The Otago Daily Times counts down the 150 greatest moments in Otago sport.
No 60: First test in the greatest series of all (1956)
Examples include 1905 (Originals), 1924 (Invincibles), 1981 (Springbok tour), 1987 (first and only World Cup win) and 1996 (first series win in South Africa).
But only another World Cup victory - on home ground? - could come close to matching the excitement, hype and intensity of the great 1956 Springbok tour of New Zealand.
It was a simpler time, when rugby tests were rare and tours were lengthy affairs consisting of multiple games against provinces before and between the tests.
The 1956 tour was considered an unofficial world championship between the sport's greatest rivals. It carried extra weight because the Springboks had never been beaten in a series against the All Blacks.
Pre-tour anticipation reached fever pitch when the fearsome tourists arrived. Tickets for the games sold like hotcakes, schoolchildren pasted the latest tour news into scrapbooks, and the Springboks travelled the country in special trains with hand-painted headboards.
The tour started poorly for the 'Boks, with a loss to Waikato. But they won their next eight games, including a 14-9 win over Otago, before the first test at Carisbrook on July 14.
While the All Blacks trained at St Kevin's College, in Oamaru, the Springboks settled in at Wains Hotel under the strict control of Danie Craven.
In his great book on the tour and its aftermath, Old Heroes, Warwick Roger described how Craven sought out physical education experts at the University of Otago, and instituted a new warm-up programme based on their advice.
The test - which featured future broadcaster Murray Deaker as a ballboy - was typically rugged. The All Blacks finished with 14 men when Otago prop Mark Irwin left the field with broken ribs, and the Springboks had two men invalided off.
The All Blacks won 10-6, two tries to one, in front of a crowd of 40,000.
The Springboks levelled the series in Wellington, but the All Blacks won the tests in Christchurch and Auckland to claim the series 3-1.
