I can add a few more... Japan SA , Georgia Tonga WC 2015) and many more but this will surprise some...and there will always be more...I predict even the tail end of Supers this year will produce one or 2 more...
By the NZ Herald :
(1) Wales 3 All Blacks 0, Cardiff, December 16, 1905
An upset? Well, consider the backdrop. The Originals were away from home almost five months, played 35 games, won 34.
No
team reached double figures against them, and it was on this tour the
legend both of All Black rugby, and the Wales-New Zealand rivalry was
born.
The Welsh test came after wins over Scotland, 12-7,
Ireland and England, both 15-0, and France were beaten 38-8 in Paris at
the end of the tour.
On this day, New Zealand were off their
game, tiring from the rigours of the travel and short of three key
players, including first five-eighth Billy Stead and big forward Bill
Cunningham.
Wales weren't in bad shape, with only one new cap,
first five-eighth Percy Bush, and he'd played for Great Britain, as the
Lions were then known, a year earlier in New Zealand and Australia.
The
only try was scored by wing Teddy Morgan. One of rugby's great
controversies happened that day, the try scored, or not, by Bob Deans.
It was ruled out by a slow-moving referee who was well behind the play,
wearing street shoes.
However there was a view at the time that, for all that, New Zealand were the inferior team on the day.
(2) Newport 3 All Blacks 0, Rodney Parade, October 30, 1963
Just
the third game of a 36-game, four-month tour and Newport carried on
Wales' tradition of great club victories by Swansea and Cardiff.
In
drizzly, muddy conditions at Rodney Parade, Newport, who had the
dazzling future Lion and league international David Watkins at first
five-eighth, were fired up.
The only points came from a skiddy dropped goal by centre Dick Uzzell in the first half.
It
was a nightmare start to the All Black career of first five-eighth
Earle Kirton, who unfairly copped a share of blame for the loss.
It's
worth looking at the All Black side: Clarke D., Caulton, MacRae, Walsh,
Davis, Kirton, Briscoe, Lochore, Nathan, Tremain, Meads, Horsley,
Clarke I., Major, Whineray (c). Not exactly a lightweight combination.
Newport celebrated like there was no tomorrow. Indeed, a Welsh team has only beaten the All Blacks once since then. Read on ...
(3) England 18 South Africa 9, Ellis Park, Johannesburg, June 3, 1972
England's
first tour to the republic, and a nightmare itinerary, seven games in
17 days, which sounds suspiciously ITM Cup-ish. They won six and drew
13-13 with Northern Transvaal in Pretoria.
There were notable
English names in the squad, forwards such as captain and hooker John
Pullin, Fran Cotton, Andy Ripley, Chris Ralston and Tony Neary, Lions
all, and backs Alan Old - brother of test cricketer Chris - halfbacks
Steve Smith and Jan Webster, centre Peter Preece, all handy performers.
South
Africa were out of sorts, a mix of ageing heros and lesser performers.
Their captain was Piet Greyling, scourge of the 1970 All Blacks, and
other notables included his fellow flanker Jan Ellis, tough tackling
centre Joggie Jansen, flying winger Gerd Muller and Fergie McCormick's
old nemesis Sid Nomis.
England were unspectacular but diligent
and fullback Sam Doble got England the win with four penalties, and
converted wing Alan Morley's try. South Africa managed just three Dawie
Snyman penalties.
England had to battle with seven-man scrums for a quarter of the match because of eight injuries, too.
Doble
played in the All Blacks' 9-0 win over England a year later, but he
only won three caps. Sadly he died of lymphatic cancer in 1977, aged
just 33.
(4) Llanelli 9 All Blacks 3, Stradey Park, October 31, 1972
Welsh
singer/comedian Max Boyce penned a celebrated (in Wales, anyway) ditty,
'9-3', which included the famous line about "The day the pubs ran dry"
to mark the occasion at Stradey Park.
It was the second game of the British and Irish legs of a 32-game trek which ran from October 19 to February 10.
Carwyn
James, of 1971 Lions fame, coached the side, which was a pretty tasty
unit. There were plenty of Welsh internationals - Derek Quinnell, Delme
Thomas and Tom David in the pack; Ray Gravell, Phil Bennett, Ray Hopkins
and Roy Bergiers in the backline.
Bergiers scored the only try
of the game, after halfback Lin Colling's clearing kick was charged
down. A solitary Joe Karam penalty was all the All Blacks could muster.
Years later, the famous scoreline still had pride of place in a corner of the scoreboard. Long memories, those Welsh.
(5) Tonga 16 Australia 11, Ballymore, June 30, 1973
This
was only a year after the Woeful Wallabies toured New Zealand - and
they were not so-named because of the nice alliteration.
Still,
after comfortably beating the Pacific Islanders in Sydney a week
earlier, Australia were expected to roll to another victory in Brisbane.
