Oldest Wallaby Don Strachan recalls beating All Blacks at Eden Park

Don Strachan has accomplished a feat that only a handful of Wallabies still living have achieved — defeating the All Blacks at Eden Park.

In his second test match in 1955, the then-26-year-old prop started in Australia’s 8–3 defeat of New Zealand at the iconic ground in Auckland.

The Wallabies have only tasted success against the All Blacks there on three other occasions, the last 40 years ago.

“We were determined to win that [1955] game,” Strachan said.

An excerpt from a local newspaper following the game detailed the win as “one of the finest” the Wallabies had produced. 

“The Australians gave a magnificent exhibition to outplay the All Blacks,” the article said.

Despite the victory, New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup following wins in the first and second test matches in Wellington and Dunedin.

The series loss still haunts Strachan all these years later.

He was disallowed a try in his debut game at Carisbrook on the South Island, which the All Blacks won 8–0.

“We were cheated,” Strachan said.

Lucky to be alive

Hailing from Orange in the New South Wales Central West, the 97-year-old is the oldest living Australian rugby union player.

“I’m Wallaby number 413, and that means there are 412 of them who are no longer here anymore,” he said.

“I wouldn’t have wished for anything else. I’ve been lucky … I’ve had a great time.”

His international rugby career almost ended before it began following a motorbike crash in the Blue Mountains while returning from a game in Sydney.

“I had a terrific motor accident. A truck came over the hill on the wrong side of the road,” Strachan said.

“[It] hit me head-on. Threw me almost into the front yard of the house next door.”

After suffering a compound fracture to his leg, Strachan narrowly avoided having it amputated and spent several months in hospital.

Returning to rugby

Back on his dad’s potato farm near Orange, Strachan began building his strength to return to the footy field.

“I used to lift 1,000 bags of potatoes a day,” he said.

“I had a very strong back, legs and shoulders … That stood me in good stead because I had the muscles to support everything else.”

As a front rower, Strachan “loved the game” and the physicality that came with it. 

“I never got pushed out of a scrum in my life … If they played fair, I played fair,” he said.

“If they wanted to do something else, I’d accommodate them. 

“I accommodated a few of them.” 

That love of rugby ultimately saw Strachan captain the Combined NSW Country side for five years, represent the NSW Waratahs and play twice for Australia.

It could have been more after being selected for a seven-month tour of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States in 1955, but with a baby on the way with wife Wendy and a farm to help run, he declined the opportunity.

Orange Emus founded

In 1947, the Orange Rugby Club had been travelling to Sydney most winter weekends to take on lifesaving clubs and agricultural schools.

From that team spawned the idea to create a four-team local competition in Orange that would become the Central West Rugby Union tournament in 1956.

Given that macropods had been adopted by many clubs across the country, Strachan and his friends turned to the other side of the Australian coat of arms for inspiration. And thus, the Orange Emus Rugby Club was born.

“We had a collection of some of the nicest people you could ever meet,” he said.

To fund the construction of an oval and grandstand, the club had to get creative.

“We used to do these rabbit drives,” Strachan said.

“The whole club got together and worked and made this money … eventually we were able to put it together.”

The Orange Emus became one of the most successful clubs in the Central West Rugby Union competition, winning 17 first-grade titles.

The Wallabies will play NZ on Saturday afternoon.