Rogers Jones & Co
Lot 18
JOE F KARAM | NEW ZEALAND | 1972****DESCRIPTION & ESTIMATE AMENDMENT: NOW (09.04.25) BELIEVED TO BE A LATER JERSEY**NOW BELIVED TO HAVE BEEN WORN BY CLIVE CURRIE (b.1955) ON 11th NOVEMBER 1978 - WALES V NEW ZEALAND AT CARDIFF ARMS PARK. CLIVE CURRIE SUFFERED A BROKEN JAW IN THIS MATCH SO WAS WITHDRAWN EARLY. The match was narrowly won by New Zealand 12-10 in a controversial match significant for a dive out of the line-out to fool the referee.Original Description as follows (now thought to be incorrect)Traditional All Blacks International Rugby Union jersey match-worn, in black with white collar, embroidered ‘silver fern’ and stitched number 15 to reverse, Canterbury label to inside collar. In good condition. To accompany, the player’s programme and dinner menu for Wales v New Zealand, 2nd December 1972, which is in excellent condition.Believed match-worn by Joseph Francis Karam (b.1951) against Wales in the 1972 match at Cardiff Arms Park. Swapped with JPR, Karam’s opposite number in this game. The match proved to be controversial, with New Zealand the narrow victors by three points – Wales 16, New Zealand 19, but with JPR going over the line for a disallowed try that may well have won Wales the match. JPR: "I was tackled a yard from the line but I went over under my own momentum with the ball under my right arm. It was a try, all right".Karam’s performance in this jersey enabled New Zealand to clinch the match as he scored five penalty goals, prop forward Keith Murdoch contributed with the All Blacks’ only try. Wales’ try was scored by wing, John Bevan after a 40 yard sprint.Keith Murdoch was later that night in an incident with a security guard at a Cardiff hotel, and the New Zealand team management sent him home in disgrace, though he was to get off the plane in Australia and disappear for several years.It was that unawarded try by JPR for which the match is most remembered, Referee ‘Johnnie’ Johnson had given Murdoch’s try, yet in almost similar circumstances he denied a score for JPR Williams, who he decided had not used momentum to cross the line. Memories were stirred of the famous ‘non-try’ not given by John Dallas and not scored by Bob Deans of the Original All Blacks, during that famous 1905 Wales v New Zealand match.On the second match of this New Zealand tour, Llanelli famously beat the tourists by 9-3 at Stradey Park on a day when ‘all the pubs ran dry’ and all Wales rejoiced.Joe Karam, of Lebanese descent, was born at Taumarunui on November 21, 1951. He played for Waikato and later Wellington and earned 10 test caps and played 16 matches for the All Blacks between 1972 and 1975. A reliable fullback, known for his strong kicking game, accurate goal kicking and tactical awareness. So methodical was Karam’s goal-kicking and touch-finding ability he was nicknamed 'Clock’.Karam transitioned to professional rugby league, playing for the Glenora Bears in Auckland before retiring from sports altogether. After sport, Karam is known for his many years of unqualified support for David Bain, who was convicted in 1995 of murdering all five members of his family. Karam's research and sustained pressure on the justice system culminated in an appeal to the Privy Council in Britain in May 2007, at which Bain's conviction was overturned. The Privy Council found there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice, quashed his convictions and ordered a retrial.Additional playing days images courtesy of Colorsport (Copyright)
