But 1959 was special. In Auckland last week, the greatest living All Black of them all, Sir Wilson Whineray, told me those Lions were probably “the greatest team I ever played against.” Given that Whineray faced the 1956 and 1960 Springboks, he was judging from some esteemed quality when he made his decision.

At 6 o’clock on a Sunday morning, talkative taxi drivers in New Zealand’s icy wastes are usually as welcome as hangovers. But this man was different. He’d been there, seen those Lions (“gee, I remember those tiny shorts Tony O’Reilly used to wear with his white legs”) and he recalled the drama of that day.

The Lions scored four tries to none; it was a walkover. Well yes, on the try scoring front. Trouble was, New Zealand had a referee who took sympathy to unknown levels and a goal kicker who could extract maximum revenge. The combination proved devastating. Clarke, one of those old toe-end kickers, landed six penalty goals, every one like a nail in the visitors’ coffin, and the Lions’ thrilling four tries were rendered irrelevant.

“I remember the headline the next day in the local paper: ‘Don Clarke 18, Lions 17’” said my man. New Zealand’s most esteemed rugby writer of the time, the late, great T.P. McLean called it “a day of shame” for New Zealand rugby. The referee, A.L. Fleury, never refereed another Test match.

It might be 50 years ago, and those great old Lions with their fine values and flying backs might now mostly be long into their retirement. But rugby’s age-old conundrum of what merits greatest value on the field– tries or penalty goals – goes on. For example, were the Springboks fortunate to squeeze out a 30-28 victory over the All Blacks last Saturday night on that same Carisbrook ground the Lions played on back in 1959?

Not if you judge by the try count: two for the Springboks, one for New Zealand. Does that still not constitute a moral victory, a re-affirmation of this great game’s most meritorious values?

(Picture: Getty)