We Beat the All Blacks

Forty years ago, something happened in this small Welsh town,

a moment that helped define its people and its place.

Its rugby team took on the greatest side in the world, and won.

The scoreline - Llanelli nine, New Zealand three.

In their celebrations, the followers drank

each and every pub dry - the Thomas Arms, the Masons, the Black Lion -

not a drop left, and this in a town

which had not one, but two breweries.

It was a town built on hard work and the sweat of a man's brow.

Today, the remnants of the old collieries lie dormant

under many of its streets.

There was tinplate and iron,

and then there was steel. Hard men working white hot metal.

Little wonder that the townsfolk were tough, enduring,

and resilient.

There was steel in their veins, and it runs there still.

It was the biggest Welsh-speaking town in Wales

and it had a culture all of its own.

There were chapels to feed the soul

and pubs to slake the thirst.

Stradey Park was a cathedral of rugby, where 26,000 believers

could keep the faith.

On October 31st, 1972, the packed congregation had jobs,

money and self-belief.

On that day of invincible memory, a man could stand

just as tall as he liked.

That day, he knew he could take on the world.

And on that day, 15 Llanelli men beat the mighty All Blacks.

Llanelli's foundries, smelters

and steelworks are almost gone.

With the passage of time,

memories, too, will eventually fade and disappear.

I think industry played a huge part

in the history of Llanelli Rugby Football Club. A lot of the players worked in the industries.

When I was a young boy growing up, going to watch the Scarlets,

because they were my heroes, people worked in the steel industry,

there were miners coming from the Gwendraeth Valley and other parts of West Wales

who played for the club, men worked in the tinplate industry,

the docks were strong in Llanelli in those days, so it was very much

a working-class town and very much a working-class club, I believe.

You know, it was full-on, in terms of work.

There was full employment, and a lot of expendable income,

and a lot of beer drunk.

But the town had a different feel,

it was a very emotional,

very in-your-face, hard-working town.

And rugby, really, was, without a doubt,

as far as I'm concerned, it was the heartbeat of the town.

It was a very homely club,

a very Welsh club, in them days.

A lot of us spoke Welsh,

most of us, and Llanelli town itself

was a working man's town in them days.

Of course, it's altered a lot now.

But 40, 50 years ago, it was a working man's game

and everybody looked forward to Saturday afternoon,

to spend the afternoon at Stradey Park.

It was a religion.

There was nothing else.

Yes, we had religion on a Sunday, but on Saturday,

there was only one religion - that was rugby.

I lived about a mile and a half, two miles from Stradey Park.

My father would take me to the game as a young boy,

never catch a bus, always walked down the railway line where

the Gwendraeth Valley coal used to come, down to parts of Llanelli to be unloaded,

and we walked down the railway line

and there'd be hundreds of supporters walking to Stradey Park.

And it'd be full of guys who had just finished work,

with their working clothes on and going straight to the game.

And you felt, gosh, these guys didn't have time

to go home to change, these men, these great men. And I thought they were great men.

I remember when I went into industry as a young man,

as an apprentice welder-fabricator.

Heavy industry stopped in Llanelli, with the likes of Duport Steelworks

and all the car plants and everything here.

Now it's very, very difficult to find work.

We all consider that heavy industry finishes in Port Talbot.

Those who are in work in Llanelli still stick to our guns

because of heavy industry. Heavy industry is in our blood,

rugby is in our blood.

Llanelli has always been synonymous with rugby.

I hear people talk about them

going away to rugby countries throughout the world,

and not only do you mention the Scarlets

and they know who you're talking about, you mention Stradey Park

and they know what you're talking about.

And every town, no matter how big, how small,

needs something to grab hold of. And I feel that Llanelli itself

has that in its past,

which is something we, as Turks -

call us whatever you like - Scarlets, we still hold on to that.

I can remember the first touring game I saw,

when the All Blacks actually played Llanelli,

I'd have been 11 years old, 12,

and any touring match in the town was a huge occasion.

Industry in the town

would actually close.

And they usually were Tuesday afternoon games,

and all the schools were marched down.

And I was one of my school that actually came down, and they...

in front of the stand in those days,

they'd put planks down on beer crates and we'd all sit around.

'That looks useful. And it's there!'

And from that day on, it was obvious to me that my sporting ambition

was to have a chance to do something like that and belong to that.

'Delme Thomas is always in the thick of things,

'and still plenty of fire left in this Llanelli seven. Colin Meads.'

That was a great experience to me, you know,

playing against the world-renowned forward pack.

Colin Meads, Stan Meads, Wilson Whineray,

Brian Lochore, Kelvin Tremain

and Waka Nathan.

