5 replies to this topic

[TeeJay]

It may have been Andy Hayden (not sure) that's why I'm asking.

Someone threw the ball in and the AB jumped for it and `cheated' in some way.

I've seen the replay a dozen times but I've never taken notice of who the AB was, what he did or why he did it.

Did his cheating impact on the game at all and what game was it?

Anyone?

[taniwharugby]

It impacted the Welsh, they still cry about it!

But that was not what the penalty was for.

[booboo]

TeeJay

It seems you're talking about the Welsh test on the ABs 1978 Grand Slam tour.

Down 12-10 with minutes left the ABs went to a line out 30 odd metres out. Before the lineout apparently Haden (no "y") and his fellow lock and front of the lineout jumper Frank (Anton's Dad and former Hurricanes & Blues Coach) Oliver had a bit of a conversation about needing a penalty. Hmmmm ...

Anyways as the ball was thrown in (not sure by whom) the number two jumper. Geoff Wheel the Welsh No.2 jumper leapt up and won the ball - in doing so he levered himself up with his inside arm (left IIRC) palming it back to the halfback with his right/outside arm. [lee grant]Strictkly speaking using the oustide arm was legal in those days - but the reason using the outside arm became banned was to try and legislate against levering off your opponent ... but I digress.[/lee grant] The action of pushing against Oliver's shoulder seems to propell Oliver out of the lineout and to the ground - I'm not sure if he tried to resist being pushed out - or indeed helped propel himself. Regardless it was illegal.

At the same time Andy Haden - standing in the middle of the linout throws himself theatrically out of the lineout.

The referee, Roger "Nobody's got tighter shorts than me" Quittendon IIRC from England has already spotted Wheel's illegality at the front and penalised him. This is quite clear from the vision as Quittendon clearly indicates Wheel.

Many Welsh argue that the penalty was won by Haden and claim Quittendon later apologised for awarding it - neatly forgetting their bloke cheated. If Quittendon did apologise it should certainkly not have been for awarding the penalty which was fully deserved, and rightly awarded, it should have been for not seeing Haden's histrionics - which may have reversed it.

Anyway up stepped Brian McKechnie, replacement fullback - later to find further infamy as the NZ batsman who faced Trevor Chappells underarm delivery at the MCG - who was either hungover or jetlagged or both having only just been called into the squad and not expecting to be even on the bench, but dragged off the bench in the early stages after Clive Currie was viciously bashed with a head high shot by (IIRC) Steve Fenwck which went unpunished. So karma for the whinging Welsh - who seem to have convenient memory blanks about their own indiscretions - as Currie's replacement banged over the penalty to win the match 13-12.

[Kirwan]

That's a bloody fantastic summary.

[TeeJay]

Kirwan said:

That's a bloody fantastic summary.

For sure!

Thanks to you all, especially booboo. (and I loved all the little explanatory comments between peoples names!)

[Catogrande]

Looking back it was quite odd. Quittenton did later confirm that the penatly was against Geoff Wheel although this is more often than not ignored in the valleys as Haden's cheating makes for a moral victory. The odd bit though is for whom all the Welsh vitriol was directed at. Surprisingly not Haden "the cheater", but Quittenton the English ref. Was dubbed the most hated man in Wales. Mind you he was such a twat anyway that he wasn't much liked in England either.