![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/legends-recall-rugbys-greatest-upset-50-years-after-llanelli-slay-all-blacks/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/0_Llanelli-RFC-v-New-Zealand-31st-October-1972.jpg&description='Llanelli was an industrial town, full of steel works and mines. The rugby club itself was the heartbeat and there was something in the air that day, most definitely. It wasn't just 15 players, but the whole town that beat the All Blacks"Llanelli coach Carwyn James (front row 4th from right) with his history-making team before the All Blacks game in 1972Half a century on and Delme Thomas has just bumped into a man on the street claiming 'I was there'. 'The number of people who say that to me,' laughs the captain of the Llanelli team which beat the All Blacks in perhaps rugby's greatest upset. 'I don't believe half of them. If they had all been there we'd have had 100,000 at Stradey.' Monday marks the 50th anniversary of a 9-3 win celebrated so hard and for so long that, famously, the pubs in the Carmarthenshire town ran dry. Even now, barely a day goes by without somebody wanting to talk giant killing. Rugby has known upsets in its time: Western Samoa beating Wales (1991), Japan shocking South Africa (2015), Munster stunning the All Blacks (1978) to name three. But in 50 years only one club side has beaten the mighty Men in Black. Delme Thomas reads the Western Mail's account of Llanelli's famous win ( Mirrorpix) 'I played for Wales for eight years, went on three Lions tours,' said Thomas, who turned 80 last month. 'But that day at Stradey.. that was the highlight.' Gareth Jenkins remembers it well, and not just because he had his nose broken when knocked out cold by lawless Kiwi prop Keith Murdoch. 'There was something in the air that day, most definitely,' said the steel-working flanker. 'It wasn't just 15 players, but the whole town that beat the All Blacks. Scarlet fever: Llanelli fans celebrate their team's 9-3 triumph ( Mirrorpix) 'Llanelli was an industrial town, full of steel works and mines. The rugby club itself was the heartbeat, the pride felt in the town was for the team. 'They were very different times. We weren't gym boys, we were working men. We woul){kind=link}
“Llanelli was an industrial town, full of steel works and mines. The rugby club itself was the heartbeat and there was something in the air that day, most definitely. It wasn’t just 15 players, but the whole town that beat the All Blacks”
Half a century on and Delme Thomas has just bumped into a man on the street claiming âI was there’.
“The number of people who say that to me,” laughs the captain of the Llanelli team which beat the All Blacks in perhaps rugby’s greatest upset. “I don’t believe half of them. If they had all been there we’d have had 100,000 at Stradey.”
Monday marks the 50th anniversary of a 9-3 win celebrated so hard and for so long that, famously, the pubs in the Carmarthenshire town ran dry.
Even now, barely a day goes by without somebody wanting to talk giant killing.