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Story: Culture and recreation in the city

Winston McCarthy's rugby commentary, 1956

Audio file

Winston McCarthy was a legendary radio commentator in the 1950s. He commentated during the famous series between the All Blacks and the Springboks in 1956. The final and deciding test was in Auckland, when a crowd of over 50,000 crammed into the ground. Listen to McCarthy describing Don Clarke's penalty kick, which took New Zealand into an 11–0 lead. As was customary during these years, the four test matches in the series took place in the four main cities of New Zealand.

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Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Reference: 33780

Image: Alexander Turnbull Library, Eph-C-RUGBY-1958-01

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Culture and recreation in the city – Sport and recreation, 1900–1965, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/speech/25684/winston-mccarthys-rugby-commentary-1956 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 26 February 2010.