December 5 down the years
England wreck Boks' winning streak
England wing Dan Luger celebrates victory over South Africa
© Getty Images
1998
South Africa's world record equalling run of 17 Test victories ended at Twickenham where England beat the Springboks 13-7 thanks to a Jerry Guscott try and two penalties and a conversion kicked by Matt Dawson. The Springboks, under coach Nick Mallett and skipper Gary Teichmann, romped to their first Tri-Nations title unbeaten in the summer and had not tasted defeat since August 1997 when they rolled up to Twickenham. Pieter Rossouw scored the Springboks' try. They would rack up a total of 174 points in their next two Tests, against Italy, before losing to Wales for the first time at the newly-minted Millennium Stadium.
1931
Danie Craven, the man who became South Africa's Dr Rugby, made his Springbok Test debut in an 8-3 win against Wales at Swansea. Craven would become, over the course of his 16 Tests, one of the best scrum-halves in the world. He retired from playing in 1938 after captaining South Africa to a series win over the British & Irish Lions. He went on to coach his country to a whitewash series against the All Blacks and a 10-match winning run. He also coached his side to a Grand Slam tour (having played in one between 1931-32) of the northern hemisphere before becoming chairman of the South African Rugby Board in 1957, working for them before contributing to the formation of the South African Rugby Union in 1992 following the end of isolation.
1959
John Dawes (Aberystwyth University) scored a corner try and kicked a penalty goal for the Welsh Universities in their 18-11 win against their English counterparts in Penarth. It was Wales's first win of the series for seven years. Dawes would go on to start for Wales as player and coach, winning Grand Slams in both roles, and also led the 1971 British & Irish Lions to a series victory in New Zealand.
1981
Richard Moriarty's try on debut against Australia turned the Test Wales's way in Cardiff and the home side ran out 18-13 winners of an entertaining game.
1942
It was reported that Major Ron Gerrard, an England centre in the famous 13-0 defeat of New Zealand in 1936, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O) for "reckless gallantry in rendering harmless an enemy minefield before the attack on El Alamein."
1964
Terry Price, teenaged 'Possibles' fullback, was the Man of the Match in the Welsh trial at Pontypool, scoring 16 of his side's points in their 22-18 defeat of the 'Probables'.
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