It's a great rugby nation, they are mad about rugby.

The same as we are in Wales.

They worked on farms, farmers, and worked in freezing works

and things in New Zealand.

They were hard physically, naturally hard men, you know.

'And Nathan's there!'

Unless you've played against a New Zealand side,

you've never played rugby, you know.

I know the South Africans and Australians, there are some great players there,

but if people ask me, "What's the greatest rugby nation in the world?",

I always say New Zealand, the All Blacks.

'Beautiful long pass... And up comes Dick on the right.

'Jones just short of the line... And it's another try! Malcolm Dick.'

Llanelli had never beaten the All Blacks, no,

but they'd done exceptionally well.

The Springboks, we lost 10-9 in...

two years previous to that, in '66.

The Scarlets beat Australia.

And from that point of view, they had a history of

being able to beat touring sides, but had never beaten the All Blacks.

'Dennis Thomas... Having a go for the break...

'He's running in from the inside.

'Three yards to go. Can he get there?

'What a try! What a score!'

CHEERING

'That's what the crowd here at Stradey Park

'have been waiting for all afternoon!'

Well, it was very special, seeing a team like the All Blacks

come to Stradey Park. Well, they'd always held in order...

the British Lions had been out there

in '71, and the first team ever to win a series out there,

and then Carwyn James, the Lions and the Llanelli coach,

lived next door, so it was a really special day for me.

Touring teams these days only come over to play international games,

they don't play any club games.

That was a special era, when they came on tour for about three months

at a time, and you don't get that any more,

and I think rugby's more the poorer for it.

They WERE my heroes.

Roger Davies at full-back,

Andy Hill, JJ Williams on the wings,

Roy Bergiers, Ray Gravell,

Phil Bennett, Chico Hopkins,

then we had Barry Llewellyn,

Roy Thomas, Tony Crocker,

Delme Thomas - captain,

Derek Quinnell, Hefin Jenkins,

Gareth Jenkins, and Tommy David.

I think I got them all right!

The All Blacks weren't invincible

and the Llanelli coach, Carwyn James, knew that.

Under him, the British and Irish Lions had given New Zealand

a mauling the previous year. This charming and entirely inspiring man

knew that history can repeat itself.

We felt ever so proud that Carwyn

had achieved that goal of beating the All Blacks

in their own backyard,

and to have him as coach, he brought a new dimension.

I can remember him saying, "It's our centenary, boys, but there's one game that matters

"above everything - the All Blacks, and we've got to beat the All Blacks."

I was working in the steel industry and, believe me,

the excitement was there for a year before that game.

"The All Blacks! Do you think we've got a chance?

"I hear Carwyn thinks we can beat them.

"Oh, God, we are going to beat them, aren't we?!" It was terrifying!

And again, and again!

That's better! Close on him, Gareth.

'His first training session back....'

Eyes on the ball!

'..in August, and I'll never forget him saying, "Right,

"We've had our opportunity as Lions, it's going to be our top opportunity now as Llanelli.

"We can beat the All Blacks.

"This is going to be eight weeks of focus, different level of training."

Ready!

'Good one...'

WHISTLE BLOWS

'Thank you, well done...'

He knew how to beat the All Blacks.

He knew where their weakness was,

because the idea was to go out there

and try and run them off the park, try and spread the ball.

He thought they'd be weak, playing 50-mile rugby against them,

that they were very forward orientated.

'Bend the knees...

'Straighten your knees.

'You'll get that forward thrust then, OK?

'Just bend them slightly, down you go.'

One thing I'll always remember

Carwyn James saying on many occasions,

"Always remember one thing - one pass beats 15 players."

He loved the expansive game, he loved the ball in open space,

and Llanelli had the quality players to actually fulfil all that.

But that ball would go in and he'd be counting.

One, two, three, four, five...

But Carwyn had thought things through and he just gave you belief.

At one point here, boys, once that scrum is going forward,

'and once you see that the drive is on,

'you can step back, ready to pounce, OK?'

'Ready!'

He talked to you nicely, leading up before it, playing other games.

"Roy, come on, now," if I wasn't playing, you know?

He wouldn't swear, or nothing like that. He was such a lovely man.

They must be creative within your side.

This is the reason why I always preach the gospel,

but it's up to the coach to make absolutely certain

that the basics are right, that the habits are right.

But then, when it comes to ploys, tactics, moves -

the mix, if you want to call it that -

then I feel, let the boys have the chance to develop

on any ideas that they have,

and in this way, I think that they're just as creative as I am

and they are contributing, they know they're contributing,

and they are enjoying the process.

'Well, he was intellectual.

