Former Otago Daily Times sports editor Brent Edwards settles on his 10 favourite rugby tests after much agonising. Several are part of social history, all are part of rugby folklore.
Ellis Park showdown
So many epic rugby tests to choose from but my winner, by the proverbial whisker, is the 1995 World Cup final between the All Blacks and Springboks in Johannesburg.
My top 10 tests have been selected from the 140 I covered as a rugby writer and those I attended as a schoolboy and teenager.
The Ellis Park extra-time showdown had everything, before, during and after. The food poisoning suffered by the All Blacks, the players being woken in the night in their Sandton hotel by car alarms going off, the bounty offered to Springboks who tackled Jonah Lomu, Nelson Mandela in the No 6 jersey of captain Francois Pienaar, the predominantly Afrikaner crowd singing the black mine workers' song, Shosholoza, the bragging at the dinner that night of Louis Luyt.
As we drove away from the ground, our car sprayed with beer by exuberant Afrikaners, I recall thinking that it was an obvious topic for a film. Invictus was duly made, but it did not convey the true drama of the occasion.
The All Blacks had been the dominant team of the World Cup, playing a spectacular brand of rugby, but I began to have doubts when the Springbok manager Morne du Plessis declared at a press conference: ''It is our destiny to win''.
There was not quite the same friendly atmosphere in the hotel when the All Blacks returned after beating England in Cape Town in the semifinal. The All Blacks were now the enemy.
I watched from my hotel window as the All Blacks ''practised'' on the Thursday before the final. Some practice. Most sought the shade and leaned listlessly against the trees. It was only when I reached the ground that I learned many of them had been struck down by food poisoning.
Should the final have been postponed? Was the food poisoning deliberate? Who knows, but the final itself became an unforgettable occasion.
Lomu was put in the clear at one stage but the pass, marginal at best, was ruled forward. It was 9-9 at the end of regular time, Mehrtens missing a dropped goal three minutes from time which would have clinched the cup. It was 12-12 after the first period of extra time but soon after Stransky dropped the goal which guaranteed him immortality.
Out on the field, Pienaar made his famous comment to interviewer David van der Sandt: ''David, we did not have the support of 62,000 South Africans today; we had the support of 42 million South Africans.''
For the All Blacks, all of them heartbroken, many of them still drained and sick, it was the end of a dream.
And it did not get any better that night when Luyt, at the final dinner, presented Derek Bevan, the referee of the Springboks' fortuitous semifinal win over France with a gold watch and contended that, with South Africa competing for the first time, this was the first genuine World Cup.
Rivalry resumes
We return to Ellis Park in 1992 for my second-favourite test, the All Blacks' first in South Africa since 1976, the first since the 1981 Springbok tour which brought New Zealand to the brink and to a country where the effects of apartheid still lingered.
The braying, defiant Afrikaners in the crowd ignored the plea for silence for the black victims of the Boipatong massacre and burst into Die Stem, the white anthem. The spine-tingling atmosphere resembled a Hitler rally.
The All Blacks held their nerve in the cauldron and led 27-10 until they hit the wall in the rarefied atmosphere of the high veldt and the Boks roared back with two late tries.
In the press box the four New Zealand journalists, who usually like to at least pretend detachment, sat white-knuckled and tense and drew a huge sigh of relief at the final whistle. The Boers had been beaten. Defeat would have felt like victory for apartheid.
French fury
When I returned from the World Cup in 1999, friends and colleagues sympathised that I had been forced to watch the All Blacks' meltdown in their semifinal.
I certainly didn't need ''sympathy''. I had had the privilege of watching one of the greatest tests ever played on that Sunday afternoon at Twickenham.
In the first half, and early in the second, the Frenchmen either side of me in the press box heaped scorn on their team as the All Blacks cruised to a 24-10 lead. In 1994 France scored ''the try from the end of the earth'' to beat the All Blacks at Eden Park. In 1999 they played their greatest half hour of rugby and the French rugby writers, earlier subdued and scornful, were on their feet yelling ''Allez France''.
The All Blacks were shell-shocked. Only Jonah Lomu, of the All Blacks, stayed around long enough after the final whistle to shake French hands.
Coach John Hart and captain Taine Randell looked pale and as if they were being led to the guillotine as they came into the huge marquee for the press conference. Hart resigned a few days later and Todd Blackadder was the new captain for the 2000 season.
The game that Jonah played
The Otago Daily Times headlined my report of the 1995 World Cup semifinal in five simple words: ''The Game That Jonah Played''.
No individual before or since has so dominated a rugby match. Lomu became the game's first global superstar as he scored four tries and swatted aside or charged over the top of Mike Catt, Tony Underwood and others. Underwood had winked at Lomu after the haka. It was red rag to a bull.
The game was over by halftime, with the All Blacks ahead 35-3 and No 8 Zinzan Brooke, to his unfettered delight, added a long-range dropped goal. England clawed back some respectability late in the second spell but all anyone was talking about was Jonah.
In the press box English journalists, confident after England's victory over the All Blacks at their previous meeting in 1993, were stunned into silence.
New Zealand at war
Has a test ever been played in such an atmosphere as the decider between the All Blacks and Springboks at Eden Park in 1981?
Journalists were reluctant to leave their hotel because they had to walk a gauntlet of protesters. We were bussed to the ground at 9am and waited inside while New Zealanders fought in the streets outside.
A light plane buzzed dangerously low over Eden Park during the game, dropping flour bombs, one of which struck All Black prop Gary Knight. As the St John ambulance attendant poured water over Knight, referee Clive Norling quipped: ''Go easy on the water. You'll turn him into dough!''.
