September - October - November - December - January - February

Take a trip down memory lane courtesy of our historian John Griffiths.

November

1

1923 - Rugby School stages a special four-nations match to celebrate the Centenary of the Rugby game. England/Wales beat Scotland/Ireland 21-16.

1947 - The Wallabies give the best display of their tour to date with a fine 20-8 win in a fast, open game against the London Counties at Twickenham.

1958 - Italy, in green shirts, white shorts and red stockings lose 9-3 in the closing quarter of their tour match at Twickenham against London Counties.

1980 - Wales lose 3-23 in a one-off Test against New Zealand at Cardiff to celebrate their Centenary season.

2003 - Scotland just avoid the humiliation of failing to qualify for the knock-out stages of the World Cup beating Fiji 22-20 in their final pool match in Sydney.

2008 - New Zealand and Australia break new ground in Hong Kong playing their Bledisloe Cup match on neutral ground for the first time. The sides met on neutral territory only in World Cup games previously (when the Bledisloe Cup was not at stake).

2

1935 - Wales fullback Viv Jenkins puts in a polished performance for the London Counties at Twickenham on his 24th birthday playing against the All Blacks, who win 11-0.

1946 - The first official post-war Welsh trial sees the Probables beat the Possibles 9-0 at Pontypridd. Neath's Viv Evans, star fullback of the Possibles, has to wait nearly eight years before winning his first Welsh cap.

1957 - It is reported that the directors of Bournemouth FC will no longer permit Hampshire to play their county rugby matches on their Football League ground at Dean Court. The ground was badly cut up in recent rugby matches leaving club officials concerned for the safety of their footballers.

1960 - Health & Safety 1960-style. After the mid-week match between Oxford University and the Oxford University Greyhounds XV, the thirty students are lined up for anti-tetanus injections.

1991 - Australia beat England 12-6 in the Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham.

2003 - Josh Lewsey equals the England record for most tries in an international scoring five in their 111-13 demolition of Uruguay in a World Cup pool match in Brisbane.

3

1945 - Post-war rugby is gaining momentum. At Herne Hill, then home of the London Welsh club, their captain Claud Davey leads by example as the Exiles put together a fine 13-8 victory over a London Districts Army XV.

1958 - Recent Springbok wing Jan Prinsloo arrives in England to join compatriot Tom van Vollenhoven in the St Helens RL threequarter line.

1959 - Newport and Wales utility back Malcolm Thomas, who won 27 caps between 1949 and 1959 and was the only player to tour New Zealand with both the 1950 and 1959 Lions, announces his retirement from first-class rugby.

1962 - Canada play at Twickenham for the first time. The tourists are beaten 14-0 by a London Clubs XV captained by popular Saracens lock Vic Harding.

1971 - Greg Davis's Wallabies kick-off their short tour of France with a 28-12 win against a French Selection at Lille.

1990 - Paul Ackford is laid out by a spectacular punch thrown by Federico Mendez in the England-Argentina Test at Twickenham. Mendez is sent off and England win 51-0.

4

1950 - The Lions, Wales and Cardiff utility back Billy Cleaver announces after playing in Cardiff's 21-12 win over Bridgend that he is to retire from top-class rugby at the age of 28.

1967 - The All Blacks, coached by Fred Allan, give a scintillating display at Twickenham and score four converted tries on their way to a 23-11 victory over England.

1972 - Ian Kirkpatrick's All Blacks pick themselves up admirably after their defeat at Llanelli to beat a strong Cardiff side 20-4 at the Arms Park.

1975 - The Wallabies stage a brilliant comeback to draw 28-all in a thrilling match against Llanelli having trailed by a dozen points a quarter of an hour from time.

1999 - Lacklustre All Blacks finish fourth at the World Cup, losing the play-off 18-22 against South Africa.

2000 - The United States Eagles, beaten 53-6 by Scotland at Murrayfield, unusually keep the same 15 players on the field for the entire 80 minutes, using no replacements

5

1938 - The Reds, chosen by the Big Five (selectors) defeat the Whites (chosen by the remaining members of the WRU) 28-12 in the first Welsh trial of the season at Cardiff Arms Park.

