Bennett the diplomat left his mark
Tributes have flowed this week for Welsh and British & Irish Lions champion Phil Bennett and brought to mind a conversation with him in 1997 while working at The Evening Post.
It was 25 years after the great 9-3 win by Bennett's Llanelli side over Ian Kirkpatrick's All Blacks. The Welsh club was going through hard times after some unfortunate investment decisions when rugby went professional at the end of 1995.
Llanelli was hopeful playing the touring All Blacks of that year would assist their straitened circumstances. It was the only club game the All Blacks played on their 1997 tour, but it added to Llanelli's woes with the New Zealanders running amok 81-3.
Bennett explained that the club's problems arose after financiers had promised the club three million pounds. The club rushed out and bought five players, including former All Blacks five-eighths Frano Botica before the money was in its hands.
When the financiers didn't provide the money, the club had to sell its famous Stradey Park ground to stay solvent.
Bennett hoped the All Blacks could help remove, for a short time at least, some of the negativity that had built up around his club.
Phil Bennett disappointed after the British & Irish Lions’ fourth Test loss to the All Blacks in 1977
Bennett had been delighted with the rugby the All Blacks played in their 1995 Rugby World Cup campaign in South Africa.
"They were far and away the best team in the competition. I couldn't believe that they were so tactically good in the backs.
"We have always known the All Blacks have a huge pack with strong centres, who turn the ball back inside.
"But now they have shown they can play the 15-man game. Andrew Mehrtens is brilliant at flyhalf, but this year he found he couldn't get in the team. There is just so much talent in the side.
"And you see players like Christian Cullen at fullback – magic," he said.
Bennett was sad that professional rugby had meant the end of the traditional long tours when as many as six or seven Welsh clubs could play them.
"We used to wait for months when there were coming and it was the highlight of our year," he said.
Bennett's dazzling sidesteps that started the great counter-attacking try scored by Gareth Edwards for the Barbarians at the end of the 1972-73 tour will always be recalled.
But, New Zealanders, who understood Bennett's difficulties when the captain of the 1977 Lions, will forever remember his great show of diplomacy during the All Blacks’ centenary tour of Wales in 1980.
The tour was an honour for both countries, representing their great rivalry since their first meeting in 1905.
Each club that had beaten the All Blacks through the years received games on the tour. But, at Llanelli, it appeared controversy would break out yet again when referee Alan Hosie appeared to send All Blacks lock Graeme Higginson from the field after a stomping incident.
Bennett and his mid-field mate Ray Gravell quickly intervened and convinced Hosie not to go through with the dismissal.
Bennett said: "When I saw what was happening, something came over me.
"I enjoyed my 1969 tour of New Zealand. I know the 1972-73 tour had a lot of nastiness, and the All Blacks were given a hard time, but the Barbarians game did a lot to show they could play rugby.
"There had been some ill-feeling on the 1977 tour. I don't know whether people resented the 1971 success or the hard time in 1972-73, but I didn't think there was the friendship between our two countries that the should be.
"Our game in 1980 had been a good one. We had given them a torrid time, and, while I saw the incident the referee was acting on, I could also see the headlines the next day where our game would be forgotten in the controversy that would be swept up.
"I suggested the referee should give him a warning. I don't know whether I was right or not in doing what I did, but the last thing I wanted was another sledging war.
"I certainly got a lot of letters afterwards, including one from Grant Batty. That was very, very satisfying," Bennett said.
It was an outstanding intervention by Bennett and a reminder that rugby's spirit can be a powerful unifier when applied in situations like that.
Bennett's greatness was undoubted and spanned more than a decade in his beloved scarlet jersey and longer for his club. He deserves to be remembered as one of rugby's gentlemen.
Vale Phil Bennett.