Graham Henry

Match-fixing. It could never happen here - not in rugby, not in our glorious national game.

Those who believe that or suggest such irregularities would be restricted to cricket, need to check out their history.

A century ago three All Blacks were embroiled in a match-fixing scandal which created a rift in the Southern rugby club in Dunedin.

James Douglas and James Graham were All Black loose forwards who were key members of the club, along with Alf Eckhold who had played several games for the All Blacks on tour in his native Australia.

Perhaps that's where he acquired his nose for the dark details of match-fixing which he reported after walking out of a club game, disgusted at the lack of effort Douglas and Graham were putting into the match.

An Otago Rugby Union inquiry decided Douglas and Graham had accepted bribes to under-perform and both were banned from rugby.

The Southern club refused to condemn the pair and after several appeals including arguments the ORU had grossly overreacted, the bans were lifted.

All this took time and while Douglas played for the New Zealand Army side at the end of World War II, it was not until four years later he was officially readmitted to rugby.

During his brief nine-match All Black career on tour to the United States and Canada in 1913, Douglas was involved in another drama when an opponent collapsed and died.

Both Douglas and the tour captain Alex McDonald were subpoenaed to appear at a coroner's hearing where they were exonerated of any blame in the accidental death.

Meanwhile the match-fixing whistleblower Eckhold later became a rugby referee and represented Otago at cricket.

Debate about match fixing in rugby has surged in and out of headlines in the century since.

"Smelly" results, outrageous conclusions, odd chapters during matches - we have all raised more than a quizzical eyebrow.

The All Blacks, many dignitaries and referees walked out of the final World Cup dinner in disgust in 1995 after Springboks president Louis Luyt made some haughty remarks and then presented Derek Bevan with a gold watch for the best referee in the tournament.

Bevan had controlled the waterlogged semifinal when the Boks managed a fortuitous win against France at Durban.

What about four years later when England squeezed past the Wallabies in extra time in the 2003 final?

The IRB held an inquiry into that result after underlying suggestions that there had been a strong betting plunge from the sub-continent on the points spread result.

A spokesman for the TAB said there had never been any signs of irregular betting on rugby in New Zealand.

According to an Australian report, three groups - the captain, kicker and an influential player - had to be targeted to influence a rugby match. It noted that match officials were the most vulnerable if people were trying to fix matches.

Former All Black coach Graham Henry wondered if that occurred as he tried to unravel his side's shock 20-18 quarter-final loss to France in the 2007 World Cup. He urged the NZRU to call for an investigation into referee Wayne Barnes' performance.

Henry's analysis was that France deserved to be penalised 40 times when they were punished only twice. He wondered if rugby had a narrow focus where it was not politically correct to suggest match officials might have favoured one team.

That debate had another angle. It seemed incomprehensible that the All Blacks, with a massive possession and territorial gain, were unable to convert that advantage into points.

All but the penalties favoured the All Blacks so overwhelmingly that it was astonishing they did not win or even attempt a dropped goal as the game wound to its conclusion.

- by Wynne Gray, NZ Herald