1946 - The gulf in early post-war rugby-playing ability between the English and Irish Universities is demonstrated at Iffley Road where a cosmopolitan Oxford side beats Trinity College, Dublin, 53-0.

1949 - Although the Probables beat the Possibles 17-3 in the first Welsh trial at Pontypool, only two of their side will take the field against England a couple of months later when Wales launch a Grand Slam season.

1960 - Veteran England flanker Don White scores the only try of a 3-3 draw by the Midland Counties against the Fifth Springboks.

1966 - Roger Addison, a 21-year-old Pontypool prop, breaks his neck in a scrum during the club's away match at Rugby. The player's life is saved when the kiss-of-life is administered.

1988 - Will Carling, in his first Test as captain, leads England to a lively 28-19 win against Australia at Twickenham.

6

1952 - Welsh wonder boy Lewis Jones turns professional, signing for Leeds RL for a fee estimated to be in excess of £5,000 - a then record. The 21-year-old had played in two Welsh Grand Slam sides and toured Australia/New Zealand with the 1950 Lions.

1957 - The Fourth Wallabies led by prop Bob Davidson open their tour of Europe with a confident 29-5 win against the Southern Counties at Hove.

1969 - In the opening Test of their tour the Springboks lose 6-3 to Scotland at Murrayfield. Iain Smith becomes the first Scottish fullback to score a try in an international.

1971 - The Wallabies are beaten 16-9 at Limoges by a French Selection comprising players from the French Championship's Second Division.

1993 - World champions Australia inflict a then record defeat of France for a match at Parc des Princes, winning 24-3 under floodlights.

1999 - Australia win the Rugby World Cup for the second time, beating France 35-12 in the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

7

1905 - Jimmy Hunter runs in five tries for the All Blacks in their 47-0 win against Oxford University. It is the second time that the second five-eighth has scored five tries in a tour match - he did so in the match against Northumberland.

1936 - In a sensational final five minutes, the Possibles come from nine points behind to force a 17-all draw against a star-studded Probables team in the first Welsh trial of the season at Aberavon.

1942 - In the first of the season's Services Internationals Wales beat England 11-7 at St Helen's, Swansea, before an excited crowd of 20,000 spectators.

1958 - A rare win for the Italy national side touring Britain and Ireland. fullback Nando Barbini kicks the conversion that gives his side a 5-3 win against Highfield in Cork.

1976 - Glyn Davies, the brilliant Welsh fly-half of the immediate post-war years, dies at his home in Bristol aged 49.

1987 - Hugo Porta scores 23 points to steer Argentina to a series-winning 27-19 victory over Australia in Buenos Aires.

8

1954 - Captain Geoffrey Crawshay, a prominent figure in Welsh public life and the founder in the 1920s of the famous rugby touring team that was likened to the "Welsh Barbarians", passes away.

1967 - Former Wales scrum-half Clive Rowlands gives a masterful performance as captain of West Wales in their narrow 14-21 defeat by the All Blacks, who are skippered by Colin Meads while Brian Lochore is rested.

1983 - The All Blacks, playing under floodlights, lose 19-13 against Peter Wheeler's Midlands Division.

1986 - New Zealand beat France 19-7 in a ferocious encounter in Toulouse in a game that turns out to be a full dress rehearsal for the first World Cup Final seven months later.

1997 - Argentina, always a difficult proposition at home, spring a surprise for John Eales's Wallabies, winning 18-16 in a Test in Buenos Aires.

2003 - World Cup favourites New Zealand knock South Africa out of the competition with a competent 29-9 quarter-final victory in Melbourne.

9

1912 - Wally Mills scores a try hat-trick for the touring Springboks who defeat a strong Midland Counties side 25-3 at Leicester.

1955 - Tug Wilson, former Met Police and England flanker, is roped in to play as an emergency wing for Middlesex in a 25-9 County Championship defeat of Surrey ... literally hours before emigrating to Rhodesia and a new life.

1963 - In one of the best displays of their tour, Wilson Whineray's Fifth All Blacks swamp the London Counties 27-0 at Twickenham scoring four wonderful tries in the last twelve minutes.

1985 - Wales award caps against Fiji for the first time and score seven tries in a 40-3 win at Cardiff.

