Form is temporary while class is permanent!

This is often said about sportsmen and came flooding to my mind as I watched TV last night. I chanced upon, not knowing it was on, a BBC2 documentary on the 1971 British Lions Tour to New Zealand. This was the first and indeed the only British touring side to register a series win in test matches against New Zealand. That made them special.

I am old enough (just) to have started playing rugby that year and the programme was littered with legends; Barry John, Gareth Edwards, Gerald Davies, David Duckham, JPR Williams, Colin Meads, Ian Kirkpatrick, Sid Going.....and the list goes on. These men all demonstrated huge presence and no little humility in the show, I wonder if this comes because of the events they were part of, or it helped create the events? Either way it was a pleasure to watcha nd Eddie Butler presented it with some style.

Of course this is relevant with the Rugby World Cup final coming up in just a day or so in New Zealand. New Zealand have always been at or near the top of the rugby tree and to beat New Zealand is something to savour.

What struck me though was the quality of the running rugby and teh tries scored. Yes, the programme was able to pick and showcase the best, but there seems to be no shortage of quality from that tour. It was an old style 24 match (I think), something like 8 week tour with continual movement between hotels and a balance between playing and social - it was still very much an amateur game back then.

We saw scything runs from Gerald Davies and David Duckham, sublime side-steps from Barry John who just seemed to own the field when he had ball in hand, bullocking runs from Gareth Edwards, and a 45 yard drop goal with an old style heavy ball from JPR Williams. Of course the All Blacks had their moments too, but the programme did not dwell on them.

In the intervening 40 years the rugby authorities have tried to make the game better, but in light of what I saw last night I think any perceived or claimed success must be questioned. That team, those tries (only 3 points for a try back then) and the whole experience stands the test of time and I would suggest it is a testament to class, not just form.

It is probably still available on BBC iplayer at the time of writing and I commend it to any rugby fan (well any Britsih rugby fan anyway)  as a good investment of time to watch.