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The Seventh All Blacks

tour of North America, the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and France.

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October 1972 - February 1973 

  The players were kitted out and prepared for the tour in Auckland and stayed at the Royal International Hotel. At a reception there for them on the eve of departure, Ian Kirkpatrick made a fine speech and informed the faithfully gathered that the players were breaking their necks to do well. A most capable orator, Kirky also eluded to the fact that the team felt that they had their backs to the wall somewhat and were aware of the difficulties ahead of them. Perceived on-field difficulties and challenges that was.

  Two central figures in all the unforeseen off-field drama that would unfold over the next six weeks, were both in action straight away. Firstly, tour Manager, Ernie Todd, a man with not a great deal of time for the media, had a verbal altercation with TP McLean, over journalists who were not officially with the tour party having access to the players, or something along these lines, when boiled down.

  If that wasn’t setting ill feeling right from the start between management and the press, another who detested the newspaper men with some degree of loathing, was also in trouble within hours of take-off from Auckland.

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“Outward bound for Honolulu, the players were entertained by Keith Murdoch - the soul of alcoholic joviality - who pledged his friends to one drink after another, while discoursing lengthily and often learnedly on topics of the hour. He was not the only celebrant of the long and weary hours of midnight and early morning, but he was the most industrious - and the noisiest. Before the cock crew, he had been told at least four times to sit down and shut up and had done neither.”

T P McLean, (They Missed the Bus), 1973

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   And TP went on to say; “with that, the faint, muted sounds of alarm were to be heard”.

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Probably best we don't know? Keith Murdoch and Jeff Matheson on the flight from Auckland to Hawaii, October 16th, 1972.

“Vancouver, a sprawling city of about a million, is a supremely beautiful place of mountains, bays, boats small and large and an infinity of deciduous trees, which at this moment were wearing their sere and yellow and making the place look even more beautiful still.”

T P McLean, (They Missed the Bus), 1973

 

  Once in Vancouver, Todd decided to have a team photograph taken, in a square opposite the Georgia Hotel, where they were staying. At the assembly of the team, in bright autumn sunshine in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, he asked Sid Going to remove a recently purchased black beret from his head. The vice-captain refused. BeeGee had also bought himself a black beret.

  Alan Sully Sutherland, Tane Norton and Grizz, at CAN$16 a piece, bought themselves black, broad-brimmed gaucho hats, of the style worn by the pampas in Argentina. Ironically, these five became the ‘back-seat’ boys on any coach or bus the All Blacks used throughout their journeying and were immediately christened the Mafia by team-mates, quite possibly Twig who had quite the reputation as the parties stand-up comic. But as the traditionalist that he was, Terrence Power McLean was duly concerned.

 

“The gestures, individually and collectively suggested that the pride of uniform - which had possessed 99.9% of all the All Blacks in history, was no longer cherished. They also suggested a latent ill discipline, which might at worst, become a formidable enemy of accomplishment.”

T P McLean, (They Missed the Bus), 1973

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   The celebrated vice-captain and wing-forward had done both, purchased a hat and grown a gringo moustache. He’d also later sneak back to the hat shop and buy himself the Mexican hombre version as well.

  I felt certain that the Whineray’s and Lochore's and Meads’ of this world, would find all this a little disturbing. I could see Pinetree chewing the cud as he always used to do (God bless him), with that look on his face, having been asked a question that he most certainly had an opinion upon which he wished to express, but was holding back from relaying his true feelings owing to the nature of the words required.

  In the official team photograph taken pre-tour, presumably following the blazer fitting ceremony, Keefy, Nectar, Batts, Bob Burgess and Sid Going are the only All Blacks sporting moustaches. 

  Keefy has the only true gringo number, but he’d had it right throughout the 1972 domestic season, as I’d witnessed first hand when he had almost terrified me half to death at Monticello, away back in April. But by Vancouver, Bryan Williams, Grizz Wyllie, Jeff Matheson and Sully (although his effort was brief) were sporting ‘tash's, in varying states of completion.

