1974 British Lions tour to South Africa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1974 the British Lions toured South Africa. The tour was a great success, the Lions winning 21 of their 22 matches and drawing the other. After winning the first three test matches, the Lions drew the final test to preserve their unbeaten record. The side was captained by Willie John McBride, coached by Syd Millar and managed by Alun Thomas.

The best known and most successful Lions team was that which toured South Africa in 1974 under the esteemed Irish forward Willie John McBride, that went 22 games unbeaten and triumphed 3-0, with one drawn, in the test series. The test series was beset by violence. The management of the Lions concluded that the Springboks dominated their opponents with physical aggression. At that time, in test matches the referee was from the home nation, there were only substitutions if a doctor agreed that a player was physically unable to continue and there were no video cameras and sideline officials to keep actions such as punching, kicking, and head-butting to a minimum. The Lions decided "to get their retaliation in first" with the infamous '99 call' (99 is a shortening of 999 which in Britain and Ireland is the phone number for the emergency services such as the police, ambulance or fire brigade). The idea was that a South African referee would be unlikely to send off all of the Lions if they all retaliated against "blatant thuggery". At the battle of Boet Erasmus Stadium, one of the most violent in rugby history, there is famous video footage of JPR Williams running over half of the pitch and launching himself at van Heerden after such a call.

Contents

[edit] Squad

[edit] Backs

  • William Steele (Bedford and R.A.F. and Scotland)
  • Alan Morley (Bristol and England)
  • Richard Milliken (Bangor and Ireland)
  • Geoff Evans (Coventry and England)
  • Alan Old (Leicester and England)

[edit] Forwards

  • Chris Ralston (Richmond and England)
  • Stewart McKinney (Dungannon and Ireland)
  • Tony Neary (Broughton Park and England)

[edit] Results

Lions 59-13 Western Transvaal
Lions 23-16 South West Africa
Lions 33-6 Boland
Lions 28-14 Eastern Province
Lions 97-0 South West Districts
Lions 17-8 Western Province
Lions 37-6 Proteas
Lions 12-3 South Africa (Cape Town)
Lions 26-4 Southern Universities
Lions 23-15 Transvaal
Lions 42-6 Rhodesia
Lions 28-9 South Africa (Pretoria)
Lions 20-16 Quaggas
Lions 11-9 Orange Free State
Lions 69-16 Griqualand West
Lions 16-12 Northern Transvaal
Lions 56-10 SA Leopards
Lions 26-9 South Africa (Port Elizabeth)
Lions 26-6 Border
Lions 34-6 Natal
Lions 33-10 Eastern Transvaal
Lions 13-13 South Africa (Johannesburg)

[edit] References

J.B.G. Thomas (1974) The greatest Lions (Pelham Books)

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../1/9/7/1974_British_Lions_tour_to_South_Africa_16dc.html"