New book tells the story of the 1963 Wallabies team that toured South Africa

[Nergal]

 

THE sight of the Wallabies’ lineout being decimated by the All Blacks last weekend made painful viewing for all Australian rugby followers.

But few would have suffered more than an 84 year-old gentleman watching on TV at his home in the Sydney beachside suburb of Manly.

Fifty-five years ago, Rob Heming was a key member of the 1963 Wallabies team that toured South Africa and stunned the rugby world by squaring the four-Test series with the mighty Springboks.

A photo of the-then blond-haired Adonis soaring high above the Boks to snare a two-handed take during Australia’s 9-5 win at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town is one of the most famous of all rugby images.

In one frozen moment of time, it speaks volumes about the foundation of the Wallabies’ success – fierce competitiveness in the set pieces, enhanced by ferocious backrow defence and flashes of brilliance in the backs.

But in an era when rugby tours lasted months and entailed more than 20 matches, the story of the ’63 Wallabies was about far more than lineouts and covering tackles.

Happily, thanks to the urging of Heming, the full tale (or most of it anyway) has been now been told with the publication of A Dangerous Breed, written by journalist, author and ’63 Wallaby hooker Mike Jenkinson.

Queensland rugby stalwart and coaching doyen Dick Marks, 76, who played all four Tests on the tour, assisted Jenkinson along with teammate Keith Walsham and their former Springbok opponent Tom Bedford.

“I could have added a lot more, but you know what they say,” Marks said. “What goes on tour stays on tour.

“We’ve always had reunions every 10 years, but as the years went on we started losing blokes. Rob is the oldest still with us and he rang Jenko and said: ‘We’re all getting old and forgetful. Would you mind writing everything down before it’s too late?’ ”

The result is a wonderful, warm and eye-opening insight into rugby – and sport itself – as it used to be in the days before short tours and big support staff.

The 1963 Wallabies’ off-field team consisted of manager Bill McLaughlin and coach Alan Roper. Medical issues that couldn’t be handled by local GPs were referred to Wallaby backrower John O’Gorman, a med student.

While Roper ran training, it was the senior players such as captain John Thornett, hooker Peter Johnson and halfback Ken Catchpole who ran the team, says Marks.

“The day before a game, Roper would call us into a meeting room and tell us how we should play. When he left Thorn would say, ‘okay fellas, we’ll meet back here in an hour’ and then we’d have the players’ meeting.

“It wasn’t that we ignored Roper. It was just that the senior players were the ones who had the experience, they were the ones who made the decisions on the field, and we listened to everything they had to say because we wanted to learn from them.”

The respect and affection the players had for each other brought results on and off the field. They remain the only Australian team ever to win a Test at Ellis Park, Johannesburg in 85 years of trying and, at the time, one of only three from any nation to beat the Boks twice in a row in South Africa.

Perhaps most notable of all, is the strength of the bonds forged on that tour.

“Without doubt, it was the closest-knit team I have ever been part of,” Marks says. “There was no jealousy or envy on the part of the ‘dirties’ who didn’t play the Tests.

“Of course there was disappointment, but everyone supported each other and that continues to this day.”

■A Dangerous Breed will be launched at an old-fashion rugby lunch featuring Dick Marks, Alan Jones, Nick Farr-Jones, Roger Gould and ’63 Wallabies Jules Guerassimoff, Dallas O’Neil and John Wolfe at Wests Rugby Club on September 7. Bookings: 387 07204 or 0415 574177.