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  For the first couple of days in Vancouver the weather was balmy, replaced on day three by fog and haze. The latter was the result of burning recently cut scrub on the mountain slopes, the fog caused by a more mysterious mixture of highs and lows between the Pacific Ocean and the hinterland. 

  By the eve of the opening match against British Columbia, the fog was so thick that planes attempting to land at nearby Vancouver Airport were diverted to Calgary or Edmonton. It was a damp, chilling, all-pervading fog that covered the whole of the eastern seaboard of North America.

  Locals were predicting that the match could actually be fogged-out. Their opinions had to be valued as the 1970 Fijians struck an icy blast that saw the temperature drop below zero (and were not surprisingly beaten). And in 1971, the Australians - en route to France - had arrived during a snowstorm. The Wallabies though, overcome the distraction of the entire field being covered in snow to win the match.

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(Left) The Mafia; Qucikly established as the back seat of the bus boys - Sully, Tane Norton and Grizz. (Right) Tane Norton has some explaining to do at Toronto Airport. (Below) A night out in Vancouver. Alistair Scown, Andy Haden and Nectar seem suitably impressed by the hospitality, as does Rugby News editor, Bob Howitt, in the background.

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Match 01: Brockton Oval, Vancouver, October 19th, 1972

British Columbia 3, New Zealand All Blacks 31 (Half-time: 3-11)

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For NZL: Kirkpatrick 2T, Burgess 2T, Robertson T, Batty* T. Karam 2C, P

For BC: Bob Hindson P

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British Columbia: Barry, Legh, Spence McTavish, Stu Barber (r; Peter Bayne 72), Rick Bourne, Kirk Templeton, Alan Rees, Bruce Howe (c), Eric McAvity, Ken Wilke, Bob Hindson, Paul Johnstone, Gareth Henrickson, Gaither Zinken, Dave Doherty, Warwick Harivel.

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New Zealand: Joe Karam, Bryan Williams, Bruce Robertson, Mark Sayers, George Skudder (r; Grant Batty 40), Bob Burgess, Lin Colling, Bevan Holmes, Alistair Scown, Peter Whiting, Ian Eliason, Ian Kirkpatrick (c), Graham Whiting, Tane Norton, Jeff Matheson.

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Weather: Foggy, calm. Ground: Firm. Crowd: 5000. Referee: Jan Curnow. 

 

  Cool, calm and foggy were the official conditions that eventuated the following day, a relief for most, especially given that the match venue, Brockton Oval at Stanley Park, was regarded by TP as ‘the most picturesque playing field in rugby’, although the fog did not completely lift until the games conclusion. 

  The oval lies down by the sea in a park of around 400 hectares, with McLean’s trees in full fall glory, complete with ‘black squirrels busily searching their supermarkets for bargains to lay up for their long winter’s retreat’.

  There were but two All Blacks on debut in the fair Canadian city; Karam and Sayers. Eighteen minutes into his AB debut - having missed with two conversion attempts earlier - ‘Clock’ banged over a 35 metre penalty to score his first points for New Zealand. 

  He put down the first high ball that was sent in his direction, with an army of BC players bearing down on him and after that, it depends which press agent one believed. TP McLean; ‘His general play wanted in security. He did some horrifying things and overall, looked terribly insecure’. Bob Howitt; ‘He landed only three goals from nine attempts, but the rest of his full-back play was polished and safe’.

  Twig, on the other hand (after dropping his first pass), responded instinctively at times and made the right decision on most occasions, darting for gaps or simply feeding the ball to his out-sides. He looked very comfortable between Bob Burgess and Bruce Robertson.

  The spark came from Batts however, who had come on to replace George Skudder at half-time. Twig called him into the backline from the left wing, as he introduced himself to world rugby with a sidestep at amazing speed away from a would-be tackler. Whenever he was with or near the ball, action was on hand and he thrilled the crowd of 5,000 with his buzzy-bee runs.

