Otago captain David Latta (right) accepts the springbok head from South African captain Tiaan Strauss at Carisbrook in 1994. PHOTO: ODT FILES
It has been 30 years since Otago upset South Africa 19-12 to claim the springbok head, and that moment is still vivid in Latta’s memory.
"It was a horrible day — a midweek game. They kicked off, charged it down and scored," Latta said.
"We’re standing behind the posts and all going, well, what do we do now?"
Planning a reunion was not at the top of the agenda. But that is what has kept Latta busy recently.
He has organised a get-together this weekend for the 1994 team and "about 11 guys" are attending.
Marc Ellis and Arran Pene are a couple of the players who are making the trip to Dunedin.
It is a low-key celebration. They plan on having a few beers, dining out and just "celebrating life".
Otago had beaten the Lions four times but had never beaten the Springboks, and not many gave them a chance on that day in July 1994.
The game featured in the Otago Daily Times 150 greatest moments in Otago sport series in 2011.
Brent Edwards, the late former ODT sports editor, described Latta’s performance as one of his best as captain.
But the game did not get off to a great start for the home team.
Days of continuous rain had left the Carisbrook surface sodden.
Still, 22,000 fans "braved the wet" and were silenced when South African halfback Joost van der Westhuizen charged down Stephen Bachop’s clearance from the kick-off and scored in the corner.
Otago halfback Stu Forster sparked the reply. He nipped away from a tap penalty, Bachop got in support and John Leslie ran a beautiful angle to score.
The rest was down to some accurate goal kicking by Jeff Wilson. He landed five of his six attempts to help seal a historic win.
"It was a great scalp, you know," Latta said.
"I don’t think you realise what you’ve achieved until you go away from the game and digest it.
"And we probably had a few players that were playing for All Black positions and stuff like that.
"We had a pretty star-studded backline and Jeff kicked his goals that day."
The springbok head trophy is tucked away at the Otago rugby headquarters.
"I’ve seen it a couple of times over the years. It’d be nice to see it out in the public eye a bit more."
The trophy was given to the first provincial team to beat the touring South Africans. Canterbury, Waikato and Wellington had won it on previous tours and Otago wanted it.
Latta said it was a shame international tours were so brief these days. It was one of his career highlights, along with winning the NPC in 1991 and beating the Lions in 1993.
The All Blacks play South Africa in Johannesburg this weekend.
The world champions will start as favourites, and Latta said they were formidable opponents.
"It’s not an easy place to play and they’ve got a very good side. And they’ve got some quite smart coaches, as we know.
"I still hope the All Blacks get up, but there’ll be nothing in it, really."