2002 - In a dress rehearsal for the knock-out stages of the World Cup a year later England begin a trio of victories over Tri Nations teams beating New Zealand 31-28 at Twickenham. Jonny Wilkinson's 21 points include a full-house of scoring actions.

2003 - Keith Wood, in his last Test match, leads Ireland to defeat against France in a World Cup quarter-final in Melbourne. Ireland are beaten 43-21. England knock Wales out later the same day.

10

1945 - South African Forces beat New Zealand Forces 30-5 in Rapallo. South Africa's Stephen Fry and Cecil Moss and New Zealand's John McNab were to feature in full-blown post-war Tests between the nations.

1947 - Norman Davies, the Cross Keys hooker who a week earlier had featured prominently in the first Welsh Rugby Union Trial of the season, announces that he has signed for Leeds RL club.

1951 - Fourth Springboks go down to the only defeat of a 31-match European tour, losing 11-9 to the London Counties at Twickenham.

1957 - The Fourth Wallabies are defeated in only their second tour match, losing 12-6 to Oxford University who are inspiringly led by flanker Peter Robbins.

1963 - The French Federation introduce a provincial trial system leading to national team selection. Côte Basque defeats Paris, who include Home Unions internationals Ronnie Thomson, David Marques and Andy Mulligan, all students at Paris University.

1990 - Against Scotland at Murrayfield, Hugo Porta makes his final Test appearance for Argentina, bowing out injured after only 16 minutes.

11

1944 - Jacques Chaban-Delmas, Resistance leader, youngest general in the French Army and later Prime Minister of France, scores both tries for the French Forces in their 6-26 defeat by the RAF in Paris.

1944 - The South African Services beat the New Zealand Services 11-8 at Richmond Athletic Ground. The game is played with all the determination of a full-scale Test match between the countries.

1950 - The Lions, England and Penryn flanker Vic Roberts, a Customs official, is transferred to Llanelli and announces that he has received an invitation to play for the famous Scarlets.

1957 - Neath fly-half John Weaver drops three goals in his side's 9-6 victory on tour in France against Tulle.

1962 - France, the reigning Five Nations champions, are beaten 3-0 by Romania in Bucharest. The match, refereed by a Belgian official, is decided on the hour by a penalty goal.

1978 - A late penalty goal kicked by Brian McKechnie in controversial circumstances gives New Zealand a 13-12 victory over Wales at Cardiff.

2000 - Ireland record their highest ever Lansdowne Road score defeating Japan 78-9.

12

1949 - Cardiff scrum-half Rex Willis establishes himself as a likely successor to Haydn Tanner for both club and country with an outstanding display in his club's 11-0 victory over Newport at Rodney Parade.

1950 - Lions and Wales centre Bleddyn Williams contemplates what is believed to be a record offer to transfer to Rugby League. He declares: "It is a very big offer", but subsequently decides to stay in the Union game.

1966 - A 19-year-old scrum-half, Gareth Edwards formerly of Millfield School and a student at Cardiff Training College, partners David Watkins in the Probables in the first Welsh Trial at Maesteg. The Probables lose 3-0.

1967 - Bob Hiller's place-kicking and Vic Harding's leadership help the London Counties to a deserved 14-9 victory over the Fifth Wallabies at Twickenham.

1983 - Scotland match their best ever Test performance against New Zealand, holding the All Blacks to a 25-all draw at Murrayfield.

1996 - Western Samoa stun Ireland with a convincing 40-25 mid-week win (5 tries to one) under floodlights at Lansdowne Road.

13

1906 - In their first appearance on Scottish soil South Africa win 32-5 at Mansfield Park against the South of Scotland. Their prolific try scorer Bob Loubser gets a hat-trick.

1937 - Yorkshire, spearheaded by the England and Headingley half-backs Dick Auty and Bernard Gadney, maintain their 100% record in the county championship with a 14-0 defeat of Northumberland at Morley.

1957 - Cambridge University, not to be out-done by their Oxford rivals who beat the tourists the previous weekend, defeat the Wallabies 13-3 at Grange Road.

