I WAS THERE: Phil Kearns on Wales v Australia at the 1991 World Cup

Twice the two nations clashed in the tournament in Cardiff at the end of the last century and on both occasions the Wallabies won convincingly before going on to be crowned world champions. Phil Kearns was a part of the squad in both 1991 and 1999, although injury in the game in Ireland in the latter competition hosted by Wales forced him to miss a second final.

But the 67-times capped hooker has very good reason to remember his battles against Wales. In 1991, he met them twice and was part of a Wallaby team that notched a record home score of 63 points in Brisbane before going on to inflict a Welsh home record 38 points a few months later at the World Cup.

As well as scoring 101 points in those two matches, the Aussies scored 18 tries without reply. They were two significant stepping-stones towards their first World Cup final triumph against England at Twickenham.

Nowadays, Kearns is the executive director of Rugby Australia’s 2027 Rugby World Cup bid and will be in Cardiff this weekend to witness the final act of Wales’ autumn international series. It will be a day that will bring back a host of great memories for him.

KEARNS ON HIS CARDIFF ARMS PARK DEBUT

There had been a big clear-out in Welsh rugby after the disastrous tour to Australia in the summer of 1991. Ron Waldron was sacked as head coach and Alun Davies came in to replace him and Rob Norster took over as team manager

Wales were joint hosts with the other Five Nations teams and had to face Samoa, Australia and Argentina at the Arms Park in their pool. It was always going to be a tall order to qualify for the quarter-final, but few expected Wales to fall at the pool stage hurdle.

The Wallabies arrived in the UK among the more fancied sides. After all, they had recovered from their mauling by the British & Irish Lions in 1989 to hammer Wales and England on home soil, beat New Zealand convincingly in Sydney and then go down to the Al Blacks 6-3 in their last outing before the World Cup.

It was the days before world rankings, but they would have been right up there had they been in existence. They proved their potential over the tournament, with their performance against Wales in their final pool match signalling their intentions to go on to win the title.

“We had two young centres coming through in Tim Horan and Jason Little and then had been joined by Bob Egerton and Marty Roebuck in the back division that year. Then there was Campo on the wing and Michael Lynagh and Nick Farr-Jones at half back,” recalled Kearns

“It was amazing playing at Cardiff Arms Park. I had grown up hearing stories about the atmosphere at that ground and it was a real highlight to get to play there.

“We had played Wales earlier in the year in Brisbane and we certainly didn’t expect to happen what happened there. We thought we would win, but not like that (63-6). The Welsh camp was obviously an unhappy one with a strange Neath v Cardiff faction. It isn’t easy to play together when you hate each other’s guts.

“When it came to our World Cup game in Cardiff, Wales had already been beaten by Samoa and clearly they hadn’t got it together. They were a bit down hearted and we were on our way up.

“There is a lot of talk about peaking in sport and I think as a team we definitely peaked at the 1991 World Cup, there is no doubt about that. Our first two matches were against Argentina at Stradey Park, and then Samoa at Pontypool Park. They led us into the clash with Wales in Cardiff and by then we were full of confidence.”

Kearns certainly did his job that day as the Wallabies won the line-outs 29-2 and he also scored a try. They also turned a slender 10-3 half-time lead into the biggest beating Wales had ever suffered at the Arms Park. It was the end of the line for Wales’ World Cup dreams and forced them to play qualifying games in Portugal, Spain and Romania to earn their ticket to the 1995 tournament.

With Farr-Jones missing, Lynagh led the side on his 50th appearance. He scored one of the tries and ended with 18 points. It should have been more as he missed with six of his 12 kicks at goal that could have taken the score up to 54.

If it was one of the low points in Welsh rugby history – Kearns and co would come back a year later and win 23-6, with the hooker as captain, to make up for tour defeats at Swansea and Llanelli – it was just the beginning for the Aussies. With Wilie Ofahengaue frightening everyone with his power running from the back of their scrum, John Eales emerging as one of the all-time greats in the second row and David Campese lighting up every game in which he played they were able to go all the way.

“After our win in Wales we had to ride our luck a bit in Dublin before we beat the Irish 19-18. It was our confidence and composure that saw us through to set-up a semi-final clash with the All Blacks, also at Lansdowne Road,” recalled Kearns.

“Our semi-final win against New Zealand was probably our best performance at the tournament. We won by 10 points, and by two tries to nil, and that gave us even greater confidence going to face England at Twickenham in the final.”

The final was a tense affair with only one try in a 12-6 triumph. That the score came from one of the Aussie front rowers has been a stand-out memory for Kearns throughout his life since then.

“When we went over for the try the two props, Tony Daly and Ewen McKenzie, were bound together and both had their hands on the ball. As we peeled them of the ground nobody was really sure who had scored,” added Kearns.

“I knew there was going to be a fight over who had scored the try and so I turned to the referee, Welshman Derek Bevan, and asked him who had scored. ‘Give them two points each’, was his reply.

“Tony was given it and we still have a laugh about that moment to this day. It was a fantastic feeling winning the World Cup, but none of us were really sure how our victory would be received back home.

“We had been in our own little bubble in the UK and Ireland. We were then told that a welcome home parade was going to be held for us on our return.

“We were all a bit worried about that because we didn’t think anyone would turn-up. You have to remember that Aussie Rules, Rugby League and football are all huge sports that rival rugby union in Australia and we had no idea how our success had been received.

“Nick Farr-Jones rang the Prime Minister and pleaded with him to call off the parade for fear that nobody would want to bother with us. In the end, 100,000 people turned out in George Street to cheer us – it was amazing!

“After that we felt we owed it to the rugby union community across Australia to take the trophy around the country and we all went on the road with it at various times. By then we had christened the William Webb Ellis Trophy ‘Bill’ and it went far and wide to show our appreciation of the support of the people.

“We were back in Wales in 1999, but this time it was to the new ground, the Millennium Stadium. I got injured in the pool win in Ireland and had to retire from rugby as a result.

“I missed the quarter-final win over Wales and then the final victory over France in Cardiff. I had the chance to stay on with the squad, but with a two month old baby back home I felt I ought to go back and do my bit on the home front.

“I watched the final on TV and obviously wished I could have been a part of another special day. Now my job is to try to bring the World Cup back to Australia after a gap of 24 years in 2027.

“Australian rugby lost its way a bit after that win in Wales in 1999. Our game became a bit pre-planned and robotic. What Dave Rennie is doing now is trying to restore some of the old flair we had in our game.

“We know we face a strong challenge from the USA to win the bid in 2027, but we have some amazing new venues being built for what would be a pan-Australian World Cup that will showcase all that is good about our country.

“When we last hosted the World Cup, in 2003, it became the first event to attract mass-migration from all around the globe to the tournament. What happened then changed the face of Rugby World Cup.

“We’d love to get the chance to do that again. I played in one of the curtain raisers, NSW U21 v Queensland U21, before a game in Australia