The dapper young flyhalf helped upset the British and Irish Lions in his first match for Queensland and started wooing the love of his life on the same day.
That memorable day 50 years ago at Ballymore is not one that Geoff Richardson is ever likely to forget.
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Three of Queensland’s Lion tamers gathered on Wednesday at Ballymore to celebrate one of the greatest of rugby boilovers on May 12, 1971.
The moment was perfect to connect the deeds of lock Stu Gregory, 74, fullback Lloyd Graham, 71 and Richardson, 72, with the latest heroes of Queensland rugby. They were able to trade smiles and share stories with Bryce Hegarty, James O’Connor and coach Brad Thorn before the Reds’ first team run since their Super Rugby AU triumph last weekend.
“Queenslanders love winners. To have done so well this season and in the style they did it is such a positive you’ll see as many fans for the next game against the Crusaders (on May 22),” Gregory said.
“The atmosphere at that final was absolutely brilliant. Whether you were 70-years-old or seven it was something to behold.”
Memories are still fresh from that remarkable day in 1971 when Barry Honan’s Queenslanders toppled Lions luminaries Willie John McBride, Mike Gibson, David Duckham, Ian "Mighty Mouse" McLauchlan, captain John Dawes and co.
All of Queensland's 1971 points in that 15-11 stunner came from the boot on a midweek afternoon when city workers went AWOL in suits and ties to cheer their unexpected heroes.
“It was my first game for Queensland. I was from country NSW but got picked for Queensland while based with the army in Townsville,” Richardson said.
The day had drama even before the kick-off with police at the car park gate stalling several vehicles from entry because they didn’t recognise the Queensland players inside.
The team had a steak lunch together pre-match at Brisbane’s Belfast Hotel and embarked in a convoy of private cars to the game.
The late Jeff McLean remembered pulling beers in his father's pub on the morning of the game before tossing his gear together to play on the wing.
"There was such a traffic jam that the coppers stopped us at the gate at Ballymore and weren't going to let our car in,'' McLean once told me.
"(Reserve flanker) Jules Guerassimoff was with me and said to the policeman: 'Have you ever seen this many people riot? No, but you will, because we're the players'.''
The crowd was estimated at 12,000 at the kick-off.
It was a promotion that suited that era when young Sue Francis performed the ceremonially kick-off as Queensland’s Miss Rugby 1971.
At the post-match function, Richardson and Miss Francis got to chatting.
About kicking...we are not so sure.
“I don’t think Geoff’s line was as corny as ‘I can kick the ball better than you’ but we met and three years later we were married,” Sue said with a smile.
Sue still has that maroon Miss Rugby 1971 sash and brought it out on Wednesday.
There was a tinge of sadness for her amongst the laughs and retelling of tales.
“We had our wedding reception in the Murrayfield Room at Ballymore and there it is being knocked down. I’ll turn my head,” she said as the heavy machinery thumped away at the bones of the old grandstand.
Honan’s gutsy band of men in maroon became the first Australian state side to topple the mighty Lions.
Graham was a particular hero. He kicked two field goals. The second, a monster from near halfway, has become the stuff of legend.
“It got longer by the telling until I'd kicked it from over the creek in Finsbury Park,'' Graham quipped.
“I was taught to kick field goals so it didn’t surprise me when it went over.
“We knew how good the Lions were, they nearly scored from the kick-off and they had the best pack in the world as they proved by winning the Test series in New Zealand that followed.
“We just didn’t give them too much room to move so our forward pack deserved a lot of the credit for a great win.”
For decades, Queensland rugby displayed a prized symbol of that day in the trophy cabinet outside the old Murrayfield Room or on the upstairs bar of the Queensland Rugby Club. It's still proudly held at Ballymore.
It is the stuffed lion mascot that Dawes presented post-match.
“They had their stuffed lion to present to the first team that beat them on tour,” Graham recalled.
“The Lions weren't planning to lose any yet they were handing it to us after the first game before they even got to New Zealand.”
How sweet a victory.
Honan was granted a day off for the match and was back teaching maths and physics at Marist College Ashgrove the next day.
The win was a huge finale to his representative career.
"I didn't drink. The first drink of alcohol on my lips was a champagne in the dressing room after that win,'' Honan recalled.
"To be honest, it was probably the highlight of my rugby career. They were the true amateur days, I was back at work the next day and got a bill from the Queensland Rugby Union a few weeks later for three jerseys I'd swapped with opponents.''
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The Lions tried to explain away the aberration as a combination of jetlag, the heat, diabolical scheduling, rustiness and minds elsewhere before the serious stuff against the All Blacks. Honan will have none of it.
“I've heard the whinging,” he said. “There's no way they took Queensland easy with 10 or so Wallabies in the team.
“We thought we could be competitive but I don't think we imagined beating the team that became the first Lions team to win a series in NZ for more than 100 years.”
The Queensland backrow was superb that day through Rod Kelleher, Mick Flynn and Keith Bell.
The rugby themes stay the same. Fraser McReight, Angus Scott-Young, Harry Wilson, Liam Wright and Seru Uru have been supreme as a backrow force in 2021.
