Trip to Tonga part of England’s 1980 turning point
Tonga was the last stop on an uncapped England tour which became the forerunner of the 1980 Five Nations Grand Slam, achieved after years in the wilderness.
In 1979, having beaten Japan and Fiji, the squad stepped off the plane in Tonga to be garlanded and given the kind of welcome they didn’t usually encounter.
Full back Alastair Hignell, also a professional cricketer, was given a month off as a senior player for Gloucester to go on tour with the England XV.
“Tonga was completely different to anywhere I’d ever been, and I suspect that England had been,” he recalls. “The welcome was joyous and wonderful. We were garlanded and they roasted a massive pig for us. It was a stunning place.”
The Tongan pitch was also rather unexpected.
“We found shards of sharp coral all over it and set to, doing a sweep of the pitch to get rid of as much as we could, especially us weakling backs who wanted to avoid cutting our knees to pieces. Everyone was looking for bandages or some sort of knee protection.
“The changing room was like the groundsman’s shed under the stand and there was no light, so you either left the door open and undressed to the amusement of passers by, or tried to change in the dark.
“Before the game we went up the steps to be greeted by the King of Tonga and the sun was so bright, I had to feel for this huge hand which enveloped mine. The opposition performed their traditional Sipi Tau and I remember them being rough, raw and athletic, if not particularly well organised. We were surprised by their physicality but also by backs popping up where you expected forwards and vice versa, not the usual learned rugby habits.”
The 37-17 victory was the last of that unbeaten tour and the players were given a day off.
“We spent it on a lovely unspoiled white sandy beach but once in the sea various players found it difficult to get back to shore,” says Alastair. “The undertow meant your only chance was to hang on to whatever you could. Toby Allchurch emerged from the rip tide scraped raw. He’d already been hit on the head by an ashtray thrown by a drunken fan in a Japanese bar!
“We got no caps for the tour, or I would have had 17, rather than my 14, but the trip was the launchpad for the 1980 Grand Slam as Mike Davis took over as coach straight from England Schools,” says Alastair. “I was asked to go although they knew I was a professional cricketer because it was a new start, a new regime.
“It certainly achieved its aim but for me it was no caps and no money because, having sought a month off from Gloucester and having had them agree, I got back to discover I hadn’t been paid! To make matters worse I wasn’t picked to play for the first Test, so I had a little moment of disgruntlement. I got into the side for the last three games, so there was no harm, done except to my bank account!”
No pushover
The tour was the start of a close partnership between Mike Davis as coach, Bill Beaumont as captain and Budge Rogers as manager that changed England’s fortunes.
Bill was not, however, playing against Tonga. He had an ear infection and was being ministered to by student doctor and team hooker, Jon Raphael, the team doctor having had to fly home when the squad left Japan.
“Although I wasn’t playing, the Tonga game is a great memory,” said Bill. “I had played them with England U23 at Twickenham in 1974 when I was a sub and, in the days when we went on tour there, they were mostly Islanders. A few years before, they beat Australia in a full Test. They certainly had good players and the match in Tonga was no pushover.
“That tour was good for Mike, and we had a lot of affinity as we played the same position. He was a great guy, really understood his rugby, a really smart coach who empowered the players to get on with it. Several players on that tour, like Dusty Hare, Peter Wheeler, Huw Davies, Mike Rafter, formed the nucleus of the Grand Slam side the following year.
“That tour and the North of England tour to South Africa that followed, that northern squad beating the All Blacks at Otley, all conspired to bring us back from a situation where England finished the season getting hammered in Cardiff.
“We played and won four games in Japan, two in Fiji, and after beating Tonga spent two days celebrating back in Fiji. I remember Budge Rogers telling us: “Behave yourselves lads, don’t forget there are people on holidays in this hotel.”
And we said “Yes, that’s us!”
