So, this is my 15th blog of the year which means I have broken the record for most blogs in 1 year, so this is the one about rugby (Well I'm rugby mad at the moment) turning professional 21 years ago in 1995 as SANZAR's (Now SANZAAR since Argentina joined) proposals were under serious threat from a Sydney-based group called the World Rugby Corporation, so here's New Zealand rugby commentator Keith Quinn with that story:
South Africa, June 1995, It was the calm before the storm, The All Blacks taking time out to relax just prior to the 3rd Rugby World Cup. But this entire All Blacks squad would soon ready itself to sell out this silver fern and prepare to walk away from the 100 year old All Black heritage. This is the story of how 2 entrepreneurs almost pulled off the sporting coup of the century, taking the All Blacks with them. And how would the 11th hour, they were stopped. It's the story of how All Black rugby went professional during 3 dramatic weeks in the middle of 1995. The issue of paying players was a ticking time bomb, as far back as 1924, All Blacks have been complaining about the hardships that they endured on tour representing that country, even though the great George Nepia had been forced to go to England to play rugby league just to feed his family back on the East Coast, all sorts of schemes had been dreamed up by success of generations of All Blacks to make money, but by 1995 the issue had come to ahead. And in that World Cup year, an organisation called the World Rugby Corporation, the WRC, was to finally force the issue of All Blacks and money out into the open. These mock-up posters, never seen before, were prepared in secret by the WRC, as it geared up to take over the running of international rugby and turn the rugby world on it's head. They're a testament to how close the 1995 All Blacks came, to walking away from the All Black institution and tradition. The World Rugby Corporation came out of Australia, it was the brainchild of South African born rugby mad Sydney lawyer and deal maker, Geoff Levy. Levy dreamed of a completely new international rugby competition better than the World Cup with rugby stars like the Jonah Lomu's of the world bringing in a truly global television audience, to spice up the game he loved and followed all his life.
This new competition with the elite players featuring would be worldwide & professional & give greater control to the players. Amidst great secrecy Geoff Levy sold his idea of a new international rugby circus to Australian media magnate, Kerry Packer. WRC, the World Rugby Corporation would give Packer another weapon in his fight with arch-rival Rupert Murdoch over rugby league, which Packer had, and Murdoch wanted. During 1995, Murdoch was trying to rest control of rugby league, by setting up a rival competition which he called, Super League. A global fight between these Australian media giants Rupert Murdoch & Kerry Packer, was about to begin. The man chosen by Geoff Levy to sell the dream of Packer's WRC rugby circus to the players was Ross Turnbull. Turnbull was a Wallaby prop in his playing days, when he went by the nickname of Mad Dog, now he was to be the main WRC strategist.
Placing greater control of the game in the hands of the players was a tantalizing prospect for the 1995 All Blacks, as it was for the former All Black turned professional talent agent, Andy Haden.
For years rugby players like Andy Haden had felt ripped off by the men who ran the game, the administrators, the players did all the work, the administrators has got the perks, something had to change, and that sentiment was to provide fertile ground for the WRC it could not have launched itself at a better time, no one knows that better than Peter Fitzsimons. Fitzsimons is an ex-Wallaby lock & columnist & writer for the Sydney Morning Herald. This year (1999) he joined me on TV ONE's rugby talk show Tight Five. He followed this story closely, Fitzsimons characterizes what happened throughout 1995 to southern hemisphere rugby, as a war.
In New Zealand, the Blazer Brigade was led by Ritchie Guy, then the chairman of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, and a former All Black himself. In early 1995, he had a problem, how to keep All Blacks away from rugby league.
For months in the lead up to the 95 World Cup there was a phony war, WRC man Ross Turnbull has secretly begun talking to the world's top rugby players who were keen, but coincidentally the Blazer Brigade, the men from the rugby unions in New Zealand, Australia & South Africa, had also secretly begun their moves to protect their players, things began to move with surprising speed. Admist great secrecy of their own, the southern hemisphere rugby unions under the banner of SANZAR, came up with the new Tri Nations competition (Which is now the Rugby Championship when Argentina joined the competition since 2012 as well as the southern hemisphere's equivalent to the Six Nations), which they could sell to a broadcaster, and then pay real money to their star players, the All Blacks, & Wallabies, & Springboks. It was Ian Frykberg a Kiwi connection who made it happen, he introduced the unions, to the real money, Frykberg then put the southern unions together with another ex pat Kiwi, Sam Chisholm, Rupert Murdoch's right hand man. The southern hemisphere unions elected South Africa's Louis Luyt to do a deal with the volatile Chisholm, Doctor Louis Luyt is the hugely wealthy and influential businessman & rugby administrator, who also just happens to own the cathedral of South African rugby, Ellis Park, venue for much of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. At the World Cup, Jonah Lomu exploded onto the world stage. On June the 18th in a semi-final against England, the single try convinced Rupert Murdoch and his money men, their were huge obtainment dollars to be made out of rugby union, but they had to have Jonah Lomu, and everything went with him, the All Blacks, the Springboks, and the Wallabies. Sam Chisholm immediately summons Louis Luyt to London for a secret meeting, in which hundreds of millions of dollars, would be on the table.