  Despite the natural assertion made by the AB’s that the match would almost certainly be a walk in (Stanley) Park, they found some resistance from the home-side, who fielded some very good players. Five had toured Wales in 1971 with the Canadian national side. 

  None more so than the South African lock, Bob Hindson, who leapt magnificently in the line-outs and caught the ball untroubled. He and locking partner, Paul Johnstone packed lower and knitted more tightly than Pole Whiting and Legs Eliason, providing a platform that - despite being 10 kilos lighter per man - was not easy for the All Black forwards to break down.

  Alan Rees, a Welshman at fly-half and Stu Barber and Rick Bourne in the centres were determined and courageous, while other forwards who shone were Gaither Zinken at prop (a ‘capitally rugged hombre’) and Dave Docherty, the hooker, who took a couple of tight-heads off Tane Norton. They also tackled with inspired ferocity, a hallmark of the North American game.

  The first time New Zealand employed the famous ‘Willie-Away’ movement, Moose Whiting charged round the end of the line-out only to be enveloped and driven back in the tackle of Gareth Henrickson, 30 kilo’s lighter than the beast from the King Country.

  In the end, the blacks chiselled out a 31-3 victory (after leading by just 11-3 at the break), but had to put in more effort than they thought would be necessary to overcome some fiesty and intelligent opposition. J B G Thomas had gleefully noted that TP had wired back to Auckland stating that he had ‘spotted flaws in the New Zealand approach’.

  Kirky was a little concerned that Mr. Jan Curnow of the Victoria Referee’s Society had lashed the AB’s by 16 penalties against to just seven received (11 to 1 in the first half), but again Thomas was quick to point out that All Black sides were spoiled in New Zealand by having their own referee’s. He also noted that TP liked to ‘add a touch of drama to his writing’.

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(Left)  First try of the All Black tour goes to Bob Burgess, who ran the blind to score after 12 minutes. Lees, Johnstone and Howe arrive too late. (Right) It's a try coming up for the captain also, second half action against British Columbia.

  Stars of the AB’s win were Pole Whiting and Alistair Scown in the forwards and Bob Burgess and Bruce Robertson in the backs. Scown had a ball in such a fast-moving match, while Whiting’s two-handed line-out takes were a revelation to the Canadian’s, although, as mentioned, Bob Hindson had also been tremendous in this area.

  Burgess dictated the trend of play superbly and his incisive running produced two clever tries. Robertson was all thrust in the second spell. He looked so good in fact, that locals approached the press box at the finish to ask for more details about him, one claiming that he was the best centre he’d ever seen.

  On their performance at Vancouver, the British Columbia team would have been comparable with the Californian ‘Grizzlies’ who had toured New Zealand earlier in the year, but because they played such a defensive game, it was difficult to accurately gauge their backline talent.

  Although rugby ran a distant second to the national sport of ice hockey, the oval ball code had received a major boost from the Canadian government, which had advanced rugby to the ‘A’ category for financial grants. Broad hints were dropped at the official dinner following the match, that a Canadian tour of NZ was long overdue. All Black sides had played against BC in 1905, 1924, 1935, 1963 and 1967.

  The new grant rating was on the back of the 1970 victory against Fiji, but largely based on BC’s 8-3 victory over Mike Campbell-Lamberton's hapless British Lions of 1966, the side en route back to Blighty. Although victory over the AB’s was unlikely, the grant allocation was justified with the tourists ahead by only 15-3 with just twenty minutes to play.

  The only blemish on the victory was George Skudder pulling a hamstring during the first half and having to be replaced at the break by Batts. It was bad luck for Skudder, who had been in scintillating form for Waikato during September and played his way into the side with a fine trial in Wellington.

  Skudder felt the hammy go while he was flying down the left wing, late in the spell and he admitted it was terribly disappointing to be side-lined with the injury.

