Match of the Century (rugby union)

New Zealand team performing the Haka

New Zealand had performed the Haka before all tour matches but were often met with indifference or hostility. The Haka was better received by Welsh players and the Welsh public; local journalists had sought information from the New Zealand players themselves, with the South Wales Echo publishing a full transcript and translation of what it called the Te Rauparaha Haka (Ka Mate).

At around 2.20pm, as the Welsh regiment's 2nd Battalion Band played Men of Harlech the All Blacks emerged onto the pitch, with the Welsh following shortly after. However, the band, crowd and the Welsh team were all respectfully silent to accept the challenge of the Haka.[13]

As the Haka concluded, Teddy Morgan led an immediate response by singing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau in the direction of the New Zealanders. Morgan encouraged his teammates to join him and the crowd soon followed, unaccompanied by the regimental band.[15]

The singing of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau is the first recorded instance of a national anthem being sung before an international sporting fixture.[16][17][18] At this time national anthems were not associated with sport, especially in Europe. Throughout the British Empire, anthems were associated with the royalty and reserved for formal state occasions.

Witnesses to this event (including the New Zealand players and London press) all note the impact of the anthem on the players, crowd and themselves. Match reports, player interviews and memoirs all cited the anthem as a factor in the Welsh victory, for decades to come. In Wales, the crowds who had already been singing the anthem at cultural events such as Eisteddfods, would now sing the anthem at rugby matches and other sporting occasions as well. Soon, the singing of national anthems would become a formal part of proceedings in a variety of sports and eventually, a standard practice across the world.[19][20][21]

A lineout is contested during the match

A Wales player is brought to ground by the All Blacks' defence.

Hodges kicked off for Wales and the early play was very tough. There were few opportunities until Seeling made a break for New Zealand, this was brought down by the Welsh defence and the first scrum was called.

The All Blacks adopted their usual formation of seven packed forwards and would have expected the Welsh to use the British system of eight. However, Wales not only formed their scrum with seven men but they packed with four men in the front row. This meant whichever side New Zealand tried to gain the loose-head advantage, Wales had a man outside. As the front rows engaged, and the attacking side of the scrum became obvious, the surplus Welsh player on the other side would then retreat into the back row.[22]

Wales were the only team with any real scoring chances early on. Percy Bush made a failed attempt at a drop goal, but the best chance ended when an awkward pass from Jack Williams was dropped by Willie Llewellyn yards from the try line.[23]

Accounts of the match are unanimous in reporting how unusually poor New Zealand were in the first half, and that they conceded an abundance of penalties in the opening fifteen minutes. One reporter stated that the normally free-scoring All Blacks did not get any play inside the Welsh 25 yard line until the very moment before half-time.[24]

Teddy Morgan led the Welsh singing of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau and would go on to score the only points of the match.

A scrum was called and Dicky Owen saw a chance to call the move he devised in training. As Wales won the ball, Owen ran it down the blindside, with the backline of Bush, Nicholls & Llewellyn following him in support. This initial move drew Gallaher, Hunter and most of the New Zealand backs in that direction. Owen then switched the play, throwing a long pass back to the openside, with Cliff Pritchard having to take the ball at his feet. The long pass gave Pritchard time to draw the covering tackle of Deans before passing to Gabe who similarly drew Duncan McGregor. Finally Gabe passed to Morgan who sprinted more than twenty metres past the covering full-back Gillett to touch down in the left corner on 23 minutes. Wales failed to kick the conversion and this was the only score of the match and the first time that the All Blacks had conceded without first scoring themselves.[25]

Jack Williams receiving treatment at half-time.

There is general agreement that New Zealand gave a much better account of themselves in the second half, although the Welsh scrum would remain in the ascendancy and poor kicking continued to be an issue for the All blacks. Both teams had scoring opportunities, but the All Blacks had most of the attacking play. Billy Wallace did cross the try line, but was called back having run into touch and a forward pass from Deans prevented an inevitable try for McGregor. The All Blacks also had a series of scrums on the Welsh goal line, but were kept from scoring by a strong Welsh defence. However, the closest opportunity came for the All Blacks when three-quarter Bob Deans was brought down inches from the line.

Billy Wallace gathered the ball from a Welsh kick and ran forward with Bob Deans following him in support. Willie Llewellyn tackled Wallace, but not before he passed the ball inside to Deans who then sprinted thirty yards for the line. All the contemporary reports agreed that both Teddy Morgan and Rhys Gabe brought Deans down at or near the try line (with Morgan later saying that the "honour" of making the tackle was Gabe's) but the heavy mist made it unclear to spectators if the tackle had stopped the try.

There are conflicting reports on whether the referee, John Dallas was late to the incident. Dallas would always refuted this, stating that he arrived in time to clearly see the incident and estimated that Deans had been 6 to 12 inches short of scoring. Gabe would continually state that Deans was "inches short", despite struggling forward after the tackle, Percy Bush also stated that he saw Deans was short and made a double movement (illegal in the game at that time) to try and score the try.

Deans however, believed a try should have been awarded. Following the match, Deans would send a telegraph to the Daily Mail newspaper in London stating that he had in fact grounded the ball before being pulled back and that the referee had indeed arrived late. Deans would always maintain that he had scored the try, reasserting his belief from his death-bed in 1908. A number of Welsh players, including Teddy Morgan also felt his claim was credible.[27]

Gallaher exchanged shirts with the opposition captain, Gwyn Nicholls. Nicholls subsequently gifted the shirt to Thomas Mahoney, a van boy at his laundry business, and the shirt remained in Mahoney's family until 2015.[30]

In 2015, the shirt was auctioned at Rogers Jones & Co in Cardiff. It had been expected to sell for £20,000 to £40,000, but was secured by a UK-based telephone bid for a record £180,000, more than eight times the previous world record for a rugby shirt.[31] It was later revealed that the winner was Nigel Wray, the financial backer and chairman of Saracens F.C., who outbid five separate attempts to secure the item for New Zealand. The shirt has since been on public display at Twickenham Stadium.[32]

The centenary of the match was celebrated during the 2005 All Blacks tour of Britain and Ireland. As in 1905, New Zealand were regarded as the best team in the world, and were now officially ranked as such. Wales had also replicated their 1905 position, winning that year's Grand Slam and remaining undefeated throughout the year. The pre-match Haka and anthems were arranged to replicate their order in 1905. God Defend New Zealand was led by Hayley Westenra before the All Blacks performed the Ka Mate Haka. The Welsh crowd then directly responded with Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau led by Katherine Jenkins, and Cwm Rhondda, led by Wynne Evans.

This time, it was the Welsh who were suffering injuries, missing six of their tourists from that summer's British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand. The match itself was a one-sided affair, with the All Blacks winning 41–3 on their way to claiming a Grand Slam tour.[33][34]