I’m sure just about everyone in New Zealand has forgotten it by now – except Andy Haden, perhaps. But in Wales, the nation that probably most mirrors Kiwiland in terms of rugby fanaticism, the All Blacks’ 13-12 win at Cardiff Arms Park in 1978 will be remembered for as long as the game is played. And with anything but fondness.

The result was clouded with accusations that Haden deliberately cheated to gain what proved to be the winning points - and the feeling that Wales were ‘conned’ out of victory over Graham Mourie’s Grand Slammers still lingers strongly in the valleys 29 years later.

To get an idea of the full impact of that game on Welsh minds, one needs to look at the statistics of the period – a time that is fondly remembered as the Golden Era of the men in red.

'Unbelievably it is now 54 years since Wales beat New Zealand…with the All Blacks having won the last NINETEEN games between the two countries'


From 1968 to 1982, Wales were invincible at the Arms Park. For 14 seasons they dispatched every nation that entered the Cardiff cauldron – a record 27 matches unbeaten. The one blip was a 19-16 defeat to the 1972-73 All Blacks, a result they felt sure they would overturn on that chilly November day five years later.

The Welsh stars of that 1970s era remain living legends to this day – indeed, the likes of Gareth Edwards, Barry John, JPR Williams, Phil Bennett and Gerald Davies would come pretty close to making a ‘World’s Best of All Time’ XV. On that fateful 1978 day, however, only JPR survived of all those superstar backs – though the legendary Pontypool front row were still there en bloc, along with the world-class half-back pairing of Terry Holmes and Gareth Davies.

The other home nations – England, Ireland and Scotland – were invariably hammered out of sight by Wales in the 70s, only France put up any sort of opposition in Five Nations contests. In fact, rugby pundits were united in their view that the Five Nations effectively comprised two invisible sections: Wales and France in the Premier Division and the rest a million miles below in a hotch-potch league of their own.

One only has to look at the consistency of Wales’s results in that era to realise just how far ahead of the field they were. Nine of the ten wins against England and eight out of ten against the Scots, with the Irish claiming only one win and a draw in nine outings. France were the only side to rival the Welsh, winning three and drawing one of their ten games.

By the time England had been put to the sword in March 1979, Wales had won the Five Nations title five times in the 70s, done the Grand Slam three times, picked up five Triple Crowns and beaten Australia twice.

However, the one scalp they wanted more than ever was - and still is - New Zealand’s. Unbelievably it is now 54 years since that happened…with the All Blacks having won the lastNINETEEN games between the two countries.

Wales’s last win was a 13-8 success at the Arms Park in 1953 – their third victory in four meetings with the All Blacks up to that date. Now the overall record reads New Zealand 20 wins, Wales three - yet to this day the Welsh are convinced also triumphed in 1978, even if the official scoreline says differently.

So what actually happened to incur a generation of fury in the belly of the Dragons? Well, that’s debatable in itself – depending which side of the world you come from.

With the Welsh leading 12-10 and the clock running down, New Zealand won a lineout deep in opposition territory. When the ball was thrown in, All Blacks lock forwards Andy Haden and Frank Oliver fell out of the line as if they had been pushed. English referee Roger Quittenton awarded the All Blacks a penalty which Brian McKechnie sent over to win the game.

The Welsh were incensed, and in the stands Barry John reportedly jumped up and down screaming: "You bloody cheats! You bloody cheats!". JPR Williams felt so strongly that he later wrote in his autobiography: "It was disgraceful and there is no doubt in my mind that Andy Haden should have been sent off for ungentlemanly conduct".

The affair nearly caused a diplomatic incident between the two countries and was the source of much bad feeling in the years that followed. However, for all the controversy, the referee later explained that the penalty had been awarded against Wales lock Geoff Wheel for jumping off the shoulder of Oliver and had nothing to do with the New Zealanders ‘cheating’.

And Wheel's second-row partner Allan Martin told me years later: ''If we are honest, the referee could have given a penalty for any one of half a dozen offences that were committed in that particular lineout.''

However, in an intriguing twist, New Zealand skipper Mourie later recalled how the night before the Test he had described the tactic to Haden, having witnessed it carried out by another player.

Either way, the record books will always say that New Zealand were the only team in the world to beat Wales at Cardiff Arms Park between 1968 and 1982. And they did it twice.

That’s why even the most begrudging Welshman would reluctantly conceded that the All Blacks were, and indeed still are, the greatest Rugby Union team the world has ever seen.

Has there ever been a greater Rugby Union side than the New Zealand All Blacks? Let Sportingo have your views.