Top billing justified

Press, 1 September 1989, Page 32

Top billing justified

When matches are billed as “the game of the decade” or given similarly sweeping labels beforehand, they seldom live up to expectations. Such a pre-match tag was given to Canterbury’s twenty-sixth defence of the Ranfurly Shield against Auckland at Lancaster Park on September 14, 1985. Canterbury was going for a record number of shield defences, fittingly the record-holder, Auckland, was chosen as the challenger. So the ingredients were there for a match way above the ordinary, the

pre-match publicity promoted the game as anything from the match of the decade to the match of the century, and for once the hype and hysteria associated with one 80-minute game of football was right on the mark. The final score was Auckland 28, Canterbup' 23 but that scoreline will never convey the drama, the excitement, the thrilling finish which was enacted before 52,000 spectators who were left almost as drained of energy as those who took part in one of rugby’s epic games.

At half-time Auckland led, 24-0, had scored four tries, and was ticking over like a Mercedes Benz engine whereas the Canterbury machine spluttered with a block in its fuel line. Canterbury responded magnificently, however, in the second spell and got to the point where a converted try in the last minute would have brought victory. Wayne Smith put up a high kick which landed near the Auckland posts, Craig Green just failed to seize the ball, and John Kirwan knocked it into the in-goal area.