Rugby World Cup - Wales' Struggles and Challenges in the RWC, the story of 1995
It was the first time the tournament of Rugby World Cup had attracted worldwide attention: Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey, presented the trophy to South African captain François Pienaar, providing iconic images that shone around the world.
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The competition also saw the emergence of John Lomu as a sports superstar. For Wales, however, it was just another failed campaign following another worrying buildup. In the latest series on past Rugby World Cups, Wales Sport looks back to 1995 with Captain Mike Hall.
New hosts
The FIFA World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in South Africa since the fall of apartheid. It was also the first global rugby tournament in which springboks were allowed to compete, and South Africa was only allowed to play internationally again in 1992.
After being eliminated from the group in 1991, Wales Rugby World Cup team had to qualify for the tournament for the first time in their history, which they easily managed with convincing victories over Spain and Portugal. Taking over shortly before the 1991 tournament, coach Alan Davies helped change the fortunes of Wales and Wales won the 1994 Five Nations title.
However, the traditional breakdown of Wales before the Rugby World Cup was not far off. In 1995, the Five Nations sacked Davis just two months before the start of the RWC. So they turned to Australian Cardiff manager Alex Evans, who became the first non-Welsh to coach the Welsh national team, transforming Arms Park. Center Cardiff Hall was appointed as the new captain, replacing Ian Evans.
“Who fires a coach and manager who recently won the Five Nations Championship and shortly before the World Championship? Wales, Hall said.”
Alan tried his best to make the game more professional and spend more time with all the players who were still working. There was a standoff between Vernon Pugh (Chairman of the WRU) and Alan, who was pushing for a change, and they had a fight, although they had previously been quite friendly.
Cardiff and Swansea Divide in the Rugby World Cup Squad
We also had a lot of injuries in 1995 at the Five Nations. So we did our business as usual in Wales where we went back to type and went back to a successful club manager like we did with Ron Waldron before. Evans was assisted by Mike Ruddock and Dennis John, who were linked to Swansea and Pontypridd respectively, and the different factions in the Rugby World Cup squad created problems.
According to Hall, then club rugby was of great importance. There were big strong clubs like Swansea, Cardiff, Pontypridd, Llanelli and Neath all vying with each other and the competition was huge. It was well known that Cardiff and Swansea did not like each other. When we went to the Rugby World Cup with Alex, there were a lot of players from Cardiff, so it created a split even before we got on the plane.
Challenges in Building the Wales Rugby World Cup Squad
Alex was a brilliant manager but he had time with the Cardiff players. When he came to the club he liked a certain type of player and it took him a year or two to get rid of some of the ones he didn't want and bring in his own staff to shape the team the way he wanted it.
When it came to the Wales side, Dennis and Mike helped him pick the squad and it was a difficult time with different dynamics going on at the clubs and he was trying to get something done so quickly. He trusted me as his captain in Cardiff. We were successful, so he wanted someone to get his message across.
“Therefore, before the tournament there were unrest. We in Wales have a unique ability to drive ourselves into these pits and then confront each other. Trying to get the team to focus differently in this limited period of time, when I think about it now, we were on the verge of hiding and may have been doomed from the start."
Winning start
Wales faced Japan, New Zealand and Ireland in the group stage in South Africa. The first match was against Japan, where Wales were victorious 57–10, including a hat-trick of attempts by Gareth Thomas on his debut. It was a good start, Hall said. It was a tough game and winning by such a margin took a lot of energy from us. We had a good preparation and we trained hard, so we were in good shape while we were there.
They were followed by the All Blacks in Johannesburg and a little story with new teen sensation Lomu. Hall believes that Wales didn't help themselves before kick-off. According to Hall, there was one moment during preparation, and team manager Jeff Evans was at Ellis Park the day before when the All Blacks were running a few lineouts on the field.
Wales were supposed to take the field before the game and he dropped them. He came over, knocked on my hotel door, woke me up.
We won the first round, I threw the All Blacks off the field and then told me the story. I thought oh my god what did you do?
Acknowledging Jonah Lomu's Threat
When I shook hands before the toss game with New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick in the bowels of Ellis Park. "Thank you to your team manager for talking to me. They were a brilliant team and for me they should have won that Rugby World Cup because they were the best team in the tournament.
The only good news is that John Lomu did not score in that game. We knew about him and we knew he was a fantastic player. They also had 14 other players and I was more concerned about Frank Bunce. Wales could have prevented Lom from scoring a goal, but he impressed. That evening Amyr Lewis, number eight, was an unused substitute.
Terrible Start and Failed Tactics
Before the start of the tournament, I remember going to the welcome dinner and looking and seeing a massive young guy who I thought was in the second row, Lewis said. It was huge and I have never seen anything like it in my life. I was on the bench and sitting on the touchline when Jonah got the ball at 22. The ground was hard and you could hear his feet pounding on the ground when he passed. I was glad I didn't play.
New Zealand's 34-9 defeat left Wales with a straight shootout against Ireland to reach the quarter-finals at Ellis Park. Wales were defeated 24-23, never recovering from a terrible start, and their Rugby World Cup ended. What a terrible game, said Hall. We had a terrible start and our tactics didn't work. Ireland also did not play very well, it was a complete scrap.
All I remember is that I was on my feet for the last 20 minutes. We played three games in a week and it was tough. Alan and Bob had a plan that they were going to use two teams during our stay in South Africa because we played three teams in such a short amount of time. It all vanished when they got rid of Alan.
"I didn't want to go home after that because not qualifying was such a crushing disappointment."
Iconic images of Rugby World Cup
The tournament continued without Wales, with the New Zealand juggernaut crashing down. And Lomu wrecked England in the semi-final with four tries, which resulted in Will Carling calling him a "freak". For more to know about Rugby World Cup Tickets.
Before the final against South Africa, controversy reigned and questions were raised. About whether the New Zealand players suffered from food poisoning. This was followed by a famous home triumph thanks to an extra-time goal by Joel Strunky.
The event was dominated President Mandela, wearing the home team's green jersey to salute the victorious captain, François Pienaar. While South Africa was still divided. Mandela's gesture of reconciliation and attempt to bridge the cultural divide created a sensation around the world.
The tournament was fantastic, Hall recalled. This is real rugby nation and they are passionate about it. Few rugby nations can match this where they are the lifeblood of the country and they have embraced it. What happened to Nelson Mandela and François Pienaar has become iconic.
The Rugby World Cup's Impact on Global Rugby
“Overall, it was a huge event and it set the standard for a tournament that has become a global event. This made the tournament an important event.”
The Rugby World Cup was the last major competition of the amateur rugby union era. Two months after South Africa lifted the trophy, the International Rugby Board opened the sport to professionals. The same year that Wales lost in South Africa, a rugby league team full of former union stars who switched codes. Led by Jonathan Davies, reached the Rugby World Cup Semi Final.
According to Hall, the most important thing that people might not have realized was the state of rugby at the time. During training and during the Rugby World Cup. Kerry Packer tried to take over the sport, and I and other captains negotiated with him.
“Something was going on behind the scenes, it came to a head when the game went professional. That's why 1995 was such an important year."
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