'And he had a lot of faith in his players,

'but sometimes, he'd walk on the field'

with a suit on, cigarette, and just go,

"Good, good," but he'd watch and he'd look

and stand back, and if he saw weakness, he'd work on that weakness,

but what he'd want to do is encourage you to express yourself,

and that's all he was saying to us all the time,

"Concentrate, concentrate. Express yourselves."

He put the onus on you.

Carwyn was ahead of the game. He had it all in place.

He knew what he wanted, he knew what was needed.

And he brought us all to the boil at the right time.

And you had to wait to see if you were going to get picked, you know?

Even people like Phil Bennett tell me... Yeah, they were certs,

but they still wanted to be made sure on our selection date, you know?

The team selected is Roger at fullback,

Andy and John on the wings,

Roy and Ray in the centre,

Phil and Chico at halfback,

Barry Llewellyn, Roy Thomas and Tony in the front row.

The second row, Del and Derek,

and the back row, Gareth, Hefin and Tommy David.

And when the name Tom David came out against New Zealand,

I felt like jumping through the ceiling.

So that, in itself, was brilliant.

I'm now in the actual side who's going to play against New Zealand.

MARCHING MUSIC

But I can always remember getting up the morning of the game.

I lived in a small little village, Felinfoel,

I lived in a terraced house, got up as usual, you know,

went to the paper shop across the road, 50 yards,

and I couldn't believe it. People, my friends in the village, were,

"Hello, Phil, everything all right?"

And they were very quiet. They were nervous.

They were almost shy, and I got in the paper shop

and I knew a couple of the boys there,

"Oh, Phil - all the best today," shook my hand,

and I went out, I thought, "God,

"there's something special going on here today."

On the day, I've never felt so nervous in all my life.

I've never felt emotions like it,

and as much as it was a big occasion and we were all focusing on it,

we were prepared for it, the whole thing was completely different.

It was like, "Something different's happening here,"

there were thousands of people everywhere.

On that great day, getting up at about five o'clock in the morning

to start work by six, so we could have time off

to go to the game and, generally, the atmosphere of the day.

Obviously, none of us made it back to work that day,

but it was well worth the effort.

It was a working-class team and everybody appreciated

what the boys did because they did it for the love of it, you know?

There were no big payments or anything,

or they weren't professionals.

It was just their love that drove them to do what they did.

I won't experience that again, I don't think.

I think if I did, it would be a bonus, you know?

But I don't think I will.

Two hooks. Up. Big. Big.

When, actually, we were going into work,

the atmosphere was absolutely brilliant in town.

By the time it came time for the match, the town had just emptied.

I've never seen anything like it since

and I don't think we'll ever see anything like it again and...

I don't know. It's just one of those famous memories

that stay in this town for good, I think.

I think we assembled in Llanelli, in Stradey, about...

I think it was 10:30 in the morning,

and we went down to Ashburnham for lunch.

What I used to do is, I used to have two or three raw eggs,

I used to swallow raw eggs and, of course,

that used to put the boys off their food,

so I used to go under the table on my own often to do that

and then join them after I'd swallowed my eggs, you know?

Sherry - I used to have a drop of sherry in it, yes.

He sent us all out, Carwyn, gulped down a bit of fresh air, cool down,

because I think he'd realised we were peaking too early for this kickoff.

You know, we were blowing our brains out, and we walked, got a bit of fresh air.

But they were shaking then,

as we know, by the talk given by the great man, Delme Thomas.

Yes, I had to say a few words.

I had to say what I expected of the boys, you know?

Told them exactly how I felt

and that it was the greatest honour in my rugby career

to lead Llanelli on that day.

And I'd been fortunate enough, I'd been on three Lions tours

and won, what, 25, 26 Welsh cups,

and I said, "I'd give it all away," I said,

"just to win this game today."

Here was a man saying, "I'd give it all up for my club."

He was Llanelli through and through.

Only knew one club, only knew one badge.

Such a working-class man, but yet a great man, a modest man,

but he's coming out with words I'd never heard that day

and pointing to every player, going round...

I mean, Ray Gravell was crying like a baby. Gareth Jenkins was pumped up.

He'd come round when he was giving it and he'd be looking at you.

And then he'd go...

And the head would...

He was on fire, like, do you know what I mean? Ah, marvellous.

And we wouldn't let him down. Wouldn't let him down.

We were all told that we were going down to watch a rugby game.

As a football fanatic, I had no interest in going down to Stradey that day,

the weather wasn't very nice. So, we walked down to Stradey.

I remember loads and loads and loads of cars.

Everybody was going in one direction.

