1970 World Cup Final Gt Britain v Australia

Gt Britain undefeated in the lead up and Australia with only one victory were obviously the underdogs. Gt Britain had won the Ashes a few months earlier in Australia and were expecting another trophy.

[@alanwhit8770]

Infamous match ... Ecca Simms goes to shake hands with opposing winger John Atkinson after fulltime and gets king hit. Great match!

[@GeorgeKeever]

I thought this tape was gone forever, the game has been talked about for years, great to see it again.

[@E171955]

Pretty hard game this one which ,I recall caused quite a stir in the press afterwards. All in all I think GB were a bit unfortunate to lose the match but still good to see that back then the two nations were neck and neck with each other in terms of skills and toughness! Thanks for posting .

[@eagleeric2598]

@@E171955 never get tired of this story. These tough old school players always said things like that. They lived by the sword and they died by the sword.

[@vernfreshwater7492]

I like how the cop's get involved at the last punch up, now they don't do anything out on the streets.

[@alistairbanks6595]

Thanks for uploading. I'd heard this was an iconically violent game. You could sense it change in the second half, and you could hear it in the crowd reactions, even if incidents weren't always caught on camera. Did you sense that when you watched the whole thing?

[@eagleeric2598]

@alistairbanks6595 GB were rightly the favourites after securing the Ashes in Aust and undefeated in the rounds of this Cup. Aust only beat NZ and lost to France in the lead up to the Final but were always safe due to F/A.
Expecting fireworks from the start and apart from the usual niggle between both packs it was left to Hynes and Sait to stir up the passion.
First 20 minutes was all GB. The halves and Reilly were moving around freely and creating space for Myler and Dutton. A try went begging which is part of my clip. In hindsight (nearly 54 years), the plan of gaining field position and taking shots at field goal back fired and this with Dutton's 1 from 5 shots at goal was too much to overcome in a tough match which had limited opportunities. Aust stuck with GB for the 1st half and took their only opportunity when Reilly off his own line tried to knee the Aust tackler as he was falling which left him open to have the ball stripped/dislodged and the Aussies pounced and strolled over for what was probably a massive shot of confidence.
I feel this is what every one at the game, players and supporters were feeling during the 2nd half. The game was controlled by the forwards and played as such. Fortunately, both sides had players with flair to keep the match interesting. The 2nd Aust try was unbelievable which shows how one slip up in defence can turn or in this case seal a match. The last 20 minutes, saw the GB forwards increase the niggling tactics and don't take me wrong it was reciprocated but if you are after points, at some point you have to play footy.
GB won the scrums 21 to 11 and the penalties 19 to 7. The 1st half GB had plenty of ball and field position so it must have been deflating to go off behind even though it was 5-4 I think the try was quite telling.
Back to the last 20 minutes, I could feel that GB (yes, I knew the score) were playing as they had lost. The halves stepped up again and offered some hope but the Aust pack remained solid.
I could not understand how Bob Fulton was Man of the Match (and I am a Manly supporter since 1966). Smith was better and the majority of the pack as well. My MoM was either Billy Smith or Shoebottom or Reilly. In saying that they played in what now can be seen as a well beaten team who had their chances and if the game was played the following week would have had a different result.
Now in response to what you asked, I wonder if the crowd were reacting to how the game was progressing instead of any specific incidents and needed to do their patriotic duty in supporting their team and "booing" anything that represented a misdemeanour.
Here is my email, [e-mail] and I can share some articles of the tournament if you like.
Eric

[@E171955]

@@eagleeric2598- I was fortunate enough to meet the match referee , Fred Lindop, several years ago now, and have a long discussion with him in which he recalled this particular game. He told a very good story about the GB prop Dennis Hartley who he had reason to caution during the match. When Lindop pulled Hartley over , the prop asked him “what’s that for” ? Lindop said “Dennis, you hit their number 10 when he wasn’t looking”. Hartley replied “ Aye Fred, that’s the best time to hit ‘em”! 😅

[@alistairbanks6595]

@@E171955 Haha!

[@alistairbanks6595]

@@eagleeric2598 Thanks for your reply! That will suffice! Love your videos.

[@Andrew-fy9wu]

GB might have won if they didnt try to kick drop goals everytime they were in Australias quarter.

[@eagleeric2598]

In hindsight, a strange tactic but it was 1970, 2pts at a time and scrum penalties.

[@fantomghost6213]

Ha, We beat them in the game. We beat the over-the-top Bias Ref and we beat them in the brawls too....lmao

[@eagleeric2598]

What took you so long.

[@fantomghost6213]

@@eagleeric2598 Algo recommends stuff. I have also been crook. Bloody flu

[@neil2550]

First

[@neil2550]

Classic