Title: The Good, the Bad and the Rugby
Release date: 2011 (re-release)
Narrator: John Kirwan
Plot: This documentary goes behind-the-scenes on the 1989 All Blacks’ tour of Wales and Ireland. The legendary Kirwan plays the role of narrator as we see what went on during the amateur years. For those of us who might have watched the 2013 Lions RAW doc over Christmas, this film is a wonderful anecdote to that seriousness.
This classic All Blacks team included Sean Fitzpatrick, Grant Fox and Buck Shelford, with the latter providing one of the more memorable scenes when he takes a ride on a Shetland pony. It was during this tour that Willie Anderson famously led the Irish team marching towards the haka, so there’s Irish interest here too.
Typical YouTube comment: “Brilliant stuff, when International rugby tours were proper International rugby tours!”
YouTube credit: Carey Goodman