Protesters lit flares which were hurled on on the field and, in smoky conditions which resembled a war zone, Norling asked the captains whether they wanted to continue. They did.
Winger Ray Mordt levelled the scores at 22-22 with his third try but Naas Botha, surprisingly, missed the conversion. Play continued interminably - there had been so many delays as the field was cleared - and the All Blacks were awarded a free kick at a scrum. It turned into a full penalty when the Springboks did not retire quickly enough and Allan Hewson, whose defence had been mocked by New Zealand fans, became a national hero when he kicked the winning goal from about 35m.
But any jubilation was shortlived. When we got outside we were greeted by chaotic scenes, upturned bins and cars and crying, blood-covered people, many of them young women, being comforted by their friends. It was as close as New Zealand has been to civil war.
Innocent bliss
It was all so different and innocent back in 1959. I was 9, it was my first test and I could hardly sleep for excitement in the nights before.
We arrived at Carisbrook about 9am and joined the huge queue for the terrace. It became dangerously congested. Fans who had fainted in the crush were passed down to the front for St John Ambulance attention.
An hour before the start, the decision was made to move children from the terrace to the grass in front where we could hear the muffled sound of ball on boot, the grunting, groaning and swearing.
The memory is of the pace of the Lions' backs, of Tony O'Reilly outsprinting the defence to score in the Rose Stand corner. And of Don Clarke who we watched kick the All Blacks to controversial victory.
We were young but even we realised that conceding four tries and scoring none hardly adds up to a deserved win. The Star Sports that night summed it up: ''Don Clarke 18, Lions 17''.
That tackle
The Bledisloe Cup in Sydney in 1994 was the first played at night and midweek. Interest was intense and a special flight from Dunedin to Sydney was chartered.
It seemed in vain when the Wallabies scored almost from the kick-off and led 17-6 at halftime but the All Blacks threw caution to the wind in the second half to trail by only four points going into the final minutes.
High in the stand in the press box, I was dictating my copy by phone and analysing an Australian victory when the All Blacks finally put Jeff Wilson in space 35m out.
''Hang on,'' I yelled to the copytaker above the din. Wilson sidestepped opposite Damien Smith, beat flanker David Wilson and David Campese and the line was open in front of him. Then, out of nowhere, came George Gregan and, with a superhuman effort, he grabbed Wilson by the waist, jolted his elbow and the ball flew forward.
Pandemonium among the Aussies, despair among the Kiwis. It was the tackle in rugby history which will never be forgotten.
English ecstasy
It was Sydney again in 2003 but this time the World Cup final between Australia and England. The English fans were the stars of the tournament. They almost took over Sydney with their white jerseys, huge thirsts and singing and they were great company on the train to the Olympic Stadium.
It was another epic extra-time final. The English, rallied by captain Martin Johnson, made one last long raid deep into Australian territory, delivered the ball perfectly and watched with bated breath as Jonny Wilkinson, on his right (for him his wrong) foot calmly dropkicked the winner.
The English fans in the crowd of more than 80,000 went crazy and were still celebrating more than two days later.
Otago united
The Bledisloe Cup test at Carisbrook in 1993 does not make the top 10 for its quality but for the spontaneous enthusiasm of the people of Otago before and during the match.
Dunedin in the 1990s was Rugby City, a regular venue for the major tests. This was the era of the tent villages at Bathgate Park, special Saturday night editions of the Otago Daily Times, decorated shop windows, shop assistants dressed in New Zealand colours. Everyone, almost, was part of it. There was no need to hype it. Otago people were just proud to be part of something special.
The All Blacks were too good and the euphoric mood was fuelled by the presence of Laurie Mains as coach and Otago players John Timu, Arran Pene and Jamie Joseph in the team.
Kirky's try
My last choice is the first test I covered as a journalist, albeit in Christchurch. My workmate, Howard Joseph was making his debut, as was Mains (who had deposed Canterbury hero Fergie McCormick) and the All Blacks were seeking answers after their 3-9 loss in the first test.
It was only 8-6 at halftime but the Lions looked fallible and then a few minutes from the end came Ian Kirkpatrick's extraordinary try: ''And away goes Kirkpatrick,''commentator Bob Irvine shouted as he wound up.
Kirkpatrick wrenched the ball clear from a maul just inside his own half and beat tackle after tackle and showed the speed of a back as he scored in the far corner. The All Blacks had scored five tries to two and the national mood, at least for the moment, had changed from dejection to jubilation.
The top 10
1. South Africa 15, New Zealand 12
Ellis Park, Johannesburg, June 24, 1995
2. New Zealand 27, South Africa 24
Ellis Park, Johannesburg, August 15, 1992
3. France 43, New Zealand 31
Twickenham, London, October 31, 1999
4. New Zealand 45, England 29
Newlands, Cape Town, June 18, 1995
5. New Zealand 25, South Africa 22
Eden Park, Auckland, September 12, 1981
6. New Zealand 18, British Lions 17
Carisbrook, Dunedin, July 18, 1959
7. Australia 20, New Zealand 16
Sydney Football Stadium, August 17, 1994
8. England 20, Australia 17
World Cup final, Olympic Stadium, Sydney, November 22, 2003
9. New Zealand 25, Australia 10
Carisbrook, Dunedin, July 17, 1993
10. New Zealand 22, British Lions 12
Lancaster Park, Christchurch, July 10, 1971