The very next day, Louis Luyt was back in South Africa, the Rugby World Cup was still in progress, no one knew he'd even be gone. The deal Louis Luyt signed on behalf of the Springboks, the All Blacks & the Wallabies was for 555 million US dollars over 10 years, an unbelievable amount of money for a previously amateur sport, the rugby unions were delighted of course because they meant they could keep their players out of the clutches of rugby league & super league, but at this stage they were still completely unaware of the WRC bearing down on them.
So the day before the final of the 1995 World Cup, this amazing deal which would change the face of international rugby, was announced by the 3 southern hemisphere rugby unions.
Ritchie Guy was there that day, but he knew that even with the money to pay players, the unions couldn't underestimate the ongoing threats from outside.
And surely that would be the easy job, after all here was rock solid international competition announced, involving the All Blacks, the Springboks & the Wallabies, that had real money to pay & reward All Blacks stars like Jonah Lomu & Sean Fitzpatrick. While on the face of it, the WRC plan looked dead in the water in that point, people didn't bank on that determination of the Aussie battler Ross Turnbull, what should've been the end of the rugby war, was only the beginning.
The 1995 Rugby World Cup. And this would be the last time Louis Luyt and Springbok captain Francois Pienaar were to embrace. Because over the next 2 weeks, these 2 men were to become bitter enemies, at the heart of their argument was the amount of money being offered to the Springboks, the Wallabies & the All Blacks, by the World Rugby Corporation.
It profoundly offended Louis Luyt that Pienaar didn't say no, because to Dr Luyt, the Spirngbok jersey was not for sale to the World Rugby Corporation, especially now he had just negotiated the Murdoch deal, which was firmly in place.
When the cheering had died down just hours after the Springbok victory, the argument over the value of the All Blacks was to enter Sean Fitzpatrick's life. The occasion was the post match World Cup celebratory dinner in Johannesburg.
With the World Rugby Corporation promising paychecks worth many times more than their rugby administrators were offering under the Murdoch deal, it was obvious the players were going to listen.
But it wasn't necessarily that straight forward for the World Rugby Corporation. They weren't the only people trying to throw huge sums of money at the All Blacks during the middle of 1995.
July the 5th, 1995, soon after the World Cup final, the All Blacks were back in Wellington at a parliamentary reception. The All Blacks contracts have run out, they were no longer tied to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union. They were free agents.
The reason there were no signatures, well Jonah Lomu and the rest of the All Blacks immediately following the parliamentary reception, snuck away to a meeting at this Wellington hotel were they met the number 1 man from the World Rugby Corporation. Geoff Levy had just flown in from Sydney, to meet the full squad, behind closed doors.
By now a couple of weeks later, in mid-July 1995, the All Blacks were in Sydney to prepare for the Bledisloe Cup, at this point the team negotiations with WRC were complete, and it was time that the All Blacks to finally commit to the rebel organisation once and for all. Almost to a man they were ready to do so. The New Zealand Rugby Union still had no idea that their star players were about to fly the coupe, coach Laurie Mains did know, and this created huge conflict for him.
By now the New Zealand Rugby Union was aware that WRC but they didn't yet realize what a threat that posed, all they knew was they had to resign the players immediately, because without the players, the 555 million dollar Murdoch deal was a dead duck, and the Murdoch organisation was putting the heat on New Zealand Rugby Union to deliver the players as they contracted to do, so the rugby union was in crisis. So cometh the hour, cometh the man, and the man was Jock Hobbs, Hobbs was ideally placed to represent the All Black establishment, he was a lawyer, a member of the NZRFU council, & a former All Black captain. And his job was to fight a last ditch stand to save the game he loved.
Hobbs was dispatched to Sydney, where he quickly came to the realization that the All Blacks committed instead, to the World Rugby Corporation deal. In Sydney he met with Murdoch's right hand man, Sam Chisholm. Chisholm was jumping up and down, demanding that the 3 southern hemisphere rugby unions, deliver the players for the new Murdoch deal. Later, at this Sydney hotel, Hobbs had to distinctly unpleasant task of reporting back to a specially convened meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Football council.
Friday, July the 28th, 1995, the eve of the centenary Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney. The stage was set not only for a great test match, but also for a showdown between the Murdoch and Packer camps that they would change international rugby forever.
