part of it.
But how did the four South African teams – Northern Transvaal, Natal Sharks, Western Province and Transvaal – fare in that historic opening round of the ’96 campaign?
They were there in the first place because of SA Rugby’s then-stipulation that the quartet of available slots (five occupied by NZ sides, three by Australians) go to the best four provincial outfits from the previous year’s domestic Currie Cup.
The national body (then SARFU) was under the iron rule of Louis Luyt as president: he oversaw the conversion from amateurism and was later described in 1998 by legendary British scribe Ian Wooldridge as a leader who showed “an intransigence that denies discussion and a dogma which makes the Vatican look liberal”.
In the couple of weeks immediately preceding the live advent of pro rugby on the southern side of the equator, Luyt had flexed his muscles by firing CEO Edward Griffiths who had been widely credited with laying many of the behind-the-scenes foundations for the Springboks’ 1995 Webb Ellis Cup success on home turf.
It would be two more seasons before the country broke down the provincial model for Super Rugby purposes and joined the other two countries in creating region-based franchises – like the Stormers and Cats – from the 1998 season onward.
But in that first round of 1996, the Bulls had a bye, leaving a Sydney Football Stadium clash between the NSW Waratahs and touring Transvaal, and a derby at Kings Park between the Sharks and WP who had also contested the previous year’s Currie Cup final at the same venue.
The Waratahs cruised to a 32-11 victory over a Vaal side who were just beginning to see the break-up of their kernel of successful Springboks for a few years, which had culminated in the iconic RWC 1995 triumph with around half the starting XV from the final against New Zealand made up of Ellis Park-based stars.
Expected to play the first three of their Australasian tour fixtures in the brutal space of nine days, Transvaal leaked 22 points alone to Wallaby star Matthew Burke, including two tries.
Their only points came through a try by midfielder Christiaan Scholtz and two penalties from the boot of Gavin Johnson.
In the tussle in Durban, refereed by Tappe Henning, the domestic champions again saw off Province, this time by a 28-22 margin although it was three tries all.
Natal’s came through Jeremy Thomson, Andre Joubert and Dieter Kriese, with Joubert adding 13 points off the tee, while WP’s dot-downs were recorded by Louis Blom, Justin Swart and Pieter Rossouw, with Vlok Cilliers contributing two conversions and a penalty goal.
It was an early sign, nevertheless, of the Sharks’ aspirations that year as they went on to go the furthest of the SA quartet, despite ending fourth after ordinary season to the Bulls’ third.
Led by Gary Teichmann, they upset the table-topping Reds 43-25 in a Brisbane semi, including a hat-trick of tries to charismatic wing Cabous van der Westhuizen.
But a week later, across the “ditch” in New Zealand, they were in turn well-beaten in the showpiece by Zinzan Brooke’s Blues who prevailed 45-21 at Eden Park.
Transvaal and WP ended a disappointing 10th and 11th, respectively, only kept off the bottom by the then-ailing Canterbury Crusaders … later to become Super Rugby’s most majestic, successful side by some distance.
*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing
