David Campese - A Bledisloe Win

A Bledisloe Win

Campese was part of the 1986 Australian team to conquer the New Zealand All Blacks on New Zealand soil for the first time since 1949. Campese played at fullback for most of the tour as a replacement for the injured Roger Gould. There is a consensus belief that Campese played very well on the tour, despite many unsavory moments.

Campese asserted himself into the first test by kicking forward a loose pass from Nick Farr-Jones from which he scored a try. Later in the game he made a wide pass to Australian winger Matthew Burke, resulting in another Australian try giving them a 13–6 lead. Campese also had a forgettable moment in the Test when, playing at full back, he caught a high ball and was about to kick it when he stalled, began to have second thoughts and decided to run the ball. In his indecision he was tackled while attempting a suicidal pass to Matthew Burke, which landed near Burke's feet. Joe Stanley was quick to scoop up the ball and came close to the try line before passing to Mark Brooke-Cowden, leading to an All Black try. The Wallabies spent the last 10 or so minutes desperately defending their narrow lead. Fortunately for Campese, Australia won the game 13–12, as a loss to the Baby Blacks would have led to great criticisms in costing a game many thought Australia would easily win.

Australian coach Alan Jones, however, was tolerant of Campese's blunder stating that, "By scoring a try and setting up another, Campese more than cancelled out his late blemish." Jones later went public, stating that Campese would remain fullback for the remaining two Tests. A day after the first Test, a melancholy Campese glumly confessed, "I still feel sick about that pass. It was the worst moment of my life. I'll never forget the looks on the faces of the other guys." Campese remarked he once had been told if he ever started thinking what he was going to do before he took the field he should retire. "I was thinking too much before the Test," he admitted. "I listened to everybody. Then I went out simply to be rock-safe and not make a mistake." Narked by constant claims Campese was better suited to the wing, Alan Jones shot back at the New Zealand media claiming, "New Zealanders are trying to get into Campese's mind. They want him to feel flawed and erratic when he plays fullback."

Shortly after the first Test, the Australian team had a variety night, where each player had to 'dress up' and perform an act. Australian coach Alan Jones dressed as Al Jolson and gave a rendition of 'Swanee'. Australian winger Peter Grigg performed an act portraying a drunken New Zealand dairy farmer. Many other Wallabies dressed as professional wrestlers. But perhaps the most memorable performance came from Wallaby lock, Steve Cutler, who performed a Wallabies' version of popular game show Sale of The Century. His first question was "Who scored two tries at Athletic Park on Saturday?" Cutler enlightened the confused Wallabies with the answer. "Campo. He scored one for us and one for them."

In the second test Campese played what he felt was a poor game at fullback by dropping a few high bombs on a wet and dreary day. This led to some controversy as Campese claimed that Australia coach, Alan Jones, had made an insulting remark about him behind his back by telling his teammates after the game, "Don't worry, fellows, you played without a fullback today." This reportedly occurred behind while Campese was in the showers (Campese was often the first player to hit the showers). In his book, For Love Not Money, former Wallaby Simon Poidevin refutes such claims by Campese, "Tales of Jonsey screaming at Campese in the dressing-room immediately after the game for the poor way he played that afternoon was absolute nonsense. Nothing at all was said by anyone for nearly three-quarters of an hour, and the only noise I can recall was that of tough men openly sobbing from disappointment."

Campese, with his delicate sensitivities, was upset at hearing what had allegedly happened. In his autobiography On A Wing and a Prayer, Campese asserts he later tried to apologize to Jones for his unintentional mistake, which resulted in a verbal barrage of insults from Jones which lasted many minutes. In Nick Farr-Jones' autobiography, Nick Farr-Jones, an account is given of Farr-Jones overhearing Jones' verbal barrage before attempting to pacify the situation, "Farr-Jones happened to be passing soon after Campese had gone in, and could hear snatches of Jones' words, no less forceful for having to penetrate the door. 'You've let me down,' he remembers Jones saying. 'I told the press you were the Bradman of rugby and now you've done this to me… I simply don't understand how you could play like that… you made a complete fool of yourself…' Etcetera." Farr-Jones eventually entered the room to defuse the situation.

Campese became dejected and sullen soon after, predicting he had played his last game at fullback for Australia. A few hours after his attempted apology, Campese declared to his close friend, Mark Ella, that he was now ready to retire from rugby. Ella, a close friend of Campese, insisted Campese continue to play rugby. Gordon Bray wrote in the tribute book David Campese, "The world's rugby enthusiasts can be grateful that Mark Ella consoled his teammate that night."

Alan Jones refuted the accusations of slander saying, "That's just rubbish. I'm sure I've said to someone with a smile on my face we played without a fullback today. And I'm sure it was Campo, after he's probably done one or two bad things and 15 good things. It would be like telling Miss World she was the ugliest person in the room when she knows full she's the best looking bird who's ever set foot in the building. But it wasn't that day. That wasn't the day for that sort of stuff. But it doesn't matter. It's part of the folklore of the whole deal and it's one man's word against another's."

Alan Jones selected Campese on the wing for the final test instead of fullback. With Campese on the wing, a young All Black named John Kirwan marked him for the first time. Kirwan had missed the 1984 Bledisloe series due to injury, Campese likewise in 1985, and 1986 was the first time the two met in what became a great rivalry between the two wingers. Campese remained quiet for most of the game, however, he did score a try late in the game. With Australia closing in on victory, Campese scored a try on the inside of Kirwan while Kirwan was concerned about the man outside of him, turning him inside out. It was not the only time Campese did that to Kirwan. The try clinched Australia's first series win on New Zealand soil since 1949. In the book, Path to Victory, Mark Ella wrote: "It was good to see David Campese get that last try because by now he had no confidence at all. He was absolutely shot to pieces."