1974 British Lions tour to South Africa

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.

quad

Management

* Manager Alun Thomas (Wales)

* Coach Syd Millar (Ireland)

Backs

* JPR Williams (London Welsh and Wales)

* Andy Irvine (Heriot's FP and Scotland)

* Tom Grace (St Mary's College RFC and Ireland)

* 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 FC 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)

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)

* Tom David (Swansea and Wales)

* Tony Neary (Broughton Park and England)

* Andy Ripley (Rosslyn Park and England)

* Mervyn Davies (Swansea and Wales)

Results

The matches

First Test

rugbybox
date = June 8 1974
home = ru|RSA|1928
score = 3 – 12
away = BILru
homescore = Drop: Snyman
awayscore = Pen: Bennett (3)
Drop: Edwards
stadium =
attendance =
referee = M Baise flagicon|RSA

econd Test

rugbybox
date = June 22 1974
home = ru|RSA|1928
score = 9 – 28
away = BILru
homescore = Pen: Bosch (2)
Drop: Bosch
awayscore = Try: J.J. Williams (2)
Bennett
Brown
Milliken
Con: Bennett
Pen: Bennett
Drop: Ian McGeechan
stadium =
attendance = 63,000
referee = C de Bruyn flagicon|RSA

Third Test

rugbybox
date = July 13 1974
home = ru|RSA|1928
score = 9 – 26
away = BILru
homescore = Pen: Snyman
awayscore = Try: Brown
J.J. Williams (2)
Con: Irvine
Pen: Irvine (2)
Drop:Bennett (2)
stadium =
attendance = 55,000
referee = C de Bruyn flagicon|RSA

Fourth Test

rugbybox
date = July 27 1974
home = ru|RSA|1928
score = 13 – 13
away = BILru
homescore = Try: Cronje
Pen:Snyman (3)
awayscore = Try: Uttley
Irvine
Con Bennett
Pen: Irvine
stadium =
attendance = 75,000
referee = M Baise flagicon|RSA

References

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

External links

* http://www.lions-tour.com/history/southafrica1974.asp