Ranfurly Shield Match Savers: Wellington v Auckland 1956

The Wellington team with the Ranfurly Shield 1956.

The Match: Wellington v Auckland, Athletic Park, 29 September 1956

Referee: W.H. Fright (Canterbury)

Conditions: Fine and sunny

Crowd: 20,000

The Result:  Wellington 9 – Auckland 6

The Teams:

Wellington: 1.W.G. Dick, 2. G. Harris, 3. I.M.H. Vodanovich, 4. D.N. McIntosh (captain), 5. J.B.S. Hutchinson, 6. I.N. MacEwan, 7. W.H. Clark, 8. L.A Clark, 9. A. J Makeham, 10. I.P. Puketapu, 11. R.A. Jarden, 12. J.G. Dougan, 13. A.S. Clark, 14. T. Katene, 15. J. Johnstone.

Auckland: 1. E. Bullmore, 2. A.P. Morrow, 3. H.L. White, 4.D.J. Graham, 5. R.W. Wall, 6. J.R. Skeen (captain), 7. H.K. Emery, 8. A. Pryor, 9. K. Davis, 10. T.J.S. Riley, 11. L.C. Russell, 12. T.R. Lineen, 13. J. M Tanner, 14. R.F. McMullan, N.J. Brown.

Match Notes:

The Ace of Matchwinners bows out.

Wellington’s GOAT left wing, Ron Jarden, was playing his final match in Wellington colours in this their one and only Ranfurly Shield defence of 1956, after beating Canterbury 8-0 the previous Saturday.

Fittingly, it was Jarden, together with his great mate and openside flanker Bill ‘Seagull’ Clark, that broke a deadlock and scored the match-winning try with about 15 minutes to play. Clark capitalised on an Auckland error and fed Jarden who did the rest and sprinted half the field to score to win the game for Wellington.

In perfect conditions, and with Wellington on a high after capturing the Ranfurly Shield off Canterbury, the game started off somewhat fast and loose. Both sides created early chances that ended with errors.

The organised, disciplined play of Wellington’s forwards, together with the pinpoint tactical kicking of halfback Alby Makeham, had been decisive against Canterbury. They soon settled down and negated Auckland’s chances in the loose throughout the remainder of the game.

Wellington also successfully disrupted Auckland’s lineout, sometimes cynically as it was noted in the match report that most of the 12 penalties Wellington conceded were in that area of play.

Several times during the first half, Wellington five-eighth Jackie Dougan kicked to Auckland fullback Brown asking him to make mistakes, which he did, and out wide for wings Jarden and Tom Katene to chase. The latter went close to latching on to one of these.

The first scoring of the game wasn’t until the 24^th minute, using the tactics above. Dougan made a short break from inside his own half and kicked to Katene’s wing. Katene regathered inside Auckland’s 22 and kicked again, high to Auckland fullback Brown, who fumbled and second five A.S. Clark collected the ball and scored a good opportunist try in the corner. The conversion was missed, and Wellington led 3-0.

A.S (Anthony) Clark was the brother of All Blacks flanker W.H (Bill) Clark, whilst a third Clark, L.A (Leslie), was in Wellington’s team but was no relation to the brothers.

Anthony and Bill were from Motueka and both played for the University club in Wellington. Anthony played 16 games for Wellington between 1956-60 and older brother Bill played 73 times for Wellington between 1950-58 and 24 games including nine tests for the All Blacks between 1953-56.

Leslie Clarke was a No. 8 out of the Wellington Axemen club and appeared in 59 games for the Wellington representative team between 1952-57.

Jarden put Wellington ahead 6-0 with a 30^th minute penalty, before Auckland’s Riley put his side on the board just before halftime and Wellington went to the break leading 6-3.

Of note, Auckland five-eighth Trevor Riley had played 29 matches for Wellington out of the Hutt club between 1952-54.

Riley evened the scoring early in the second half with his second penalty. Wellington had further chances to go ahead, from two missed Jarden penalties and a knock-on close to the line from a forward rush.

Then came Jarden’s try. The try came from an Auckland tighthead scrum win deep inside Wellington’s territory, but Riley’s pass bounced off McMullan’s shoulder and the Seagull, Bill Clark, snapped up the loose ball, fended off one would-be tackler and sent Jarden away on a 50-yard sprint to the line. Jarden missed the conversion, and Wellington just had to protect a 9-6 lead over the next 10 or more minutes. They did so, but for a late burst by Auckland that was kept out.

They said:

“Except for chasing crosskicks, Jarden and Katene had little to do. Jarden, however, provided the highlight of the match when he raced 50 yards to score.

“The star of the Wellington pack was W.H. Clark. He was excellent in the loose and on cover defence and began the movement that led to Jarden’s try.” -NZPA report.

“There was no doubt about the try, a typical blood-curdling thrilling runaway effort, with the crowd roaring as he ran down the field.” -Arthur Carman report.

Aftermath:

Wellington had one more home match of their season to come to wrap up 1956, but since the rules of the Ranfurly Shield stated there were to be no matches after September, the Wellington – Hawke’s Bay match the following Saturday was a first-class one only. Wellington won 22-3.

When Jarden retired, after one match for the Centurions Club in 1957, he had made 134 first-class appearances. He established a New Zealand all-time scoring record with 945 points, comprising 145 tries, 141 conversions and 76 penalty goals. For Wellington he registered 469 points, including 70 tries in 63 matches.

He passed away in 1977, aged 47.

With Jarden retired and former wing-partner Tom Katene having returned to the King Country, Wellington played four early season away games in 1957 with sketchy results. These being a 9-0 win over Manawatu, an 11-11 draw with Wairarapa, a 5-14 loss to Taranaki and an 11-12 loss to Waikato.

Wellington defended the Ranfurly Shield against Bush (22-9), Poverty Bay (15-3) and Whanganui (34-15), before Otago came to town on 24 August and won 19-8, also their first victory at Athletic Park since 1908. Two matches later, Taranaki won the shield off Otago and went into 1958 as holders. In turn, Taranaki would repel Wellington challengers in 1958 (6-6) and 1959 (22-6).

References:

• Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016.
• Carman, A.H. Ranfurly Shield Rugby. A.H & A.W. Reed, Wellington 1960.
• Swan, Arthur C.; Jackson, Gordon F. W. (1952). Wellington’s Rugby History 1870 – 1950. Wellington, New Zealand: A. H. & A. W. Reed.
• Swan, A.C. History of New Zealand Rugby Football, Volume 2 1946-1957. NZRU, Wellington, 1958.
• Evening Post Newspaper reports September 1956.
• Photo credit: Clark scores in the corner: Rugby union football, Ranfurly Shield match between Wellington and Auckland, Athletic Park, Wellington. Evening post (Newspaper. 1865-2002) :Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: EP/1956/2184a-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23030368