June 18 down the years
Awesome Lomu crushes England
Scrum.com
Jonah Lomu smashes through the challenge of Mike Catt to score, England v New Zealand, Rugby World Cup, Newlands, Cape Town, June 18, 1995
Jonah Lomu crushed England on this day in 1995 © Getty Images
Enlarge

1995
New Zealand winger Jonah Lomu mauled England in the semi-final of the World Cup at Newlands in Cape Town.

The All Blacks' talisman was in unstoppable form as he ran in four tries, one of which was straight through England's fullback Mike Catt.

For good measure scrum-half Graeme Bachop and flanker Josh Kronfeld also scored while No.8 Zinzan Brooke showed off his skills with a drop-goal.

The result set up a fateful meeting with hosts South Africa in the final. One to be forgotten for Will Carling and England.

Lomu later admitted that he was "scared" going into the match because of the Underwoods who he described as "the best wings in the world".

1983
On one of Wellington's windiest days the All Blacks beat the Lions 9-0 to go two up in the Test series with two to play. As a gale hit the ground New Zealand used it to their advantage and played with the wind in the first half and scored all of their points before the interval. All Black full-back Allan Hewson scored a conversion and a penalty and scrum-half David Loveridge scored the only try of the match as the Lions could not use the conditions to their own advantage in the second-half.

2008
Auckland police confirmed they were investigating claims made against four England players following an alleged incident in a private room at the team's Hilton hotel in the early hours of Sunday morning after England's 37-20 defeat to New Zealand. A spokesperson for Auckland police would not confirm the nature of the allegation nor confirm the identity of the players but they were later revealed as Danny Care, Topsy Ojo, Mike Brown and David Strettle. Ojo and Brown were eventually fined for misconduct and Care and Strettle were found not guilty following an RFU probe. No official complaint was made against the players, who denied any wrongdoing.

1977
Phil Bennett's Lions lost 16-12 in the opening Test of their series in New Zealand. Grant Batty's interception try turned the game the All Blacks' way just before half-time. Sid Going and Brad Johnstone scored the other tries for the All Blacks. The Lions' points came courtesy of three penalties from the boot of their captain Bennett, with fullback Andy Irvine also chipping in with one.

2008
A rugby club in England were ordered to pay damages to an opposition player after he sustained a fractured eye socket from an off-the-ball punch by one of their forwards. The decision made by the Court of Appeal had wide-ranging implications for both professional and semi-professional clubs in rugby league and union. The case emanated from a National Division Two match in October 2005 when Halifax prop Andrew Gravil was punched off the ball by Redruth second-row forward Richard Carroll and was out of the game for more than six months. Gravil successfully sued his opponent in March 2006 but lost the case against Redruth when the court decided the club should not be responsible for the actions of their player. An appeal to the High Court was lost but the ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeal, who decided Redruth must pay the £8,500 damages originally awarded against Carroll plus interest.

1910
In the second of four successive matches at Newlands, Dr Tom Smyth's Lions beat Western Province Colleges 11-3; Derry's Alex Foster scored two tries for the visitors.

1921
The Springboks played on Australian soil for the first time. In an unofficial tour match they defeated a Victorian XV 51-0 in Melbourne.

1938
Sammy Walker's Lions met the first reverse of their tour, when they lost 11-8 to Western Province Town & Country XV at Newlands.

1949
Fred Allen led by example, scoring two tries in the All Blacks' 8-0 tour win against Natal at Kingsmead.

1966
The Otago half-backs, Earle Kirton and Chris Laidlaw, layed the foundation for the province's 17-9 win against the Lions, who despite losing outscored their hosts by three tries to one.

© Scrum.com

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.