  “I reckon I would have scored,” George said. “It’s the same hamstring I have pulled before.”

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  The tour party flew from Vancouver to New York, via Toronto, for their second match against the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union’s ‘Allstars’. On the same day, back home in Aotearoa, restrictions on the manufacture and sale of margarine in New Zealand were removed under the new Margarine Amendment Act, 1972.

  Three previous All Black sides had played matches in the United States, the last of which was Bob Stuart’s 1953 team who played in Berkeley and San Francisco. This matter was overlooked in the match programme, with both the Governor of the State of New York, one Nelson D. Rockefeller and the Mayor of the City of New York, John V. Lindsay, welcoming the All Blacks to America, but eluding to the fact that this was the first time in which they had come to play rugby. The oversight did not impress Terry McLean, especially not when, as he further pointed out, one was paying US$1 for the match programme in the first instance.

  Nevertheless, in 1972 in the Eastern Rugby Union area, there were 150 clubs fielding 7,000 players in some form of weekly competition. The Metropolitan Union itself had been formed in 1967 and in the five years since, had expanded from four to 12 clubs. 

  Boston and the capital, Washington D.C were also well represented and both cities were known to be a little sour over having been overlooked as hosts to the seventh All Blacks. In fact, the Washington Union, after losing the staging of the game, as was originally scheduled, were so bitter that they refused to release any players for the match against the AB’s.

  It was actually the NZRFU who had switched the match to New York, without saying why, which had caused a great deal of angst. Because Washington then refused to participate, what was supposed to be an Eastern Union representative side was changed to the NY All Stars.

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  And in New York, the touring party duly checked into the Commodore Hotel on 42nd Street (described by TP as a ‘decaying institution’), where the Hotel Association of New York had left notices with recommended instructions in rooms; to keep doors locked, valuables in a safe deposit box at reception, to not permit ‘repair men’ to enter the room and so on and so forth.

  Another piece of sage advice was to NOT wander the streets at night. 42nd Street, known locally in Manhattan as “The Deuce”, was the cultural centre of American grindhouse theatres and the associated sleazy subculture for the depraved of many genre’s.

  An area of the infamous street near Times Square was home to activities often considered ‘unsavoury’ and housed a populace, of which some were described as; “male prostitutes, transsexuals, hustlers, and closety gays with a fetishistic homo, or heterosexual itch to scratch.”

  Of course, TP wrote of dismay that many of these All Blacks he termed ‘adventurer’s’, had been waltzing around Times Square at night to look at live strip shows or cinema reels which took nickels or quarters. Even in Vancouver, several had taken in a live performance by naked dancing showgirls.

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“No doubt their interest reflected modern society of that sort which made smash hits of “Hair” and “Oh, Calcutta”, bestsellers of “The Chapman Report” and cinema and television films from which modest eyes would have been averted in the good old days.”

T P McLean (They Missed the Bus), 1973

 

“I don’t want to go to bed - I’m afraid of missing something!”

Lin Colling (Rugby News Tour Book 1) Bob Howitt/John Reason

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(Left) All Black shutterbugs, Nectar & Pole, snapping away on fabled 42nd Street, Manhattan, NY

  En route to the ground, located way out beyond Harlem, the All Blacks were informed by their bus tour guide that over 100 killings had gone down in the same rundown precinct over the previous twelve months. This chilling news was more lightly offset by the fact - as also pointed out - that right next door to the venue, Downing Stadium, was a giant flyover where the final scenes of the film The French Connection had been shot.

  Any All Black who hadn’t at least raised an eyebrow at either of these pieces of information, must surely have done so at the sight of their manager, Ernie Todd, playing for an over forties team against a college side in the curtain-raiser. Although the 54 year old had little impact on the match itself, he was gallant enough to volunteer for service and cracked over a goal kick, dead centre to boot.

