1988: The Calcutta Cup affair

If you were a regular follower of the England rugby union team during the 1980s, then the decade was not particularly kind to you. After the 1980 Grand Slam success, it was very much a case of disappointing rugby matches almost ruining great weekends away in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Dublin, and Paris.

Between 1981 and 1987, England won just two away matches in the championship - the last coming in Paris in 1982 - and the start of the 1988 competition did not improve matters. A narrow loss in Paris extended the poor run, and when Wales won 11-3 at Twickenham, it was evident that the new manager/coach partnership of Geoff Cooke and Roger Uttley had a big job on their hands.

1987 Rugby World Cup: England

Mike Weston and Martin Green were swimming against the tide as they tried to prepare England for the inaugural World Cup in New Zealand and Australia. Weston (Chairman of Selectors) and Green (coach) had started building up to the tournament a year before the event.

1987: Ireland v England (Rugby Union)

Reversing the fortunes of the England rugby union team in the mid-1980s was never going to be an easy task. Winning only two matches in the Five Nations championship between 1983-85, urgent action was required to revive the English patient.

1980: England v Wales (Rugby Union)

Looking back this week at a violent England-Wales Five Nations match in 1980, as Paul Ringer is sent off, and England only just manage to keep their Grand Slam hopes alive.

Generally, Anglo-Welsh rugby union clashes do not require much promotion. But the hype surrounding the 1980 Five Nations contest between England and Wales at Twickenham was suffocating. Billed as the match that would decide the championship, Triple Crown and Grand Slam, you could almost taste the tension as the February date neared.

1983: New Zealand v Lions Fourth Test

This piece follows on from my previous blogs on the warm-up matches, first, second, and third Tests of the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 1983:

http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-british-and-irish-lions-warm-up-matches.html

http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-first-test.html

http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-second-test.html

http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-third-test.html

1983: New Zealand v Lions Third Test

This piece follows on from my previous blogs on the warm-up matches, first Test, and second Test of the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 1983:

http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-british-and-irish-lions-warm-up-matches.html

http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-first-test.html

http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-second-test.html 

1983: New Zealand v Lions Second Test

This piece follows on from my previous blogs on the warm-up matches and first Test of the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 1983:

http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-british-and-irish-lions-warm-up-matches.html

http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-first-test.html

1983: New Zealand v Lions First Test

This piece follows on from my previous blog on the warm-up matches of the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 1983:

http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-british-and-irish-lions-warm-up-matches.html

1983: British and Irish Lions warm-up matches

The first of a series looking back at the 1983 British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.

1983: England v Scotland (Rugby Union)

Scotland's record at Twickenham left a lot to be desired, but in 1983 they were able to take advantage of a mentally fragile England.

Michael Jackson was number one in the hit parade with Billie Jean; Britain was slowly getting used to waking up to breakfast television; the press were extremely excited that Prince William had two new teeth; and Arthur Scargill's call for a miners' strike was rejected by NUM members. March 1983, seems a million years ago. To any die hard Scottish rugby union fans that yearn for success at Twickenham, this date, from a different age, represents the last time their country won at England's headquarters.

1980s sporting retirements

Nico Rosberg recently made the shock decision to retire from Formula One after winning the World Championship title. So this week I am taking a look back at some sporting retirements of the 1980s, including an England rugby union captain forced to quit the sport, a triple blow for the Australian cricket team, and a future England manager saying his goodbyes before leaving the scene Anneka Rice style.

The birth of the Rugby Union World Cup

The Rugby Union World Cup is now one of the biggest events in the sporting calendar, but it took years of negotiations and rejection before the tournament finally kicked off in 1987.

1980s commentary moments: Part 2

Following on from my original blog describing my favourite commentary moments of the 1980s, I've finally got around to writing volume two (it's only taken me nearly three years). Including moments of jeopardy, drama, misses, success, and outright condemnation, these pieces of commentary have lived long in my fading memory. I have still missed a few out; maybe I should start planning volume three for 2018?

1983: Wales v England (Rugby Union)

England had not won in Cardiff since 1963, but they came desperately close in 1983, even during a Five Nations campaign that turned out to be a nightmare.

It can quite a nice feeling when on the odd occasion the bookmakers get things spectacularly wrong, but if you were an England rugby union fan in 1983 then you probably would not quite agree with this sentiment. Installed as the Five Nations favourites before the tournament kicked off, the 9/4 odds offered on England were looking more and more inaccurate as the weeks progressed. As Ireland (5/2) and France (9/2) battled their way to a shared championship, England were left with only the wooden spoon and plenty of time to have a sit down and think about what they had just done.

An Ode to Billy Joel

Something a little different for my last blog of the year, and apologies if this is not your cup of tea, but this week I am paying tribute to my love of sport in the 1980s by butchering Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire.

I had great fun putting this together, and please don't be too harsh.  After all, I'm no Stock, Aitken or Waterman.

1982: Erika Roe

This blog is about anything to do with sport in the 1980s, so please forgive me as I look back on a memorable incident involving a young lady who streaked during the half-time break of a rugby union international, and became an instant media star.

Saturday January 2, 1982, England v Australia at Twickenham: on a cold, grey and wet day, England rugby union captain Bill Beaumont is doing his best to give his team some important instructions during the half-time break that in the distant amateur days of the past traditionally used to take place in a huddle on the pitch. But Beaumont sensed that his team were not completely focused on his words, that their minds and eyes appeared to be elsewhere.

1983: England v New Zealand (Rugby Union)

When it came to the 1983 Autumn international between England and New Zealand, it was hardly a case of England expects. With only two wins in twelve matches against the All Blacks, history was not exactly on England's side, and events in the past twelve months were even less encouraging. No wins and a bottom-placed finish in the 1983 Five Nations was a far from ideal start for the new England coach Dick Greenwood, and with New Zealand looming on the horizon in November, it did not look as if things were about to get better.

1980s: Sporting thrashings

There can be nothing worse than being on the end of a sporting thrashing. I should know, having once played in for a junior football team which lost a match 33-0 (we made the local paper and earned a free trip to Burger King and the local cinema to watch Home Alone, so we did get something out of it).

My embarrassment was fortunately limited, a very local affair that I have tried my best to forget. But many of the participants in the following sporting thrashings were not as lucky as me. Theirs was very much a national or international humbling, played out in front of the watching public, read about by sports fans at the time and since.

1980: France v England (Rugby Union)

Sixteen years. Sixteen long years. By 1980, this was how long the England rugby team had waited to taste victory in Paris, a period of time that had seen England lose six matches and draw one against their French rivals. However, it was not just the French that England had a problem with. Since their last outright Five Nations title win in 1963, the state of the English rugby team had fluctuated between poor and embarrassing.

1984: England v Australia (Rugby Union)

As Australia prepared for the first international leg of their 1984 tour to Britain and Ireland, it was evident that they were in a much healthier state than their old rivals England. The visitors had run a strong New Zealand side close in a 2-1 series loss in the southern hemisphere summer, whereas England's recent run of results were hardly cause for any encouragement.