It was a mass exodus of people going somewhere.

I didn't know where they were going, cos I just didn't know,

but we all went there, and it was just throngs of people everywhere.

Red and white, red and white everywhere.

And I remember that we got to the ground

and there was benches laid out behind the goalposts

and there was this massive roar, massive suck of air,

I was just like, "What's happening here?"

And that was my introduction to Llanelli rugby.

We got on the coach to Stradey Park and there was no doubt,

there was no laughing or joking or singing.

There was a lot of tension.

People could hear a pin drop and as we got closer to Stradey Park,

then you see the crowds gathering and the tension got higher.

As we were coming into Stradey Park, we were slowing up about a quarter of a mile from the ground,

and looking at these supporters walking in

and they were looking into the coach

and they were saying, "Please win today. We are behind you today,"

and there was almost an eerie, frightening silence

about the way they were looking at us,

the way they wanted us to win that day, and I just thought,

"God. They think we're going to win today."

We walked in the dressing rooms and we'd think, "Oh, we're flying high here,"

and they get into the dressing room -

we're there before the All Blacks -

and I remember standing on the stool, on the bench,

looking out of those little windows at Stradey Park and saw them pull up.

Wow. Dour-looking men. The black blazers.

Mm. They're dour guys. This is serious stuff.

Grav had fantastic humour.

He was the life and soul of the changing rooms,

full of drama and full of emotion,

but on that day, Grav wasn't as noisy as he can be.

I think he realised himself.

And the both of us, in the changing rooms before the game,

were stood on the benches with the small windows in the changing room

and we both were up on the benches watching the All Blacks arriving.

He was nudging me and I was nudging him, saying,

"Look at the size of them! Look at the size of them!

"Look at them," he said. "Look at them!"

And we were both in awe and we were both looking at them

as if we were supporters, you know?

"Grav, we're going to be playing against these now! In 20 minutes!"

"Oh, gee - look at the size of them!"

Only our best will do today. Our very best.

Cos I don't want them to get the initial advantage,

any psychological advantage, in those first few minutes.

OK, is that perfectly clear?

I can't remember anything about it.

All I can remember about that game is coming out of the tunnel

before the game and it was black.

Dark clouds, everything was cold and windy.

It was like going to a funeral, not to a game.

CROWD SING INDISTINCTLY

By the time we got out to have a photograph, it was just...

well, like a cathedral of noise.

CROWD SING INDISTINCTLY

Everyone was packed into that stadium, so we sat and had that photograph

and back in the dressing room went, "This was something big."

The boys weren't sitting down, or nothing like that.

They were going into the toilet, banging.

They were excited, you know what I mean?

We couldn't wait to get out in the field.

And this is your one chance -

only one chance you're ever going to have in your life -

to beat the All Blacks in your own back yard.

-CARWYN JAMES:

-You should be fully emotional inside you,

but at the same time, when you go out there,

your brain must be ice cold.

We've got to do a clinical job this afternoon. A clinical job.

We're going to win this game.

Now, think about it. Think about it.

When they ran out of there, they must have thought,

where the hell were they?

Stradey was small, compact, full of emotion and, Christ,

there was only one team that the whole crowd was supporting, that was us.

CROWD ROARS

You know, it was electric on the field, like.

And when they were doing the haka and all that, of course I clapped.

Of course, I got a row after the game.

Carwyn came on to me and said, "Rory, we don't clap,"

but I liked the haka.

We were so revved up for that game, it wasn't true,

simply because of the atmosphere of the game and how important it was.

We were all ten-foot tall going on to that field.

We looked across the field and saw them.

The All Blacks were actually playing us,

Kirkpatrick and those guys, you know?

You heard about these guys, these were the superstars of world rugby.

We're actually on the field against them. But here we go.

CROWD ROARS

Carwyn had made us realise, you know, that we had to be brave.

To win this game, it wasn't about outplaying them,

it was about being brave enough to live in the intimidation

that they were going to bring to the game.

You had to be able to deal with kicking after kicking after kicking

and not necessarily on your back -

on your elbows, on your knees, on your ankles -

any vulnerable spot on your body,

if they had an opportunity, they'd stamp on it.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Delme Thomas in possession, Llanelli's captain.

This is Quinnell burrowing away, the two working well together.

And from Murdoch, of course, the use of the boot,

and I wonder whether British referees, including Mr Titcomb,

are going to stand for that.

It's brutal and we don't like to see it here.

A major part was the rucking,

because they were so physically strong.

You know, they'd rip the ball out of the rucks

and they'd go in there, and they'd have no qualms

about putting their boot in

and walking over you, or stepping on you, or whatever.