1983 - Rugby's first two Test centurions - Philippe Sella (111 caps for France) and David Campese (101 for Australia) - play against one another in a 15-all Test draw in Clermont-Ferrand.

1993 - Chester Williams marks his Test debut for South Africa with a try against Argentina in Buenos Aires in a 52-23 win by the Springboks.

2004 - Andy Robinson begins his reign as England head coach with a convincing 70-0 win against Canada at Twickenham.

14

1939 - A special resolution is passed permitting Rugby League players in the Forces to participate in Service Internationals for the duration of the War.

1945 - The New Zealand Army team (the Kiwis) visit Ireland for the first time and are made to work hard for a 10-9 win against Ulster in Belfast. A young Jack Kyle at out-half leads the New Zealanders a merry dance with his creative play.

1966 - Keith Bradshaw, the Wales and Bridgend centre, passes a thousand points for his club with a 19-point contribution to Bridgend's 25-0 win against Glamorgan Wanderers at the Brewery Field.

1992 - South Africa return to Twickenham for a Test with England for the first time since 1969. The post-apartheid Springboks lose 33-16 to Will Carling's talented team.

1998 - England pile up their then record winning margin in Tests, overwhelming The Netherlands 110-0 at the McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, in a World Cup qualifying match.

1998 - Graham Henry begins his stint as Wales head coach. After the humiliating 96-13 defeat against South Africa five months earlier, Henry's men give a most respectable performance at Wembley before losing 28-20 to the same opponents.

15

1905 - For their meeting with the All Blacks, Bedford stir a controversy by drafting in two Irish international players, two Northampton players and two from Gloucester. It's all water off a duck's back for the New Zealanders who win comfortably 41-0, Jimmy Hunter crossing for four more tries.

1967 - Jerry Walsh, the 28-year-old Ireland centre who won 26 caps, announces that he has retired from the game owing to his commitments as a doctor.

1969 - The Springboks encounter the most violent exchanges of their tour as police and anti-apartheid demonstrators clash outside the St Helen's Ground in Swansea where the tourists defeat the local club 12-0.

1986 - France beat New Zealand 16-3 at Nantes: the last All Blacks' Test defeat for a record 23-match run.

1997 - England draw 15-15 with Australia in a lacklustre Test that is Clive Woodward's first as national coach in succession to Jack Rowell.

2003 - Australia surprise the All Blacks and win the first of the World Cup semi-finals 22-10 at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney.

16

1912 - South Africa loses on English soil for the first time, crashing 10-8 against the London Counties at Twickenham.

1940 - Lancashire beat Yorkshire 22-10 in front of 4,000 spectators at Bradford in a war-time county clash for the benefit of the Red Cross.

1946 - Blackheath revive their annual club dinner with a celebration at the Café Royal in Regent Street. Former Springbok international "Birdy" Partridge, who captained the club in 1907-08, chairs the happy occasion.

1947 - In a Sunday match at the Parc des Princes, London beat Paris 6-3 to level the long series of matches between the cities at eight wins each with one match drawn.

1967 - Chris Laidlaw, the All Blacks scrum-half, is awarded a two-year Rhodes Scholarship. The news is received with great enthusiasm at the Oxford University RUFC.

1997 - In the first Test match staged at St Helen's, Swansea since 1954, Wales beat Tonga 46-12 on a wet, miserable Sunday afternoon.

2003 - England comfortably see off France 24-7 in Sydney in the second of the weekend's World Cup semi-finals.

17

1906 - South Africa, in their first international on British soil, are beaten 6-0 by Scotland at Old Hampden Park, Glasgow.

1945 - Leinster, inspired by their hooker Karl Mullen, hold the New Zealand Kiwi team to a 10-all draw at Lansdowne Road.

1962 - The 1961-62 International Championship, hungover from March and April because of a smallpox epidemic in South Wales, is finally completed when Ireland and Wales play a lacklustre 3-3 draw in Dublin.

1962 - The Canadian tourists achieve the best result of the English leg of their visit drawing 3-all with a strong Barbarians team at Gosforth.

1979 - The Northern Division pull out all the stops to inflict a 21-9 defeat on Graham Mourie's All Blacks at Otley. It is the only defeat of the tour for the New Zealanders.

