The game took place in the mid 80's,
and the coach in charge of Leeds at the time was former GB and
Bradford coach, Peter Fox.
Leeds had been told by the Great Britain management to 'soften'
up the Kiwis for the first ten minutes so that they would be
carrying a few cracks into the upcoming test match with GB the
next weekend.
Well, to be fair, Leeds actually started it and started it
with some silly high shots. The problem was that New Zealands
pack consisted of some VERY hard players, the likes of Sorenson,
Tamati, Graeme West, et al.
Leeds were playing in their change strip, which was white,
and not one player came off the field without blood on his
shirt. Seven players were stretchered from the field that
day, and Keith Rayne, Leeds ex GB prop suffered a broken nose
and broken fingers, yet still refused to leave the field.
It was only when he recieved six broken ribs through knees
in the tackle that he was forced from the field. Things got
so bad that the Leeds directors made Peter Fox attempt to
take his players from the field of play, and yet everyone
refused. Leeds lost the game 14-11, if I remember correctly,
and finished with 11 men.
Many thanks to "GHOUT" UK for submitting this
game |
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