It was brought up in their game.

I mean, if you were on the deck at the rucking... Oh, God, alive!

'..Sutherland for the All Blacks. Quinnell coming away. Hopkins.

'And it could come very, very late.

'It could come very, very late.'

'I got laid out in the game.

'I can't remember too much about that, but I've seen it on the film.

'Very physical.'

CROWD BOOS

'It was just non-stop.

'But we did live with it, you know.

'And I think we grew with it,

'and I think they couldn't deal with the fact'

that they weren't dominating us.

And we weren't taking a backward step

in terms of the physical encounter.

'This is Barry Llewellyn, giving the New Zealanders a taste of him.

'Quinnell in possession for Llanelli.

'Llanelli are giving New Zealand plenty of brute force,

'and there goes the boot.'

The boys, you could see it in their faces, you know?

And I could hear, when I was going in the scrum,

I could hear Grav speaking in Welsh, see?

But I could understand what he was saying. He was saying in Welsh,

"Shunto!" You know what I mean? "You get that ball!"

'On this side for New Zealand is Graham Whiting from King Country,

'where Colin Meads used to perform so admirably.

'To Tom David...'

'The big thing was, I think we gained the respect

'of the All Blacks' pack.'

After ten minutes, they thought,

"These boys ain't going to take this all afternoon.

"They're giving it back to us."

'Delme Thomas up high.

'Good for Llanelli.

'Scown had stepped back beyond the end of the line.

'So this is the Scarlets' first chance for points.'

I think it was at ten past three.

That's been one of the greatest moments of my life,

and I've got wonderful memories of it.

'The dot by the ball is the ten-yard line. Bated breath.'

CROWD ROARS

'The cross bar! There's a try!'

CROWD ROARS

'Roy Bergiers is the happy man.

'who puts the Scarlets into the lead

'after just two minutes of the game.

'Llanelli - 4, New Zealand - 0.'

In fact, I've still got visions of it

in my mind in slow motion.

The ball went forward and it was just there in front of me,

saying, "Come and get me!"

Running back, disbelief, in a way, that we'd been given

that opportunity, and we were in the lead,

and I thought then,

"Right, now the battle starts!"

'Roy Bergiers is the happy man

'who puts the Scarlets into the lead

'after just two minutes of the game.

'Llanelli - 4, New Zealand - 0.

'Bennett's hit the cross bar with his penalty attempt.

'If he puts this over, Llanelli will be six up.

-'He does.'

-CROWD ROARS

When I said to my husband, "God, I was there!"

"No, you weren't," he said.

"You were babysitting. I was there."

And, well, that's how I felt. As if I was there.

I even said I was behind the post,

so I must have had a marvellous imagination at 20 years of age!

But it was absolutely brilliant, yes.

We still talk about it as if it was yesterday.

I'm still proud to say that I thought I was there.

'I was 16 years old, studying for my O-levels,'

and they wanted somebody who was good at maths,

and that's how I got involved in operating the scoreboard.

I remember vividly the ball coming in,

and we were just about getting ready

to put the three points into the scoreboard when, lo and behold,

the ball hit the crossbar,

from which the try was scored.

'What a great start, then, at Stradey.

'New Zealand have been full of errors and butterflies,

'and the singing of the crowd here before the game was tremendous.

'And even the All Blacks must be affected by it.

'They've made two serious mistakes. Offside.

'Peter Whiting is the All Black involved...'

A New Zealand penalty had put the visitors back in the game.

But Llanelli were still ahead.

Now, Phil Bennett changed the tactics.

The small man from Felinfoel took command

and pinned the All Blacks back.

'Benny, Phil Bennett, he was the General behind the scrum.

'They hadn't seen anything like Phil Bennett,

'and they didn't expect anything like it,

'to be honest with you,'

because Barry John had retired.

He was a great player in '71.

But Phil Bennett to me, again, stood up to them

and controlled the game exceptionally well.

'New Zealand's ten-yard line, number 25.

'Six at the back for New Zealand is Scown.

'Eight, just in front of him, is Sutherland.

'Eight on Llanelli's side, in the white shorts, is Kevin Jenkins.

'Quinnell feeds. Bennett, he's going to test Colling.

'Great work by Llanelli.

'Hopkins, Bennett, Roger Davies, is up with Hales...'

The game was running Llanelli's way.

The All Blacks, who hated losing, really felt the frustration.

'Back in the middle of the field, there's quite a scrap going on.

'A private scrap involving Keith Murdoch.'

All Blacks' prop Keith Murdoch

was the hard-drinking, hard-hitting enforcer

who didn't follow the rugby rules.

'Ah, he was brutal! I can remember him...'

