England’s piggy-back routine beats All Blacks

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby‘s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful

What’s happening here?

It’s the evening of Monday, October 10, 1983 and England have gathered at Stourbridge RFC for a midweek training session with coach Dick Greenwood. From left to right. Orrell’s big lock Jim Sydall is giving prop Paul Rendall a piggy-back and newly-appointed skipper Peter Wheeler is doing likewise with flanker David Cooke. Cardiff ‘s No.8 John Scott – apparently wearing the world’s tightest shorts – looks none too impressed while lurking in the shadows of the underpowered floodlights is Gloucester lock Steve Boyle who had toured with the Lions that summer.

What’s the story behind the picture?

Believe it or not the All Blacks lie in wait in just five weeks’ time and England are playing catch-up after a dismal 1983 Five Nations in which they failed to win a game, a 13-13 draw in Cardiff with Wales being their only result of any note.

Scott had been the skipper that year and had now been replaced by Peter Wheeler, no spring chicken at 34 but hungry as hell after being mysteriously left out of the Lions party for New Zealand that summer. He remained the best hooker in Britain and Ireland and there would even have been a case for making him the skipper. Instead he missed the tour altogether. Hence he seems to be taking it all very seriously.

The others also have a tale to tell. Rendall was recognised as a master scrum technician but his time had not yet come. He wasn’t capped until 1984 and fully came into his own only during the Geoff Cooke era and the 1991 World Cup although he missed the final after damaging an Achilles.

Sydall was a huge man and big player on his day – he was excellent for the North against the 1979 All Blacks – who never quite came through for England making just two Test appearances.

Cooke was a fine openside who won 12 caps but suffered from the presence of Tony Neary at the start of his Test career and the emergence of Peter Winterbottom at the end. Boyle was a ferocious club lock who did well to make the 83 Lions party but was limited to three caps for England who never lacked top class locks.

What happened next?

Well here’s the strange thing. England only went and beat the All Blacks 15-9, their first win over the old enemy since Oloblensky’s match in 1936. It wasn’t a vintage New Zealand side, a few big name forwards had opted out of the tour, but there is no such thing as a bad New Zealand side and you can only beat what is in front of you and England were thoroughly good value.

Why is this picture iconic?

There is so much to like about this picture and mull over. It simultaneously conveys the laddish image of many rugby training sessions while also shedding a light on perhaps why things were starting to go wrong after what felt like the breakthrough success of the 1980 Grand Slam.

It all seems a bit haphazard. Is this a set fitness drill – on the Monday night after a weekend game for their clubs? – or is this just the boys having a bit of fun? They have all bunked off work to drive to Stourbridge slap bang in the middle of England so why not? Life is there to be enjoyed isn’t it?

Professionalism was still a long way off, these guys are making sacrifices.

Cooke recalls sloping off work just before 4pm on this very day and fighting his way through the traffic to make it to Stourbridge for the session which nominally ran between 7-9pm but actually finished later. After a shower and pint the Stourbridge club laid on a great spread afterwards –a full roast dinner to feed the inner man. In fact that was almost the main appeal of the sessions but it meant it was well after 1am when Cooke got home to bed.

He would then be up at the crack of dawn to head off to the City and after making a point of showing his face to main bosses and appearing bright and cheery he disappeared to the toilet and grabbed another hour’s sleep. There was also Quins training to think of that night!

Then we have the veteran Cardiff skipper Scott – who plied his trade in the dog-eat-dog world of Welsh club rugby where two games a week was the norm. He doesn’t seem too amused with this extra session and his colleagues’ antics. You can almost hear him thinking “How the bloody hell is this going to help us beat the All Blacks”. And yet they won!

Outwardly it’s a bit of a shambles. Clearly regulation team tracksuites were still not yet a thing. In fact I’m not sure Sydall is even wearing a tracksuit, it looks like his work trousers. An occasional member of the squad he has a quizzical look. Surely England training is a bit better organised than this?

Cooke is beginning to smile but ‘Wheelbrace’ is all concentration adopting the straight back of an Olympic weightlifter in an attempt not to injure his creaking spine. As the new skipper he needs to lead by example.

Footnote. The New Zealand result was a strange one off. England finished last but one in the 1984 Five Nations that followed and then got heavily beaten in two Tests against South Africa with Scott again captaining the side. He never appeared for England after that although over the next two or three years he arguably produced the best rugby of his career with Cardiff.