2001 - England achieve their current record score demolishing a weak Romania 134-0 at Twickenham, Charlie Hodgson establishing a new individual record for an English player in a Test by scoring 44 points.

18

1905 - New Zealand play their first international on British soil, winning 12-7 against Scotland at Inverleith.

1939 - Munster beat Leinster 8-3 in an Irish Inter-Pro at Lansdowne Road. With Britain at war with Germany, no cross-channel players are considered for selection by either side.

1973 - London Welsh are forced by injuries to play with 13 men for more than half of their National Knockout Cup match against Bristol. Their plight subsequently focuses attention on whether substitutes should be allowed in the competition as they go down bravely 13-6 at Old Deer Park.

1995 - World champions South Africa led by François Pienaar defeat England 24-14 at Twickenham.

2000 - England beat the world champion Wallabies at Twickenham on the same day as France defeat the All Blacks in Marseilles.

2006 - England, the world champions, end a run of seven successive defeats beating South Africa 23-21 at Twickenham.

19

1921 - Yorkshire wins the County Championship "War of the Roses" Northern Group match by the artistsic margin of a try to nil before 5,000 spectators at Waterloo.

1927 - Billy Sheehan breaks away to score a late try which he also converts to give the touring New South Wales Waratahs a 14-9 victory after an even game against Northumberland/Durham combined at Newcastle.

1983 - Maurice Colclough's try sets England on course for a 15-9 Twickenham win against the All Blacks.

1988 - Scrum-half Gary Armstrong makes his Scotland debut in a side defeated 13-32 by Australia at Murrayfield.

1999 - Leinster kick-off their European Cup season with an uplifting 27-20 home win in a pool match against much-fancied Leicester Tigers.

2003 - The IRB Council announce that Ireland's Syd Millar will be the Board's Chairman for the next three years.

20

1943 - Rugby League stars Trevor Foster and Willie Davies are prominent in Wales's 11-9 victory against England in the Services international match at Swansea.

1969 - England beat South Africa for the first time. In the sixth match between the sides, England manage an 11-6 victory at Twickenham.

1971 - Jean-Claude Skrela scores the first four-point Test try, but Australia come from behind to win 13-11 against France in Toulouse.

1993 - 20-year-old Jeff Wilson enjoys a golden Test debut for New Zealand scoring a hat trick of tries in a 51-15 demolition of Scotland at Murrayfield.

2003 - New Zealand have to be content with the Bronze place in the Rugby World Cup, beating France 40-13 in the third/fourth place play-off in Sydney.

2004 - England appear to be making good progress in the absence of Jonny Wilkinson. His stand-in Charlie Hodgson collects 27 points including a full set of scoring actions in England's 32-16 defeat of South Africa at Twickenham.

21

1936 - The Universities gear up for their annual bunfight with good wins in London. Cambridge defeat Blackheath 15-8 at Rectory Field and Oxford beat Harlequins 11-7 at Twickenham.

1953 - Bob Stuart's Fourth All Blacks are beaten 8-3 by Cardiff in front of a crowd of 56,000 at the Arms Park.

1957 - Major R V "Uncle" Stanley, whose team plays annually against Oxford University before the Varsity match, passes away aged 82 on the evening of his side's 19-9 win against the Dark Blues.

1970 - The Fijians wind-up their tour of England and Wales with an 8-6 defeat by Wales Under-25s at Cardiff. Through careless handling the Fijians throw away the opportunity to score three tries.

1998 - When Wales meet Argentina at Stradey Park, Llanelli, both nations are coached by New Zealanders: Argentina by Alex Wyllie and Wales by Graham Henry.

1999 - François Pienaar, South Africa's World Cup winning captain, scores Saracens' first-ever try in the Heineken Cup during a match against Colomiers.

22

1947 - In the first official post-war international involving a touring Dominion side in Britain, Australia beat Scotland 16-7 at Murrayfield.

1972 - North-West Counties register first-ever win (16-14 at Workington) by a non-Test England combination against the All Blacks.

1995 - Massimo Giovanelli becomes the first player in Heineken Cup history to be sent off. He gets his marching orders playing for Milan against Pontypridd and subsequently receives a 60-day ban.

