1974 British Lions tour to South Africa
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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] Management
- Manager Alun Thomas (Wales)
- Coach Syd Millar (Ireland)
[edit] Backs
- JPR Williams (London Welsh and Wales)
- Andy Irvine (Heriots FP and Scotland)
- J.J. Williams (Llanelli and Wales)
- William Steele (Bedford and R.A.F. and Scotland)
- Clive Rees (London Welsh and Wales)
- Alan Morley (Bristol and England)
- Richard Milliken (Bangor and Ireland)
- Ian McGeechan (Headingley and Scotland)
- Roy Bergiers (Llanelli and Wales)
- Geoff Evans (Coventry and England)
- Mike Gibson (North of Ireland and Ireland)
- Phil Bennett (Llanelli and Wales)
- Alan Old (Leicester and England)
- Gareth Edwards (Cardiff and Wales)
- John Moloney (St. Mary's College and Ireland)
[edit] Forwards
- Willie John McBride (capt) (Ballymena and Ireland)
- Bobby Windsor (Pontypool and Wales)
- Ken Kennedy (London Irish and Ireland)
- Ian McLauchlan (Jordanhill College and Scotland)
- Sandy Carmichael (West of Scotland and Scotland)
- Fran Cotton (Coventry and England)
- Mike Burton (Gloucester and England)
- Chris Ralston (Richmond and England)
- Gordon Brown (West of Scotland and Scotland)
- Roger Uttley (Gosforth and England)
- Fergus Slattery (Blackrock College and Ireland)
- Stewart McKinney (Dungannon and Ireland)
- Tony Neary (Broughton Park and England)
- Andy Ripley (Rosslyn Park and England)
- Mervyn Davies (Swansea and Wales)
[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)