During the week leading up to the Bledisloe Cup, the All Blacks were staying at the Manly Park Royal, and it was here that WRC's top man in Sydney came to do the deal. Geoff Levy knew that the All Blacks, as well as the Wallabies & the Springboks were absolutely committed, the pressing question now was when, not if the All Blacks were going to sign.
July the 29th, 1995, Bledisloe Cup day, it was perhaps the most stressful day in Geoff Levy's life, the dream of creating a new world order of rugby was within his grasp & headed towards it's game.
The All Blacks played a blinder that day, they were back on a high after the disappointment of the World Cup final (Oh well, disaster struck as New Zealand (Which featured rugby's 1st global superstar, Jonah Lomu) failed to regain the crown (With several players fell victim to food poisoning with the exception of captain Sean Fitzpatrick and the Brooke brothers of Robin & Zinzan), losing to debutants and hosts South Africa in the final in which united the host country as well as their leader Nelson Mandela). But at full time something happened which turned the rugby world on it's head, something that told every rugby supporter on both sides of the Tasman, that the union controlled game they knew it, was dead.
Normally after a Bledisloe Cup match, the All Blacks would shower, change and head off to the after match function, here at the ground, but that night in 1995, instead they came down here, boarded a bus and took off. All Blacks spend hours on bus journeys, but the short trip from the Sydney Football Stadium (Now Allianz Stadium present day) to the upmarket inner city suburb of Vaucluse, must be the most remarkable. Here we have the entire squad of more than 20 players, the 2 coaches Laurie Mains & Earl Kirton, & manager Colin Meads being driven, not to the home of Geoff Levy, but to the plush mansion of Brian Powers, Kerry Packer's top man in Australia. The last minute change of address was to provide the final proof to the All Blacks, that Packer was committed to making the WRC, an absolute reality.
At the Powers house, the All Blacks were to finally sign contracts, that look set to kill off the All Black legend forever.
So having signed the rebel WRC contracts that the All Blacks re-boarded the bus and headed back into town.
The centenary dinner that night was to celebrate 100 years of trans-Tasman rugby, the atmosphere was electric because the former greats of both New Zealand & Australia had begun to realize that the game for which they had made such great sacrifices was about to be sold out.
So what had gone wrong, well make no mistake about it, the All Blacks were gone, international rugby had just been turned on it's head, the 1995 All Blacks had signed contracts with the World Rugby Corporation, the WRC, for the promise of even greater riches they turned their backs on the very real 555 million dollar Murdoch deal, it meant, that they were no longer All Blacks, they've left behind New Zealand rugby union and just walked away the All Black tradition, and the silver fern.
When Jock Hobbs returned to New Zealand after the 1995 Bledisloe Cup, he was the man under enormous pressure, the weight of the Rupert Murdoch empire was being brought to bear by Murdoch's top man, Sam Chisholm.
Jock Hobbs still had no idea that the WRC had beaten the New Zealand Rugby Union to the punch, by actually signing up the players, during early August, he said about travelling the length and breadth of the country, talking not just to All Blacks, but to top provincial players who would make up the backbone of New Zealand teams in Murdoch's upcoming Super 10 competition, at these presentations, the All Blacks who'd already signed with WRC never let on, they held their tongues, while Jock Hobbs put the rugby union's case. Back in Wellington, it's hard now to imagine the pressure that Hobbs and the other lawyers on both sides of the rugby war were under. At one point during these difficult days, at least 1 of them actually feared for his life.
Just how much was involved became apparent back in Sydney when the 3 southern hemisphere rugby unions were summoned to crisis talks by the Murdoch organisation. The headquarters of the Australian Rugby Football Union, and it was had a meeting here that the man who originally broken the Murdoch deal, Ian Frykberg finally convinced the 3 southern hemisphere unions that they were in deep trouble.
Those words echoed around Sydney the meeting finally showed the rugby unions how far behind the play they were, it was a huge shock, especially to Louis Luyt.
Back home in South Africa was a fearsome Louis Luyt summoned the Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, and other senior players of the Springbok team, to come & see him immediately.
The problem was of course Pienaar & the Springboks along with the All Blacks and the Wallabies, had now all signed Turnbull & Levy's WRC contracts.
Because of the importance of secured the World Cup winning Springboks, Ross Turnbull remained in South Africa in the weeks since the cup, with the rugby unions now fighting back, Turnbull organised the satellite linkup to once again reinforce the commitment to the WRC of the Springboks, the All Blacks & the Wallabies.
At that time Francois Pienaar as World Cup winning captain, was the most popular rugby figure in South Africa, so why did he cave in, what did Louis Luyt say or do, to turn his head. Louis Luyt simply said: What do you want?
So with the South African staying, the tide of the rugby war swung back towards the establishment, Louis Luyt had found the weak link in the Springboks, Jock Hobbs was credited finding into the All Blacks armor, and he founded, in the heart of the Otago provincial side.
