The Webb Ellis Cup etching will always state that South Africa won the championship in 1995, but the question of whether the All Blacks were poisoned the night before that game will never go away.
Following his team’s 15–12 extra-time loss against the Springboks, All Blacks coach Laurie Mains was sure that his players had been poisoned by a waitress who had come to be known as “Suzie.” To try and find the truth, he even hired a private investigator.
“My spouse was acquainted with a private detective in South Africa, and upon returning home, we reached out to him and requested him to see if he could uncover any information, as I was aware that all the doors would be closed,” Mains stated to the Herald in 2016. “He was somewhat successful in establishing that a black woman had worked for the hotel two days prior to our arrival, and that day after we fell ill, she vanished entirely.”
A few months later, Mains learns through financial links in London that the incident was orchestrated by bookmakers. He doesn’t go too far and doesn’t want this great disappointment to consume him.
“I wish we had won the World Cup for rugby in New Zealand, but it was not meant to be,” he remarked.
At the 1995 Rugby World Cup, All Blacks were purposefully “poisoned,” according to Nelson Mandela’s bodyguard.
Up until two days prior to the final, everything was going according to plan. That is, until Mains and manager Colin Meads started feeling ill while out to dinner with players who weren’t participating in the final. Upon returning to the hotel, they saw Zinzan Brooke, who had a negative message about others, in the foyer and Richard Loe lying sick in the courtyard.
Diarrhea and vomiting afflicted half of the team. The team’s lunchtime tea and coffee urns were eventually identified as the illness’s cause.
Mains believed they “might be tampered with, and as it turned out, he was absolutely right,” according to team physician Mike Bowen.
Meads was too sick to go far, so the All Blacks management met at his room the following day. They discussed postponing the game, but ultimately agreed to keep their disagreement private.
Mains stated to the Herald in 2016 that “I was the one who said we don’t have to tell anyone.” “I wanted South Africa to be unaware that we were swindlers. The worst thing I did was that.
In his extensive experience practicing sports medicine, Bowen considered this emergency that he handled alone to be the most distressing. There were no additional All Blacks medical personnel, and they had no desire to let their opponents know about their predicament.
Bowen said to the Herald in 2016 that “it was unlikely to have been something that occurred incidentally or without some provocation but I have no way of proving that was the case.”
The dinner where they might have been poisoned was remembered by campaign manager Sir Brian Lochore, who sadly passed away in 2019.
“The All Blacks are in this room over here,” they stated as I was about to enter the dining room. I remarked, “I thought we were having our meal over here,” and they corrected me, saying, “No, no, the All Blacks have a room over here.” I found that odd.
The All Blacks were superior on the morning of the final, but they lacked vitality, and that hurt when they were at high altitude.
“If you had asked me what the score would be on Saturday morning, I would have said that South Africa would win 30-0,” Lochore said to the Herald.
“I don’t think any of them will ever get over it because it’s going to bother you forever if you can’t play to the best of your abilities on any given day due to some outside influence, and I’m not pointing the finger at anyone.”
Throughout the match, Lochore saw that the All Blacks were straining to produce too rapidly, as though they were losing their focus or worried about not making it. It was a depressing and disappointing conclusion to a great deal of labor.
Ellis Park was getting louder, and when he sat down, Mains thought about the injustice. He felt some hope from his All Blacks men.
“Even though many of those players were dreadfully ill during the game, they all displayed incredible bravery.” Even though I always thought highly of them, what they did in that game won my respect even more,” he remarked.
Regarding the drama involving the All Blacks, referee Ed Morrison had few hints. After a few scrums, he questioned why Steve McDowall was perspiring a lot and saw Jeff Wilson getting unwell. It wasn’t until after the test, during a talk with Mains, that he learned the truth.
In 2016, Morrison told the Herald, “Credit to Sean Fitzpatrick, he never mentioned it, made any excuses, or brought it to my attention and I will always be grateful for that.”
Mains stated in 2016 that, while he has attempted to let go, he would likely still prefer to know the specifics of what transpired.
He warned, “This will eat you up if you let it sit inside of you, along with setbacks and disappointments.” “But I’m not among those individuals.”
Get all of the World Cup rugby coverage.
Leave a Reply