Men of the Silver Fern - Trouble in the Engine Room (1925 - 1956)

We tried to play it open, we tried to play it decent.

– Kiwis coach Charlie Saxton

New Zealand was in a state of mania in 1956 … the public was urged to hate the Springboks.

– Terry McLean

You could play with them [servicemen] one week and perhaps a week or a month later they wouldn’t be there in the team. One had it [war] brought home to oneself very very vividly by the fact you might be wearing their boots.

– Sir David Beattie on the effects of war, while playing in the NZ Services side

You were either going to be chucked into the scrap heap, or you were going to become a famous All Black.

– Peter Jones on what was at stake playing South Africa at home in 1956

A lot of the chaps I played with had very little, a lot of the chaps I toured with had very little. These were sad years, and at the same time the friendship and comradeship and also the incentive was still there: it was still a great game, and it was still a great honour to be picked for club, your province or your country … irrespective of the depression.

– Sir Harcourt Caughey on playing rugby during the depression