1997 - Old Trafford stages an England rugby union Test for the first time. New Zealand beat England 25-8 in the famous football stadium.

1998 - England struggle to beat Italy (23-15) in a World Cup qualifying match at Huddersfield. Italy's Alessandro Troncon is denied a "good" try by referee Didier Mene.

2003 - The greatest day in England's rugby history. Jonny Wilkinson's extra-time dropped goal takes Martin Johnson's team to a 20-17 win over hosts Australia in the fifth World Cup Final.

23

1912 - Brothers Freddie, Dick and John Luyt play in the South Africa Test side that beats Scotland 16-0 at Inverleith.

1940 - Former England greats Wavell Wakefield and Tom Voyce select strong fifteens for a charity match at Gloucester. Mr Voyce's team win 18-11 before 4,000 spectators.

1957 - Rugby Milano, fielding several Italian international players, open a short tour of England with a creditable performance in difficult conditions, going down 27-6 against Blackheath.

1963 - On the afternoon after President John Kennedy is shot the Fifth All Blacks, in the toughest club match of their tour, beat Cardiff 6-5 - a penalty and a drop-goal to a converted try - at the Arms Park.

1972 - Ray "Chico" Hopkins, perennial understudy to Gareth Edwards as scrum-half for Wales, decides to turn professional, joining Swinton RL club for a reported fee of £8000.

2002 - England complete a hat-trick of wins over the Tri Nations beating South Africa by the new record margin of 53-3 at Twickenham.

24

1945 - Popular New Zealand Forces XV, the Kiwis, defeat an England XV 18-3 at Twickenham in the first representative match staged at Twickenham for six years.

1951 - South Africa annihilates Scotland 44-0 at Murrayfield - a then record margin for a major international match between IB members - in the first Test of their European tour.

1967 - Ben Gronow, the Bridgend forward who kicked off for Wales in the first international match ever staged at Twickenham (in 1910), dies aged 80 at his home in Huddersfield.

1973 - H L Glyn Hughes, President of the Barbarian FC since 1955 and a stalwart who first played for the famous club in 1913, passes away in Edinburgh at the age of 81.

1973 - A full-strength Scottish XV has to battle hard to beat Argentina 12-11 at Murrayfield. The Scots score three penalties and a drop goal to Argentina's drop goal and two tries.

2001 - Jonny Wilkinson lands seven penalty goals as England establish their then biggest-winning margin for a Test against South Africa - 29-9 at Twickenham.

25

1905 - Ireland and New Zealand meet for the first time. The touring All Blacks are given a stern examination before running out 15-0 winners through three converted tries.

1967 - The best Test of the All Blacks' tour is played out in Paris where New Zealand defeat France 21-15 in a bruising yet exciting contest.

1969 - The planned Ulster-South Africa tour match at the weekend is cancelled owing to fears of civil unrest in the province. The decision to abandon the match is taken after a meeting at Stormont of the Northern Ireland Security Committee.

2000 - Jason Leonard overtakes Rory Underwood as England's most-capped player in a dour 19-0 win against Argentina.

2006 - South Africa give notice of their rising stock less than a year from the 2007 World Cup by defeating England 25-14 at Twickneham - their first success against the English after seven successive defeats in the previous six years.

2006 - The All Blacks perform their haka in their dressing room before beating Wales at Cardiff. The WRU had asked them to perform it between the anthems rather than after them.

26

1927 - The New South Wales Waratahs tour side enjoy their finest hour beating Wales 18-8 in a full-blown international match at Cardiff Arms Park.

1947 - In the 21st match of their tour the Wallabies are defeated for only the second time. Lancashire/Cheshire Combined beat the tourists 9-8 at Belle Vue, Manchester.

1955 - Giving their best performance in the County Championship since the War Cheshire head off a much-vaunted Yorkshire side to win 9-6 at New Brighton.

1964 - It is announced that Malcolm Sayer, the Leicester Tigers centre, will play outside-left for Cambridge University in the annual Varsity soccer match in December.

1994 - South Africa meet Wales for the first time for 24 years, winning 20-12 at Cardiff.