I think he beat Gareth Jenkins up to a pulp.

Both Gareth's eyes were closed.

I think, you know, he took offence

on a couple of other Llanelli forwards.

First scrum of the second half, oh, my God!

Down, went to put my hand there,

as I did, my arm was pulled back.

Murdoch, the prop, turned round,

and just whacked me out cold.

Just knocked me out. Scrum broke up,

off everybody went.

I'm on the floor, nobody seen it.

Anyway, I was on the floor,

didn't know whether I was coming or going,

Delme came over then

and he had a little bit of a lisp in his conversation...

-HE MIMICS DELME'S LISP

-He's on his back!

It must have taken me a couple of minutes, really,

to get myself back together.

So I succeeded in the first half in achieving the goal.

In the second half, they sorted me out.

When Keith Murdoch stepped on my head,

and Joe Karam run up to me,

and I looked up, and, er...

I don't know, I said... I can't say what!

But that just fired me up.

And from there, I got up and went to the line out,

but the crowd...

HE CHUCKLES

..were shouting on me! "Go on, Shunto!"

You know what I mean?

They were, you know, everybody was excited.

You know, on fire.

There'd been a ruck, got them all.

I'm on my face, and I'm just getting up on my hands and knees,

and Murdoch came up behind me

and gave me the biggest kick up the backside.

That really hurt.

So I've gone down again, and as I'm getting up slowly,

the ref went past and said,

"Come on, I know you're trying to waste time."

And I thought, "Waste time?! No!"

My shorts were covered in blood in the dressing room.

That's how hard he kicked me.

Oh, he was a tough man.

He was a tough man.

And, you know, unfortunately,

that didn't work for him in some respects,

because he went home under a shadow eventually.

He got into a little bit of nonsense,

and he was sent home early.

I think they felt, as a management team,

he wasn't controllable.

So they give him his passport and said, "You've got to go."

And I don't think he ever got back to New Zealand.

I think it ended up him getting off a plane in Australia

and the story goes, he just went into the bush and that was the end of him.

But he was a tough man. He was a seriously tough man.

Llanelli were awarded a penalty.

A kick that could change the score line to 9-3.

A long kick. A long intake of breath.

'Llanelli with bated breath.'

CROWD ROARS

'New Zealand have scored twice to win.'

'Did you see Murdoch's boot?! What a disagreeable fellow!'

'They got to the stage where they knew the game was slipping,'

and they started to get frustrated, and then they started...

well, you know, it erupted many times.

'Scown is 25. A tap down done by Peter Whiting.

'Here goes Mark Sayers. He's held up by Raymond Gravell.

'Here goes Scown, 20 yards out from Llanelli's line.

'It's Murdoch at it again, and he's...

'At last, at last, he's been caught!'

The All Blacks, I think, were panicking,

because, "We've got to get points back on the board!"

'Here goes Mark Sayers. Bergiers takes him.

'He's made the transfer to Robertson.

'Inside to Kirkpatrick.

'Kirkpatrick hands off John Williams.

'Tom David there for Llanelli. Desperate moments.'

Because the last, say, 20 minutes, they came at us strong.

There's no doubt about that.

Because, like most games of rugby, defence wins you games,

we'd tackled our ghoulies off. There's no doubt about that.

'Llanelli in trouble. Roger Davies.

'Makes the tackle.'

It was about two minutes to go, or three minutes to go,

and everybody was saying, "Get the ball up the field!

"Get it out of the park," and all this and that.

And I took a little bit too much into my own hands,

and I went to kick instead of passing back to Phil,

and I kicked it straight to Ian Kirkpatrick,

who threw a long pass which was forward,

and went into Batty's hand, and he run up the touchline,

kicked over the full-back, and I thought,

"Oh, God, he's going to score here! I'm going to be lynched!"

Especially coming from my mistake.

They would have won the game.

'Llanelli put in on their own ten-yard line.

'Hopkins' kick.

'This is Sutherland, the big number eight.

'Burgess takes him. Inside of Bruce Robertson. Peter Whiting.

'It's over to Batty. One man to beat.

'Llanelli must chase. And it's there.

'Bennett has room to clear.'

CROWD ROARS

'Oh, what a great hook!'

'I managed just to move my body one side.

'Grant Batty came at me, and I just beat him.

'And, to be honest with you,'

I had no angle, but I kicked the ball, screw-kicked it,

and I thought, "Oh, my goodness!"

But Joe Karam was standing back there,

and I thought, "He's going to counter-attack!"

But the ball sort of swirled in

and went to touch about 40m downfield.

And we had a lineout and the touch judge was saying,

"You've only got about a minute to go!"