Tonga, and in particular fullback Valita Ma'ake, had other
ideas. Ma'ake kept launching himself like an missile at Australian
backs. He knocked himself out early but that only emboldened him.
Taking his lead and that of captain and No8 Kisione Mafi, the Tongans made life a misery for the hosts.
Tries
to wings Samiu Latu and Isikele Vave were followed by the final
breakout by centre Tavi Kavapalu after another Ma'ake spleen-buster.
Tonga
had a young blindside flanker that day. Fourteen years later Fakahau
Valu would captain Tonga in the first World Cup tournament.
(6) Munster 12 All Blacks 0, Thomond Park, October 31, 1978
Perhaps the greatest upset of the lot, if only for the sheer romance of it.
The
first Grand Slam-winning side were expect to breeze past Munster.
However the pack led by captain Graham Mourie and lock Andy Haden, was
smashed apart in front of a Limerick crowd at fever pitch. The recently
deceased Moss Keane, Gerry McLoughlin and Pat Whelan tore into their
work.
Out in the backs little Seamus Dennison knocked over the
All Blacks' most potent attacking force, Stu Wilson, to set the tone.
Christy Cantillon scored the only try. The All Blacks replied with
exactly nothing, prompting Wilson's famous "We were lucky to get nil"
quote.
As Munster celebrated, captain and halfback Donal
Canniffe was informed his father had died suddenly during the match. The
game has been immortalised by John Breen's hit play Alone It Stands and
the best-selling book Stand Up and Fight: When Munster Beat the All
Blacks.
(7) Romania 15 France 0, 1980
It's easy to forget that Romania was once among the tougher nations to subdue.
In
their prime of the 1980s, they beat Wales and France twice, Scotland's
Grand Slam team in 1984, gave the All Blacks a fright - losing 14-6, but
with two tries disallowed - drew with the Irish and beat Italy, now
established in the Six Nations Championship in 12 of 20 matches.
It all fell apart when the Iron Curtain began to crumble.
The
Oak Leaves were at the first four World Cups but eventually as a shadow
of the glory days. At their peak they had powerful forwards who enjoyed
a decent maul, but limited backs.
When France visited Bucharest in 1980, they got a dusting.
No 8 Pompiliu Bors got the only try; centre Ion Constantin kicked the other points.
France
were no slugs. Star backs Serge Blanco and Roland Bertranne were on
duty that day, with seasoned pack men including Robert Paparemborde,
Philippe Dintrans and Alain Maleig.
Twenty thousand spectators were at the Dinamo Stadion. This was perhaps Romania's finest moment of their finest period.
(8) South American Jaguars 21 South Africa 12, Bloemfontein, April 3, 1982
In
the first half of the 1980s, South African officials teed up eight
matches against composite South American teams as a makeweight for being
rubbed out of the international game because of their government's
apartheid policies.
The Springboks won seven of them; this was
the exception. The Jaguars, captained in every match by the great
Argentine first five-eighths Hugo Porta, included players from Brazil,
Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.
This game had a doozy brawl in it too but Porta was the king, kicking all 21 points for the Jaguars.
(9) Western Samoa 16 Wales 13, Cardiff Arms Park, October 6, 1991
That
it happened in a World Cup against one of the established nations was
remarkable, that it happened on the home ground of said nation put it in
the realm of the miraculous.
Four years earlier Western Samoa
had missed out on an invitation to the inaugural World Cup, despite
having better credentials than Zimbabwe and Romania.
This
wasn't a great Wales team and it was, on reflection, a very good Samoan
team. But still ... To'o Vaega and skilful flanker Sila Vaifale scored
the tries, while Mathew Vaea get the board ticking over via the boot.
Mostly,
though, people will remember this for the stinging defence led by the
likes of Frank Bunce, Apollo Perelini and a young chiropractor Brian
Lima.
(10) Sydney 40 All Blacks 17, Penrith Stadium, July 22, 1992
A few All Black careers died a prolonged and agonising death in rugby league heartland.
With
hindsight, when assessing the playing strengths of the two teams, this
isn't much of an upset. But it was the scale of the defeat and the
inability of the All Blacks to be even remotely competitive that was
most shocking.
Remember, this was not even New South Wales, it
was Sydney. Semantics? Maybe, but the composite side didn't muck around
arguing the toss. Darren Junee scored three of Sydney's five tries,
Frank Bunce's bete noir Michael Brial and halfback Anthony Ekert scored
the others.
A decent pub quiz question, the All Black starting
XV that fateful night was (from 15 to 1): Terry Wright, Eric Rush, Marc
Ellis, Matthew Cooper, Eroni Clarke, Stephen Bachop, Jon Preston, Pat
Lam, Dallas Seymour, Andy Earl, Mark Cooksley, Blair Larsen, Graham
Purvis, Graham Dowd and Steve McDowall (c).
