Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Ruck 'n' Roll Years

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Ruck 'n' Roll Years - The Sixties & Seventies

There are no Six Nations matches this weekend, but to stay with the tournament I've got a great video for you today that comes from a BBC series called the Ruck 'n' Roll Years. It features all the best news, music, and rugby action from the Five and Six Nations championships.

Today you can watch the best of the Sixties and Seventies, as the show goes through the years to recap the greatest moments of the tournament, and gives you a little extra as it tells you what was going on in that year.

It’s highly recommended and has some great music to go along with it – some that some of younger rugby fans probably won’t know though unfortunately. The footage has dual meaning, as its informative value in terms of historical moments both on and off the pitch make it a valuable, and thoroughly enjoyable watch.

Starting in 1963, the year in which Britain experienced similar weather to the start of 2010, we head all the way through the Sixties as we see the Beatles fans hysteria when Paul McCartney gets married to Linda Eastman.

Tom Jones plays out as Wales take the title in 1969, before we head into the Seventies and 1972, where the British Embassy in Dublin has to be evacuated after Bloody Sunday. The tournament isn’t completed though, amidst security fears.

In 1973 we see bizarrely see a five way tie as it comes down to a mixed conversion by France against Ireland at Landsdowne Road.

The late Seventies so famously belonged to the Welsh, as a string of legendary players dominated the championship to the point that only Ireland and France won another Championship tournament in that decade.

Once again, if you have ten minutes to sit aside and watch this today, it’s highly recommended and will no doubt bring back some great memories for the older guys, and reveal some classic moments for those who’ve never seen such footage. Enjoy.

We'll feature the best of the Eighties, Nineties, and 2000's on here soon. Please leave a comment or drop us an email if you enjoyed and have a favourite moment on here.

Time: 10:41
Note: Thanks to the BBC for a brilliant series.

First!!!!! Oh My God, waited so long No idea how good this feels. My life is complete lol.

Right enough of the frivolities! Love watching the old stuff. The ball's look so much more difficult to handle though no? Obviously looks a lot slower but the skill factor was probably still incredibly high!

By Alexander, at February 18, 2010 4:10 pm
great stuff! it feels good to know how the old mates played once upon a time..

By Daniel, at February 18, 2010 4:57 pm
Great footage, it´s great to see this in order learn a little more about history of this great sport, keep on with the good work!!
Greetings From Uruguay

By Carlos, at February 18, 2010 5:25 pm
Barry John.... Hero!

By Anonymous, at February 18, 2010 6:32 pm
Great video with a great soundtrack (McLaren calling the game over great music -- T. Rex, Iggy Pop, Declan McManus).

Shame that Ireland won two games on the road, and yet the tournament wasn't completed. Maybe they should have gone and played it in Wales or a neutral site.

By cheyanqui, at February 18, 2010 6:57 pm
Wooo Barry John the king :D

By David, at February 18, 2010 7:11 pm
As someone relatively new to rugby and not from the UK, it seems that back in the day the sport was more popular. stadiums seem packed and crowds very enthusiastic. To you rugby historians, is this a true observation and why or why not?

By Anonymous, at February 18, 2010 7:28 pm
My dad was at the burning of the british embassy. Apparently the lad with the Molotov cocktail didn't have a match and had to ask the crowd for one.....Good times.

A shame Wales and Scotland used it as an excuse not to play us.

Some fantastic moments in there from all the teams. I think many staiums were full for the five nations games but maybe the stadium's capacities were a lot smaller then ?

By Third Centre, at February 18, 2010 9:02 pm
packed stadium,...maybe because that rugby was more enjoyable...and fewer ones owed tvs...btw Have you seen how engaged where people at that time...undoubtly, the amateur era delivered stellar emotions...

By Anonymous, at February 19, 2010 3:37 am
Great footage, I was gonna ask for these postings as the snobby BBC won't allow those of us in the colonies to watch these videos on there websites. The rugby certainly was very passionate back in the day.

By Canadian Content, at February 19, 2010 6:44 am
never show france's win good spirit...

By Anonymous, at February 19, 2010 4:50 pm
Class Video !!! Good Ole Rugby Times !!!

Great Tunes aswell :

1963 The Hippy Hippy Shake - Swinging Blue Jeans

1963 Louie Louie - the Kingsmen - or The Kinks ;)

1963 Wipe Out - The Surfaris

1969 Something In The Air - Thunderclap Newman

1969 Dizzy - Tommy Roe

1969 Delilah - Tom Jones

1972 Won't get fooled again - the Who

1972 Meet Me On The Corner - Lindisfarne

1973 20th Century Boy - T Rex

1973 Cum On Feel The Noize - Slade

1973 Blockbuster - The Sweet

1978 The Passenger - Iggy Pop

1978 BBC Grange Hill 1st Intro

1978 Pump It Up - Elvis Costello ( Declan Mc Manus )

By renardjaunard, at February 19, 2010 8:21 pm
Five/Six nations games are always sold out.

By Anonymous, at February 19, 2010 9:00 pm
'My dad was at the burning of the british embassy. Apparently the lad with the Molotov cocktail didn't have a match and had to ask the crowd for one.....Good times.'

I hope they replied 'yeh, your face and my arse!'

By Anonymous, at February 20, 2010 4:15 am
Some terrific pieces of rugby here and it's always a joy to watch old footage like this. However some people need to remember that these are highlights, and not to look back with such rosy glasses. I'm old enough to have seen many 5N and other internationals on TV at the time and plenty of them were dull and turgid affairs. In my opinion there is nothing here that outclasses a similar selection of highlights from any contemporary international series. Rugby is always a beautiful game when played well.

By rob, at February 20, 2010 5:00 am
You're not lying, Rob^. Sure rugby could be boring at times, but at least they played for the right reasons: fun, honor, sporting pride. NO ONE SHOULD MAKE MONEY FROM RUGBY UNION.

By Anonymous, at February 20, 2010 3:19 pm
Anonymous said...
You're not lying, Rob^. Sure rugby could be boring at times, but at least they played for the right reasons: fun, honor, sporting pride. NO ONE SHOULD MAKE MONEY FROM RUGBY UNION.

It's a nice idea in theory Anon but the fact is that if rugby had not gone professional it would be struggling very hard to hold onto it's better players. Not only would they be going to cashed up league clubs (which was already happening a lot) but I guarantee there would be a parallel pro-rugby organisation by now competing with the IRB, and they would have big money for good players. In the modern world people expect to earn a living from their skills and hundreds of hours of training and commitment and who can blame them?
Also, just because you are being paid doesn't mean that you are not also playing because you love the game and the "fun, honor, sporting pride" etc. And many of those earlier players would've happily taken a decent reimbursement as well, and the truth is many of them did get rewarded one way or another. Professionalism just cleaned up something that was already happening in rugby in a secretive way - shamateurism. It had to change or rugby would be in a real mess by now.

By rob, at February 21, 2010 3:10 am