  But as with most things American, the All Blacks were to take on the appearance of a sort of Sgt. Pepper to the Beatles type thing - a band within a band. They became Kirky’s travelling circus for the afternoon, which began in earnest back at the Commodore Hotel, where they were farewelled by the Maori Concert Party, who had by chance, just spent a week on Broadway.

  If the AB’s were somewhat non-plussed by this, New Yorkers found Canon Huata’s group positively jim-dandy. But that was just the start of proceedings for the men in black. The sh’bang started with combined team photo’s and VIP introductions. Then the loudspeaker at Downing Stadium played rather nauseating rendition’s of “Stars and Stripes” and “God Defend New Zealand”, which both seemed to go on interminably. It was arguably the jazziest version of our national anthem ever heard, however.

  Anthems dusted, each of the fifteen AB’s were introduced to the crowd by a ground announcer, as they individually ran out onto the playing field (concrete-hard and 10m short of regulation width). Then, to their dismay as play eventually commenced, the same ‘voice’ began a running commentary on the game and what was happening, apparently to further educate the spectators as to the wonders of this dynamic amateur sport.

  New Zealand supporters in the stands who had travelled with the team, contemplated sabotaging the grounds loudspeaker system, but were duly amused by a second half announcement as such; “There is a misprint in the programme. The $2 admission to the after-match party on 72nd Street includes only six free beers - not ten as it states in the programme.”

 

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Match 02: Downing Stadium, Randall's Island, New York, October 21st, 1972

New York 'All Stars' 9, New Zealand All Blacks 41 (Half-time: 3-10)

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For NZL: Sutherland 2T, Hurst T, Wyllie T, McDonald T, Lambert T, Penalty T (Batty). Going T, C. Morris C. Williams* C, P

For All Stars: Geoff Clarke 3P

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New York All Stars: Graham Smith (Manhattan), Jack J. O'Mahoney (Boston), Woody Stone (Philadelphia), Geoff F. Clarke (Manhattan), Al Sullivan (Old Blue), Roddy J A Thomas (Manhattan), R 'Dick' Donnelli (Old Blue-Cpt.), Art C. Sprinkle (Beacon Hill), John Wellington (Old Blue), Mike Wittenberg (Old Blue), Terry N. Brown (New York), Ron S. Mulvey (Manhattan), John E. Barnes (New York), Manus O'Donnell (Manhattan), Eric Jones (Manhattan).

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New Zealand: Trevor Morris (r; Bryan Williams 53), Grant Batty, Ian Hurst, Mike Parkinson, Duncan Hales,Ian Stevens, Sid Going (c), Alan Sutherland, Alex Wyllie, Andy Haden, Hamish Macdonald, Ken Stewart (r; Bevan Holmes 6), Kent Lambert, Ron Ulrich, Keith Murdoch.

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Weather: Sunny. Ground: Rock hard. Crowd: 3500. Referee: David Dyer. 

 

  The New York All Stars were an intriguing assortment of Americans, Welshmen, Englishmen, Irishmen and a New Zealander, Terry Brown, late of my Pirates club in Dunedin. The average age was in excess of 30, the oldest, flanker John Wellington, aged 38. Half-back, Dick Donnelli (37), had open-heart surgery a few years prior.

  The first 40 minutes ranked as ‘totally forgettable’, the AB’s ahead by just 4-3, till a minute before half-time, when Grant Batty was awarded a penalty try, following a surge by Archie Hurst.

  In the second spell, the ‘Old' Stars quickly ran out of steam and the AB’s turned on the razzle-dazzle, running in six tries, with backs and forwards combining in moves and handling superbly.

  The most impressive backs were Mike Parkinson and Ian Hurst. Parkinson, who many considered lucky to hold his position after the Australian series and a modest trial, punched through gaps with monotonous frequency and outside him, Hurst, the rank outsider in the touring party, attacked with great authority.

  By contrast, Hurst confirmed the promise he’d shown in the trial in Wellington, running hard and straight and showing a great regard for his wingers. He scored a fine try, which he himself had started.