'A minute of injury time,

'and I believe we're about to see history made at Stradey.

'And we're about to see the seventh All Blacks going down to defeat.

'Or are we? Here they go.

'They know they're only seconds left. A ruck.

'The service is good. Burgess.

'And there's been an infringement.'

And the ball was held by about 25,

but we had it back,

and kicked to touch, and it blew.

'Roy Thomas does his stuff, together with Crocker and Llewellyn.

-'It's all over!'

-CROWD ROARS

'History has been made at Stradey Park.

'What a tremendous moment for Llanelli,

'for the Scarlets, in their centenary year.

'A magnificent and thoroughly deserved victory

'over Kirkpatrick's seventh All Blacks.'

Yes, of course I remember it. It's stuck in your memory.

It's embedded in your memory for life, as a Welshman.

Especially being a Turk or Scarlet.

The end of the game, then, this old gentleman came up to my dad

and said, "Go on, take him on the field and see all the players."

And you couldn't see the field

because there was an X-thousand number of people on there already.

That's something you don't forget very easy.

I know the younger people around now, perhaps they don't remember it

as well, but it was a day like when Kennedy got shot - you remember it.

I couldn't move.

I was engulfed and the whole team were engulfed by the rest

of an unofficial team of supporters, the crowd just rushing on the field.

Barry Llewellyn had this great idea.

He said, "Come on. Let's carry Delme off."

I didn't think it was a great idea.

We'd just played 80 minutes against the All Blacks - I was cream-crackered.

I thought, "God, I don't want to put Delme over my shoulder!

"Come on, up you go."

So we put him back on our shoulders and then it took us

about half an hour to get to the dressing room

because everybody was so lovely.

So, we carried him all the way to the dressing room and Delme

was sitting up there enjoying himself. I'd had enough.

I couldn't drop him down because there was so many people around us.

I think it must have taken us 20 minutes

to get off the field at Stradey.

And everybody was part of the game.

Not just the players, you know, the spectators, you know.

It was a great joy for them as well and you felt for them,

you know, they followed Llanelli year after year after year and,

you know, it was something,

something for them as well that we had beaten the All Blacks.

It was a great honour for the town.

It was just euphoria, isn't it, I suppose?

That's the best way to describe it. There isn't anything like it.

It's just chaos and mayhem.

And that was the start of it.

And then into that dressing room, I think half of Llanelli town were in

that dressing room, cos I couldn't find my clothes in the corner.

It was just heaving, you know.

Crazy. Wonderful. Wonderful. Great moments.

Great stuff. Llanelli to the fore.

There were fans in the dressing room, grown men, young children and,

you know, we are trying to pull our jerseys off

and somebody was giving us something to drink, and it was bedlam.

Somebody was pouring champagne.

And there were people taking mud off my boots and saying,

"Can I have this mud?" I said, "Yeah, you can have this mud."

"Any chance of your lace that's tying a hole in your socks up?"

You were just... Everything had gone mad then.

As the dust was settling,

you realised what a special victory this was.

A special game.

All the forwards were absolutely knackered, take it from me.

They were black and blue. A lot of blood about at the moment.

You know, obviously, with all the physical contact.

I just took a chair - it's silly, I know -

and went into the shower and I sat down and I put the shower on me.

And I was there, with my clothes on, mind.

And, you know, I was glad it was over, like.

Job done for him, wasn't it? You know? That's us, Carwyn.

You know, he might have walked around the dressing room,

had a few quiet words. He wouldn't have been here going,

"Wow, wonderful, boys!"

That wasn't his scene, you know.

He'd just walk in quietly and, you know,

he'd be on a gin and tonic somewhere.

I felt so pleased for Carwyn because he'd proved a point,

you know, that he was a great coach,

and yet he'd been turned down by the Welsh Rugby Union and...

the New Zealanders, for instance,

couldn't get over the fact that he'd been

turned down by the Welsh Rugby Union, knowing what a great coach he was.

I think Carwyn felt vindicated.

He felt he'd achieved it home and away.

He had done it in New Zealand and he's come back and, in the best

way possible, cos he couldn't do it for Wales, he did it for

Llanelli, with a side that shouldn't have been as strong as a Welsh side.

Llanelli won, Wales didn't.

So he must have felt so satisfied.

I was walking in Llanelli this morning,

the morning after the match, and one of them came up to me and said,

"I remember the 1924 Porter side." And he said, "It's been a long time.

"It's been a long wait to beat them."

HE SPEAKS WELSH

"And, my boy, I don't mind dying now. We've done it."

I was working in London at the time.