2000 - Wales lose 13-23 in Cardiff in a Sunday match which turns in favour of South Africa in the last 20 minutes after Arwel Thomas is substituted for Neil Jenkins.

27

1943 - Guy's Hospital - the first club after Rugby School to mark their centenary - continue celebrations with a special match against a London XV at Honor Oak Park. The guests win a tight match 5-0 through a last-minute converted try.

1948 - The famous Newport and Wales right-wing Ken Jones makes a one-off appearance for Leicester in their 20-6 victory over Middlesex Hospital. Playing on the left wing he fails to get on the score sheet but shows up well in defence.

1957 - Adrian Stoop, tactician and legendary Harlequins and England fly-half at the time when the Twickenham ground was opened, dies at his Hartley Wintney home near Basingstoke aged 74.

1967 - At a special meeting of the WRU in Port Talbot, plans are unveiled for a redevelopment of the Cardiff Arms Park as a national stadium. The stadium capacity will rise to 75,000 with an adjacent ground available for the use of the Cardiff club.

1974 - New Zealand beat a non-cap but full strength Welsh XV, 12-3, in front of a capacity crowd in a mid-week afternoon match.

1993 - England beat New Zealand 15-9 at Twickenham making Will Carling the first Home Unions captain to collect wins against the other seven senior nations of the IRB.

28

1942 - Teenager Bleddyn Williams with a last-minute try which he also converts gives Cardiff a 14-10 victory over the RAF in Cardiff.

1951 - Literally days after Scotland were annihilated by South Africa, Dally Allardice plays a blinder as scrum-half for the North of Scotland as the Springboks struggle to a 14-3 win in Aberdeen.

1959 - For only the second time in their history Munster complete the "Triple Crown" of victories in the Irish Inter-Pro Championship. They wrap up their second Crown in three years with an 18-14 defeat of Leinster at Thomond Park in Limerick.

1970 - Fiji stop off to score nine tries in beating Canada 35-17 in Burnaby on their way home from a tour of Britain.

1979 - Italy, coached by former French star Pierre Villepreux, give Graham Mourie's All Blacks a thorough examination in Rovigo. The tourists eventually run out 18-12 winners in the last match of their European visit.

1998 - John Eales's late penalty goal helps his Wallaby side to pip England 12-11 at Twickenham.

29

1924 - New Zealand beat Wales for the first time, avenging their defeat on the 1905 tour with a convincing 19-0 win at Swansea.

1941 - In a war-time Varsity match at Cambridge the home University beats Oxford 9-6.

1947 - The Varsity match is staged on a Saturday as the Home Office is anxious to cut down mid-week sport during an industrial crisis. Cambridge win 6-0 through two penalty goals kicked by Hugh Lloyd-Davies.

1948 - The retirement on medical grounds is announced of the veteran Scotland centre and Sale captain Ken Fyfe. He played ten times for Scotland between the Wars and was a member of the side that won the Triple Crown in 1933.

1967 - The All Blacks' proposed tour of Ireland is cancelled owing to the foot-and-mouth epidemic on the British mainland. The tour itinerary is rearranged to include a match against the Barbarians at Twickenham in mid-December.

1997 - In only his third match as head coach, Clive Woodward sees his team ship a then record number of points in a Twickenham Test as South Africa beat England 29-11.

30

1912 - For the first time in Test history a referee has to retire hurt during a match. Mr Jack strains a muscle and is replaced by former Irish international Fred Gardiner during South Africa's 38-0 defeat of Ireland at Lansdowne Road.

1935 - Ulster enjoys its finest hour against a New Zealand team holding the Third All Blacks to a 3-all draw at Ravenhill in Belfast.

1946 - On their first visit to London since 1939, Gloucester beat Richmond 15-3 in a scrambling game at the Athletic Ground.

1958 - Tommy Vile, who played his first international in 1904 (for the Lions) and his last in 1921 (for Wales), and who refereed many international matches between the wars, dies aged 76.

1974 - Willie-John McBride leads the Barbarians to a 13-13 draw against the All Blacks at Twickenham.

1996 - South Africa, under the captaincy of Gary Teichmann, beat France 22-12 with tries from James Small and André Joubert at Parc Lescure in Bordeaux.