Men of the Silver Fern - Towards the Grand Slam (1957 - 1978)

This third episode of Men of the Silver Fern follows the fortunes of the All Blacks from 1956 to 1978. In 1956 the All Blacks had beaten the Springboks by playing a conservative ’10-man’ game, but they faced criticism for their dour pragmatism. A decade later the backs were back: coach Fred ‘The Needle’ Allen based his triumphant turn at the helm of the All Blacks on expressive, running rugby. This episode follows the All Blacks’ ongoing mission to win a series in South Africa, and achieve a ‘grand slam’ of victories over the home unions on a tour of the UK.

For many many years afterwards Munster never took the score off the scoreboard: it still says 'Munster: 12. All Blacks: 0'.

– 1978 All Blacks manager Russ Thomas

Key Cast & Crew

Peter Coates

Writer, Producer, Director

Clive Cockburn

Composer

Keith Quinn

Interviewer, Producer, Researcher

Ces Blazey

Producer

Ivan Vodanovich

Producer

Robert Hagen

Research