  Batts and Nectar both had fine matches also. On debut and as a fly-half, Nectar probed the gaps with some penetrating runs, when he wasn’t quickly and efficiently feeding the ball on to Parkinson. In fact, the time and space he accorded the Poverty Bay man, helped play him back into some sort of form, which was good news with the UK section of the tour about to commence. 

  Andy Haden was commanding in the line-outs and there was much to admire in the performance of the young prop, Kent Lambert. 

  The goal-kicking was again dreadful, or fifty points would easily have been posted. Trevor Morris -  until leaving the field with a pulled calf muscle - missed with four from five attempts at goal, his only success being the conversion of the penalty try from right under the sticks.

  The other injury suffered was a gashed ear to Ken Stewart, who had only been on the field for six minutes on debut. The badly torn ear required 15 stitches to repair and put back in place.

  New York’s most notable contribution to the lively game was crunch-tackling, in particular from their burly forwards. The AB’s won mostly all the ball, but the New Yorkers were quick to swoop in with alacrity on anything that was not cleared properly.

(Right) Grizz goes in for a try during the first half of the match against the New York All Stars. In support are Bevan Holmes, Duncan Hales and Andy Haden.

 

  The All Blacks had a night out in New York and then flew to London on Sunday, October 22nd. For most, it was their first excursion aboard a Jumbo jet airliner, which TP suggests, was not an over-joyous occasion. In keeping with his New York observations though, he did mention that they had been entertained on the flight by a relatively new movie, Fuzz, (which included as he put it; "Racquel Welch - bosoms and all") which had allegedly compensated admirably. The film also starred Yul Brunner, Jack Weston, Tom Skerritt and Burt Reynolds.

   Arriving at Heathrow Airport just before 10pm, a VIP welcome awaited the team and management, with representatives of all four home unions there, as well as a large press gang and a battery of camera's. 

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  For the new All Black's, it was an introduction to media frenzy and although they probably didn't know it at the time, it was to last for the majority of their three month visit.

  Many of the most famous of what TP called 'Alickadoos' were there; Sir William Ramsay (former RFU President), John Tallent (Chairman of the four home unions), Albert Agar (ex-England representative and future President of the RFU) and so on.

  The team were tired, but in good spirits and Messers Todd, Duff and Kirkpatrick revealed diplomatic patience in dealing with questions from the press, while moving from the airport to their waiting coaches. Even the popular daily newspapers that do not claim to cover rugby union were represented and eager to report on the arrival of the biggest thing since sliced bread.

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"This was appreciated and I was able to phone a good read through to the Western Mail for Monday morning, as readers were thirsty for information about the men in black. Cliff Morgan drove me back to town where we took wine with the NZ Press at the team's hotel. In that pleasant hour, friendships were renewed and stories exchanged, it was as if the memorable 1971 tour had never ended."

J B G Thomas (The Avenging All Blacks) 1973

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  Members of the London branch of HART were there too, to protest against the proposed Springbok tour of New Zealand in 1973. Offering their feelings regarding the propriety of an all-white rugby side from the Republic touring Aotearoa the following season, seemed to affect some of the players, but at various functions in the days ahead before the team played their first match in England, some of these 'Alikadoos' offered (with their hearty welcomes) an opinion that politics would not be mentioned on this tour, that was for the future.

  It was alleged that Kirky had been handed a letter from HART, but it was refuted by the skipper, who claimed he'd neither seen nor read any such written message. The Seventh All Balcks then checked into the Brittania Hotel, near Canary Wharf's South Dock on the Thames River.

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(Left) A few hours out of London on the Pan-Am Jumbo jet flight from New York. Kirky, tuned into some sounds, has a row to himself, while behind him, Nectar and Twig look a little travel weary. Keefy is quiet for a change. (Right) Trevor Morris greets or is greeted by one of the many Kiwi supporters who turned up at Heathrow Airport, London to welcome the team.

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