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50 Years On - RFU Club Competition Success
Today marks the 50-year anniversary since Bedford Blues triumphed in the 1975 RFU Club Competition Final at Twickenham.
Described by many as the club’s finest hour of its illustrious history, Blues defeated Rosslyn Park 28-12 on Saturday 26th April 1975 to become the best club in the country and add the most prized possession of the day to the Blues’ trophy cabinet.
This was just the fourth season of the RFU national knockout competition and Blues had to battle through some difficult fixtures just to make it to the showpiece in the capital.
A comprehensive 66-6 away victory at Bournemouth was followed by home successes against Sale (23-3) and Gosforth (13-6), before Bedford edged a close semi-final against old rivals and Cup holders Coventry (12-6) at Goldington Road.
Unlike the previous rounds, the final was played in glorious conditions, favouring Bedford’s well-known expansive and free flowing attitude towards rugby.
It wasn’t going to be a simple afternoon, however, as Rosslyn Park made the short hop over to Twickenham on the back of their best ever season, both sides having won 30 meetings apiece from the previous 66.
Renowned for their forward power, Park – who boasted around a 6lb advantage per man compared to Bedford – started the contest brightest and scored after 20 minutes through left winger David McKay.
As the game wore on, Blues’ pack began to wrestle back the ascendency having endured the early onslaught and led at half-time through scores from two England internationals. A late try by left winger Derek Wyatt put Bedford on the scoreboard, converted by outside half Neil Bennett.
Bedford flew out of the traps in the second half and took the game away from their opponents in a fine 25-minute spell that included a further four tries, three of which were converted by the near faultless Bennett.
To start the procession, lock Bob Wilkinson took a high ball under pressure and set in motion a fine sweeping move that eventually saw tighthead prop Chris Bailward emphatically dive over for 12-6.
Right wing Bob Demming soon scored a double, the second of which converted, while loosehead prop Brian Keen also crossed the whitewash to surmount an unassailable 28-4 lead.
Park did grab two late tries, through right wing Rob Fisher and a second for McKay, but that did nothing to take the shine off Bedford’s triumphant afternoon in the capital.
It marked the perfect Twickenham swansong for former Lions legend, England captain and Blues record appearance holder, Budge Rogers, who marked his final appearance at rugby HQ with great aplomb.
Bedford Blues team that day: Tony Jorden*, Bob Demming, Richard Chadwick, John Howard, Derek Wyatt*, Neil Bennett*, Alun Lewis*; Brian Keen, Norman Barker, Chris Bailward, Clive Hooker, Bob Wilkinson*, Andy Hollins, Budge Rogers (c)*, Foster Edwards
Replacements: Chris Davies, Alistair Johnson, David Jackson, Guy Fletcher, Steve Wells, Brian Page
Coach: Patrick Briggs
*denotes full international
Reflecting on the game 50 years later, centre Richard Chadwick remembered: "We were a band of brothers really, it was an amateur game in our day and we were so privileged to be part of that at one of the finest rugby clubs in England, if not the finest."
You can hear more from Chadwick in our feature interview below.
