A packed house of 25,000 crammed into Rodney Parade for what was the third game of 34 on tour for Wilson Whineray’s. They had kicked-off with two convincing wins over Oxford University (19-3) and Southern Counties (32-3), but knew full well that heading into Wales for three successive fixtures was going to be a lot tougher.
Newport had gone down to the 1905 All Blacks 6-3, lost 13-10 in 1924, fallen 17-5 in 1935 and gone down 11-6 in 1953. Brian Jones was the only survivor in the Newport ranks 10 years on from the 1953 defeat.
The triumvirate of Newport coaches, Bryn Meredith, Bryn Williams and Ian McJennett, had travelled to Oxford and Hove to see the tourists play and constructed a game plan that made history. It was a blueprint based on harassing the opposition at all times, eliminating mistakes and tackling anything that moved.
It helped that the Newport front five were able to secure five tight head strikes at scrum time and the line-out work, led by skipper Brian Price, was key to success. Then there was the silky smooth combination of Bob Prosser and David Watkins at half-back.
They were well used to the sticky surface at Rodney Parade and adapted far better to the wet conditions than their heavier opponents. Watkins managed to skip across the top of the mud to torment New Zealand and it was one of his runs, coupled with a Stuart Watkins cross-kick, that paved the way for the game’s decisive moment.
This is how the great doyen of Welsh sports writers, JBG Thomas, recalled the score in his book on the tour, the Fifth All Blacks: “The score after 17 minutes that decided the match originated with a clever break by David Watkins, running to the right diagonally and drawing most of the defence on to him before sending the ball out to Stuart Watkins on the right wing. When challenged he kicked cleverly into midfield, where the Newport forwards got to the ball first. In a flash the ball came back to Prosser and he sent it to Uzzell on his left. The centre was standing near the ‘25’ and without hesitation dropped for goal through a sea of upstretched arms and the ball sailed just over the bar inside the right post. It was a vital goal and the crowd went mad with enthusiasm as they realised Newport were in the lead. From then until the close it was a tremendous struggle and when the final whistle went the Newport players jumped high into the air and were engulfed by thousands of their supporters, who for the moment forgot that they had received a severe wetting from the rain while standing on the terraces.”
Newport not only became the first team to beat Whineray’s team on their tour, but they also remained the only team to lower their colours. It was only the seventh time the All Blacks had been beaten in 122 tour matches in the northern hemisphere and the Black and Ambers followed in the footsteps of fellow Welsh clubs Swansea (11-3 in 1935) and Cardiff (8-3 in 1953) in beating New Zealand. Llanelli would followed in 1972.
Of the seven defeats they suffered in their first five tours to the UK, Ireland and France, six were in Wales (Wales 3-0 in 1905, Swansea in 1935, Wales 13-12 in 1935, Cardiff in 1953, Wales 13-8 in 1953 and Newport in 1963) and the other one was against England (13-0 in 1936). There were also four draws, two against Ulster (1935, 1953) one against Swansea (1953) and one against Scotland (1963).
Brian Price’s men were also the first team to hole the All Blacks scoreless since Wales in 1905 – 95 games earlier! It was a win of epic proportions and one in which home tactics prevailed over the masters of finding a way to win any game.
The hero of the hour was the 22-year-old St Luke’s College, Exeter, centre John Uzzell, who had skived off his teacher training studies on the pretence of visiting his sick father in Tredegar. He did meet his Dad because he was at the game watching his son become a national hero – and he had never felt better!
The game had been well controlled by the masterful Gwynne Walters and there were no complaints from the visitors at the end of a magnificent battle. Four Newport men – Uzzell, David Watkins, Price and Thomas – would face the tourists gain in Welsh colours, while seven of the tourists played in the Test at the Arms Park to gain their revenge.
Newport: Ray Cheney; Stuart Watkins, John ‘Dick’ Uzzell, Brian Jones, Dennis Perrott; David Watkins, Bob Prosser; Nev Johnson, Graham Bevan, David Jones, Ian Ford, Brian Price (captain), Alan Thomas, Glynn Davidge, Keith Poole.
New Zealand: Don Clarke; Bil Davis, Ian Macrae, Pat Walsh, Ralph Caulton; Earle Kirton, Kevin Briscoe; Wilson Whineray (captain), John Major, Ian Clarke, Colin Meads, R Horsley, Kel Tremain, Waka Nathan, Brian Lochore.
Referee: Gwynne Walters (Gowerton)
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY
Wilson Whineray (NZ skipper): “We did not play well enough to beat you. We hope you all get in the Welsh team, and that way we shall play you again.”
Brian Price (Newport captain): “We got the three points early in the game but I never thought that was going to be the end of the scoring. We did very well in the forwards, although we were never in control, but we were holding our own. Glynn Davidge was superb, frustrating them at the rucks, doing marvellous work on the floor, but he paid a heavy price – he was covered in bruises for a fortnight afterwards. Some said our tactics were negative, but we were out to stop them from gaining any momentum and from preventing Clarke from getting any penalty kicks at goal.”
Frank Kilby (NZ Manager): “It was Newport all the way. They were the better side and we did not look like scoring. Our boys were not good enough and we have no excuses or complaints. Congratulations to the Newport club.”
Terry McLean (NZ writer): “The plain, inescapable and immutable fact about this most thrilling game was that the better team won – and, after all, no one can possibly complain at this very proper conclusion to a sporting contest.”
Jack Davis (South Wales Argus): “There was no mourning in the All Blacks camp after the game. They took their defeat philosophically, as the cheerful sportsmen they are, and readily conceded that the result was fair. Indeed, in justice to Newport the margin should have been wider by at least the points that would have accrued from an excellent penalty kick by Ray Cheney had not the cross-bar intervened.”
Malcolm Lewis (South Wales Echo): “Newport performed with the accuracy of a computer. They played to a tight tactical plan that left nothing to chance. They had an answer to every single move employed by the New Zealanders and, above all, found the answer to the goal kicking menace of Don Clarke. Newport simply gave nothing away. Not a single penalty did they conceded in kicking distance – surely a striking testimony to the disciplined way each player performed.”
The Times: “The question at the start of the second period was whether or not Newport had taken too much out of themselves, but not a bit of it, and the two packs hurled themselves at each other with complete abandon. Hereabouts the New Zealand forwards were loudly booed for being too rumbustious, but this was not altogether fair, for the Newport collection were far from being angelic.”
To view Pathe News footage of the game click here
To see the match programme form 30 October, 1963 click here
