David Campese - Campo's Corner

Campo's Corner

"David Campese liked to play his rugby of the highwire – without a safety net", Gordon Bray once wrote, "When he slips, the result can be catastrophic."

In the 1989 series against the British and Irish Lions, which Australia were expected to win, Campese gifted a soft try to the Lions in the third test when he recklessly tried to run the ball from his own try line. This resulted in the Lions winning the test as well as the series.

The part of the pitch where Campese lost the ball became known as "Campo's Corner". The patch of turf at the Paddington end of the Sydney Football Stadium, on the eastern side of the ground, where a wayward pass gave the Lions a try and catapulted Campese into controversy. The event itself was Campese's career low point for which he is still criticised to this day.

The Australian side had never won a series against the Lions at the time, and there was a general feeling amongst the Australian players that was about to change. Australia defeated the Lions easily in the first match, by utilising the boot of Michael Lynagh to make the Lions forwards run around the paddock. Campese however, played a diminished role in the win due to these tactics, a trend that continued for much of the series. Australia lost the second game in a violent affair, leaving the series tied at 1–1, and set the stage for the horrific moment that is often associated with Campese's fallibility.

Australia had struggled to a 12–9 lead early in the second half of the third game when Lions five-eighth Rob Andrew missed with an attempted dropped goal. At that point, the game was being decided between the boots of Michael Lynagh and the Lions' Gavin Hastings. Campese had hardly seen the ball when he caught the ball in his in-goal and started off with a mind to counterattack. He was immediately confronted by Lions winger Ieuan Evans before throwing a loose pass to fullback Greg Martin, who was completely unaware of Campese's surprising intentions. The ball struck Martin on the shoulder and bounced away. Evans, who had the mere job of falling on the ball, played the opportunist to score in a moment of complete disaster.

There was a sense of horror about what Campese had just done. Standard procedure on such an occasion is to simply ground the ball in the in-goal, which would have allowed Australia to restart play twenty-two metres downfield. With his tremendous boot, Campese could also have run the ball out of the in-goal and simply booted the ball far downfield and into touch. Rather than playing the percentages, Campese had failed in a seemingly mindless and illogical attempt to do something creative. However, Jack Pollard, author of Australian Rugby: The Game And The Players, always maintained that Campese's idea that day was a good one. Pollard happened to be sitting adjacent to where the incident occurred, so he had a good view of it. He said that the Lions' defence on that side of the field was under-manned and that there was a real opportunity for a counterattack, which Campese obviously recognised. If Martin had taken the pass, Pollard said, Australia might have scored instead of the Lions. So in Pollard's view it was a clever move – just poorly executed. "It was my fault because I tried to step inside and pass at once, thinking that Evans would come with me," Campese wrote in his autobiography On a Wing and a Prayer. "In fact, when I passed, he was in between me and Martin, and when I threw such a hopeless pass he had a simple job in touching it down…. I still think the idea was perfectly sound, it was just that the execution was wrong."

Campese was devastated as Australia ended up losing 18–19 and thus lost the series. As Campese walked off the ground a fan shouted, "Hey Campo, that's another Test you've lost for Australia". Campese's fragile state of mind was not helped by an after match snubbing by his team mates. According to Campese, none of his team mates spoke to him in the dressing room or offered a word of consolation. Many of them gave him solemn stares leaving the impression of what they thought of him. This deeply offended Campese, who felt as let down by his team mates as they were by his mistake. Campese has often reflected upon his appreciation of a few small words Australian coach Bob Dwyer offered to him after the game, "Mate, forget it. It's one of those things."

While Campese was widely blamed for losing the test and the series, coach Bob Dwyer said after the match: "I don't think that try cost us the game at all." The Australians were beaten in the forwards, unable to control a Lions pack spearheaded by backrowers Mike Teague and Dean Richards, prop David Sole and second rower Paul Ackford. The Australians were under pressure in the scrum, losing one with feed on the opposition line, and on several occasions were stripped of the ball at the breakdown. Campese stated he felt the whole incident was blown out of proportion, and that to single out one mistake in a game where many mistakes can be made is silly. Campese has often expressed his view that losing the tighthead on the opposition line was also a horrible mistake made at a crucial moment. Bob Dwyer has, in fact, in the past singled out the '89 Lions tour as a series which revealed an attitude in the Australian forwards which could be deemed "too soft". In essence, Campese's famous blunder may have been how the Lions series was lost, but not necessarily why.

The criticisms aimed at Campese after Campo's Corner were unrelenting in the ongoing weeks and months. Members of the Australian media and former Australian players called for his sacking. As a man who enjoyed the media spotlight, Campese felt a deep sense of offence that the media he had become accustomed to, no longer sought the Campese interview or his opinion, but were more content with criticising him. Former Australian captain, Andrew Slack, publicly blasted Campese in the papers fuming that, "You do not play Mickey Mouse rugby like that in the Green and Gold of Australia." Slack criticised Campese's time spent in Italy, claiming he had become ill-disciplined as a result of his time spent there. Slack referred to Campese's pass as "Spaghetti rugby". Australian rugby writer Greg Campbell queried if Campo was now a 'legend of liability'. Campese commented to Gordon Bray, the day after his mistake that he once again felt like retiring.

Campese gave a logical viewpoint of his mistake in his autobiography — that being creative has led to an impressive number of tries, and that the risk of failure is something always at stake when one looks to be creative. Campese had succeeded with some of rugby's most brilliant runs and plays that were against the tide of play. "If you want an ordinary wing, that's fine, just don't look up the record books which tell you some players can score 30 or 40 tries in their career, and then wonder why your guys don't do that."

In response to the rush of criticisms aimed at Campese, Nick Farr-Jones, the then Australian captain, wrote a letter to The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper defending Campese:

SIR.
Not only as captain of the national team, but as an Australian, it disturbs me to hear and read the constant and at times vilifying attacks by rugby followers and the press on one of our greatest sportsmen, David Campese.
...
Campo's blunder last Saturday was careless and costly. But few of the Australian players would be satisfied with their performances, including myself. Campo will hopefully learn by the mistake and the whole team, I am sure, will not only show tremendous spirit in Australian rugby but will improve on individual performances when matched against the might of New Zealand in August.
To Campo I say: Yes, one bad mistake on Saturday which I know you will learn from, but, mate, if I were a selector you would always be one of the first picked, with no handcuffs of chains to inhibit you.
Nick Farr Jones

However, the harsh reaction to Campese's error did not subside. His brother Mario was attacked outside a pub. When asked if he was the brother of David Campese, the simple answer of "yes" lead to a punch. To protect Campese's sensitive frame of mind, his family concealed his brother's attacking for months to prevent him from becoming more emotionally upset.

Two years later, during a dinner at the start of the World Cup, in an official publication for the tournament, Campese noticed an advertisement for a music store. The full-page ad, for a range of rugby videos, featured a photograph of Campese with the heading reading, "Watch him fumble whenever you want." Campese later confessed he had a burning desire at the 1991 World Cup to leave new memories for the people who only wanted to ponder of the negatives of his game. A goal he undoubtedly achieved. However, Campo's Corner has been forever since linked with Campese's legacy of highs and lows. As a rugby player heavily into credit when weighing his positive contributions against his negative contributions to the game of rugby, people have tended to ponder upon his weaknesses; this is partly due to the strong memory of Campo's Corner.