From the outset, the 1995 All Blacks had agreed that was all for one and one for all, they thought that they signing on with the WRC was in the best interests of the game. But within a few short weeks, it dawned 1 or 2 of them, just what they'd given up.
Yes what finally convinced Jeff Wilson to break ranks within rest of his World Cup teammates, was the fact under WRC, he would no longer be an All Black. The identical thought occurred to Josh Kronfeld.
On the 10th of August, Wilson & Kronfeld were heading out of Dunedin, with the Otago provincial side. Before they got on the plane, they phoned Jock Hobbs to say that during a stopover in Wellington, they would sign with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (So this is what Jock Hobbs had to say after both New Zealand Rugby Football Union contracts were signed by both Josh 'Crusher' Kronfeld & Jeff 'Goldie' Wilson):
''I do however, have the pleasure, in announcing that I am holding, letters from lawyers acting for Jeff Wilson & Josh Kronfeld, confirming, that these 2 All Blacks will sign contracts with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union''
Unlike the provincial players who would also sign with Hobbs, Wilson & Kronfeld had now signed with both the WRC & the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, this still rankles with the WRC liason man, Andy Haden.
It wasn't long before Sean Fitzpatrick, the All Black captain, who had thrown his considerable weight behind the rebel WRC, had also changed, to sign up with the NZRFU.
The rugby war then, was over, the Springboks deserted the WRC, so too are the All Blacks, and then the Wallabies, the Packer people who'd been backing WRC, seemingly just lost interest in turned of the money, cutting their losses rather than entering in prolonged legal battle to hang on to the players, the Blazer Brigade had won.
So how has it turned out? Well the century long All Black tradition survived, Murdoch's SANZAR deal has produced the very successful Tri Nations and Super 12 (Then Super 14 when both the Cheetahs & the Western Force joined the competition and now Super Rugby (Used to be Super 15 when the Melbourne Rebels joined which is now Super 18 (The Southern Kings rejoined the competition along with 2 newcomers the Jaguares/Jaguars of Argentina & the Sunwolves from Japan) competitions, rugby is the winner, as indeed are the players now earning hundreds of thousands of dollars. And the 2 All Blacks who were 1st to sell out the WRC dream, Kronfeld & Wilson, have gone on to enjoy spectacular success, but it hasn't been without it's odd moments of tension with senior players.
The aftermath of Jock Hobbs was more drastic, the rugby establishment, the men who ran the game he helped save, dumped them, from the reformed New Zealand Rugby Union council.
But to me the most interesting post-script of the 1995 rugby war involved a story I heard about Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, the 1st southern hemisphere player to sell out from the WRC rugby circus.
In this match in 1996, Pienaar was to come of 2nd best, he was injured badly enough to be carried off on a stretcher. For a variety of reasons, Francois Pienaar, never played for South Africa again.
That's all folks for my record breaking 15th blog of the year.
P.S. My friend & dear cousin Paige Holly Williams (Who is a Kiwi girl who works as a faculty administrator at the open polytechnic & her surname must be Welsh as well as I didn't know that she has been graduated for her Bachelor of Commerce studies at Victoria University in Wellington) has sent me another email that I wrote on Tuesday, she wrote that she's just at work at the moment so let's see how it unfolds when she wrote to me:
Haven't been up to much just lots of house work as I am renovating at the moment. How about you?
I love Nico and Luca (It's an Italian name because it's meant to be Luke like Luke Skywalker) equally I don't have a favourite haha (LOL!)
My favourite colour would have to be green! (Well that's Irish colors because my favourite color blue is indeed French colors while light blue would be Italian colors & dark green is South African colors, what in the blue/green hell)
Me and Jarrod have been together for four years now. (And yeah yeah yeah whatever it must be 2012) We met when I was 18. (I was 21 way back then)
We are cousins and friends :) hopefully k can come and visit soon.
Take care
Paige xx (2 kisses)
Sent from my iPhone
And it's only 13 days until the Rio Olympics so I am looking forward to it & I might be at Poppa's on a traditional Thursday because I would be seeing the Danish Terminator of Hanne (Who has been living here in New Zealand for 43 years since 1973) & of course football fan Leon Benbaruk (He's a fan of Liverpool FC who has been living here in New Zealand for 36 years since 1980) as well as an old friend of mine from Malaysia, Sophia Ong (A self proclaimed Manchester United fan because I didn't know that she has been to the spirited home ground of Man United, Old Trafford but I exactly remember who her best friend was apart from me was all of one of her friends back home in Malaysia) all the way from Penang because I have never seen her for 9 long years! Because they will be having lunch at 15A Kells Avenue (It's been about 2 months since they had lunch there).
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