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?

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.

1989: Australia v Lions Third Test

Try as they might, in the run-up to the deciding Test the Lions could not escape the accusation that the tactics they had employed during the Battle of Ballymore had been over aggressive. The Australian press rounded on the tourists and they were not alone. Coach Bob Dwyer questioned some of the injuries received by his players (a total of 25 stitches in all), and captain Farr-Jones, although openly stating that he saw nothing untoward with the Lions methods, sounded a warning prior to the decider in Sydney: "To me, basically, it's open warfare. They've set the rules. They've set the standards. As far as I'm concerned, if the officials aren't going to control it, we're going to have to do something about it."

Sporting what ifs of the 1980s

The life of That1980sSportsBlogger has produced enough what if moments to fill a blog or two, albeit probably not that interesting to anyone who doesn't know me (how does that differ from this blog I hear you ask). What if I hadn't gone to that nightclub in Northampton on that fateful evening of December 1, 1995, where unbeknown to me, the future Mrs That1980sSportsBlogger was located? What if my parents had decided to move to New Zealand when I was barely out of nappies, as they were carefully considering? What if my dad had been a Tottenham supporter? All of those what ifs, and in particular the last one, are quite scary to comprehend, as my life as I know it today would be very different indeed.