When I was there, I met a New Zealander called Bill.

I rang my dad and he got us a couple of tickets

and we came down together.

The end of the game came and we were all excited.

Went out on the pitch to get near Delme and, you know,

celebrate, and I lost him. And I looked around, couldn't find him.

I waited for, I suppose,

about an hour till things started to quieten down.

No sign of him anywhere, you know. Just couldn't find him anywhere.

He never showed up. Three or four days later, no sign of him.

And, eventually, my boss came out and said,

"I've just had Bill on the phone. He's home in New Zealand."

Apparently, he got so upset by the loss,

he went straight from Llanelli up to London, waited in Heathrow,

got a plane and flew home.

So, you know, I've still got his bag. I've never spoken to him since.

TRANSLATION:

Every pub in town ran out of every type of drink you can imagine

and it actually took them

two to three days to actually restock everything in town.

And nobody will actually believe that.

126 drinking places in Llanelli at that time - all of them were dry.

There was something about that day which was just unique, you know,

and I can remember us going back down the Ashburnham Hotel

having one heck of a night. I mean, a hell of a night.

I don't remember what time we got home or anything.

And there they were, about six policemen

playing touch rugby with a helmet,

and I thought, "Bloody hell, the town's gone mad." I could see

pubs, they were sitting outside drinking and singing and everything.

It was chaos everywhere. The club was mad and the town was mad.

We ended up in the Glen Ballroom, this huge dance...

and all our wives and girlfriends had turned up

and the All Blacks had turned up as well, to be fair.

Well, some of them had.

And I always remember... Remember, I'm still a young boy

and it's all new for me, my first time in this level.

And I remember going to the toilet that night and in came Grant Batty

and another All Black and, you know, I'm trying to be sociable

and trying to know them, really, cos I'm in awe of them,

and I said, "Bad luck today." And he just looked at me and went...

"..Piss off." I went, "Sorry?"

As if to say, "Not interested. We are really unhappy. Really unhappy."

And then I sort of realised, "Hey, we have done something."

I told you about this punch I'd had off Murdoch and he caught a beauty.

He'd broken my nose, and that wasn't so bad, but my eyes were just black.

I looked like a bloody panda.

And there was a guy in there, I'd never met the guy before,

tapped me on the shoulder and said,

"Done a bit of boxing when I was a younger man

"and the one thing that will clear up a set of black eyes,"

he said, "is put steaks on them."

And he put something in my pocket.

And anyway, I said, "Thank you."

I didn't know what he put in my pocket,

so I walked away and went over to see my wife.

I said, "Some bloke told me to buy some steaks and he's given me this."

A £20 note.

A £20 note. And I was earning £29 a week.

So I said, "We're not having steaks with these,

"I'm not going to work until Friday."

I said, "I'm off tomorrow, I'm off Thursday."

And I took the rest of the week off because of that 20 quid.

They were all drinking and what have you.

I've got to say this - what happened to me

that night won't happen ever again.

I think it was about four o'clock in the morning,

could have been half past four,

the police came in and said, "Roy, how are you getting home?"

"Well, I'll have to wait until later on to drive."

Of course, I wasn't falling about.

"No, no, you're having a police escort all the way to Penclawdd.

"Come outside now. Is your wife with you?" "Yeah."

"Jump in the car. I'll be in front. Police car behind.

"When we get to Llewydda Bridge,

"I'll be pulling in. We can't come across.

"You go across Llewydda Bridge

"and the Gorseinon boys will be on the other side.

"One in front, one behind, all the way to Penclawdd."

I can't see that happening again. Marvellous.

It just went on and on and on, you know.

That day, you know, that evening, the night, the morning after.

It's the biggest party the town has ever seen.

It was a great day that day

and to think that the stadium isn't there any more, I think, is a crime.

Even today, you know, 40 years since, people come up to me,

people that I don't know, and tap me on the shoulder

and it's all they say, "I was there."

It makes you feel happy, really, that they can still...

that people want to still be remembered about it.

And wouldn't you want to be remembered 40 years on?

There's not many people wouldn't.

Even today, now, people come along to me, "What did you tell Murdoch?

"When he stepped on your head, what did you tell him?"

HE SPEAKS WELSH

How did we do that? How good were we? Do we realise how good we were?

It's quite remarkable really that Carwyn brought 15 club boys

together to beat the might of the All Blacks.

Special. Yeah.

Time and memory have transformed what happened that day.

A match turned into a myth.

A tale of local heroes in the hard-working town

that knew how to honour them.

A chance to walk tall, to stand for a moment in a giant's shoes

and know a pride that could fill your heart

and stay with you for the rest of your days.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd