1974 British Lions tour to South Africa

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In 1974 the British Lions toured South Africa, with matches in South West Africa and Rhodesia (which would become Namibia and Zimbabwe respectively). 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', in Port Elizabeth, one of the most violent matches in rugby history, there is famous video footage of JPR Williams running over half of the pitch and launching himself at Moaner van Heerden after such a call.

Contents 1 Squad 1.1 Management 1.2 Backline 1.3 Forwards 2 Results 3 The matches 3.1 First Test 3.2 Second Test 3.3 Third Test 3.4 Fourth Test 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Squad

[edit] Management

• Manager Alun Thomas (Wales)

• Coach Syd Millar (Ireland)

[edit] Backline

Fullbacks:

• JPR Williams (London Welsh and Wales)

• Andy Irvine (Heriot's FP and Scotland)

Wings:

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

• J.J. Williams (Llanelli and Wales)

• William Steele (Bedford and R.A.F. and Scotland)

• Alan Morley (Bristol and England)

Centres:

• Clive Rees (London Welsh and Wales)

• Richard Milliken (Bangor and Ireland)

• Ian McGeechan (Headingley and Scotland)

• Roy Bergiers (Llanelli and Wales)

• Geoff Evans (Coventry and England) as replacement

Flyhalves:

• Phil Bennett (Llanelli and Wales)

• Alan Old (Leicester and England)

• Mike Gibson (North of Ireland FC and Ireland) as replacement

Scrumhalves:

• Gareth Edwards (Cardiff and Wales)

• John Moloney (St. Mary's College and Ireland)

[edit] Forwards

Hookers

• Bobby Windsor (Pontypool and Wales)

• Ken Kennedy (London Irish and Ireland)

Props

• Ian McLauchlan (Jordanhill College and Scotland)

• Sandy Carmichael (West of Scotland and Scotland)

• Fran Cotton (Coventry and England)

• Mike Burton (Gloucester and England)

Locks

• Willie John McBride (capt) (Ballymena and Ireland)

• Chris Ralston (Richmond and England)

• Gordon Brown (West of Scotland and Scotland)

• Roger Uttley (Gosforth and England)

Loose Forwards

• Fergus Slattery (Blackrock College and Ireland)

• Stewart McKinney (Dungannon and Ireland)

• Tom David (Llanelli and Wales)

• Tony Neary (Broughton Park and England)

• Andy Ripley (Rosslyn Park and England)

• Mervyn Davies (Swansea and Wales)

[edit] Results

	Date	Opponent	Location	Result	Score
Match 1	May 15	Western Transvaal	Potchefstroom	Won	59-13
Match 2	May 18	South West Africa	Windhoek	Won	23-16
Match 3	May 22	Boland	Wellington	Won	23-6
Match 4	May 25	Eastern Province	Port Elizabeth	Won	28–14
Match 5	May 29	South West Districts	Mossel Bay	Won	97-0
Match 6	June 1	Western Province	Cape Town	Won	17-8
Match 7	June 4	SA Federation XV (Proteas)	Goodwood, Cape Town	Won	37-6
Match 8	June 8	SOUTH AFRICA	Cape Town	Won	12-3
Match 9	June 11	Southern Universities	Cape Town	Won	26-4
Match 10	June 15	Transvaal	Johannesburg	Won	23-15
Match 11	June 18	Rhodesia	Salisbury	Won	42–6
Match 12	June 22	SOUTH AFRICA	Pretoria	Won	28-9
Match 13	June 27	Quaggas	Johannesburg	Won	20–16
Match 14	June 29	Orange Free State	Bloemfontein	Won	11-9
Match 15	July 3	Griqualand West	Kimberley	Won	69-16
Match 16	July 6	Northern Transvaal	Pretoria	Won	16–12
Match 17	July 9	SA Africans (Leopards)	East London	Won	56–10
Match 18	July 13	SOUTH AFRICA	Port Elizabeth	Won	26–9
Match 19	July 17	Border	East London	Won	26–6
Match 20	July 20	Natal	Durban	Won	34–6
Match 21	July 23	Eastern Transvaal	Port Elizabeth	Won	33–10
Match 22	July 27	SOUTH AFRICA	Johannesburg	Draw	13-13

[edit] The matches

[edit] First Test

June 8 1974	South Africa	3 – 12	British and Irish Lions	Referee: M Baise
	Drop: Snyman		Pen: Bennett (3) Drop: Edwards

South Africa: Ian McCallam, Chris Pope, Johan Oosthuizen, Peter Whipp, Gert Muller, Dawie Snyman, Roy McCallum, Morne du Plessis, Jan Ellis, Boland Coetzee, John Williams, Kevin de Klerk, Hannes Marais (c), Piston van Wyk, Sakkie Sauerman

Lions: JPR Williams, Steele, Milliken, McGeechan, JJ Williams, Bennett, Edwards, Davies, Uttley, Slattery, Brown, McBride (c), Cotton, Windsor, McLauchlan

[edit] Second Test

June 22 1974	South Africa	9 – 28	British and Irish Lions	Attendance: 63,000 Referee: C de Bruyn
	Pen: Bosch (2) Drop: Bosch		Try: J.J. Williams (2) Bennett Brown Milliken Con: Bennett Pen: Bennett Drop: Ian McGeechan

South Africa: Ian McCallum (replaced Snyman, replaced Vogel), Chris Pope, Jackie Snyman, Peter Whipp, Gerrie Germishuys, Gerald Bosch, Paul Bayvel, Dugald MacDonald, Jan Ellis, Morne du Plessis, John Williams, Kevin de Klerk, Hannes Marais (c), Dave Frederickson, Nic Bezuidenhoudt

Lions: JPR Williams, Steele, Milliken, McGeechan, JJ Williams, Bennett, Edwards, Davies, Uttley, Slattery, Brown, McBride (c), Cotton, Windsor, McLauchlan

[edit] Third Test

July 13 1974	South Africa	9 – 26	British and Irish Lions	Attendance: 55,000 Referee: C de Bruyn
	Pen: Snyman		Try: Brown J.J. Williams (2) Con: Irvine Pen: Irvine (2) Drop:Bennett (2)

South Africa: Tonie Roux, Chris Pope, Peter Cronje, Jan Schlebusch, Gert Muller, Jackie Snyman, Gerrie Sonnekus, Klippies Kritzinger, Jan Ellis, Polla Fourie, Johan de Bruyn, Moaner van Heerden (replaced by De Klerk), Hannes Marais (c), Piston van Wyk, Nic Bezuidenhoudt

Lions: JPR Williams, Irvine, Milliken, McGeechan, JJ Wiliams, Bennett, Edwards, Davies, Uttley, Slattery, Brown, McBride (c), Cotton, Windsor, McLauchlan

[edit] Fourth Test

July 27 1974	South Africa	13 – 13	British and Irish Lions	Attendance: 75,000 Referee: M Baise
	Try: Cronje Pen:Snyman (3)		Try: Uttley Irvine Con Bennett Pen: Irvine

South Africa: Tonie Roux, Chris Pope, Peter Cronje, Jan Schlebusch, Gert Muller, Jackie Snyman, Paul Bayvel, Kleintjie Grobler, Jan Ellis, Klippies Kritzinger, John Williams, Moaner van Heerden, Hannes Marais (c), Piston van Wyk, Nic Bezuidenhoudt (replaced by Stander)

Lions: JPR Williams, Irvine, Milliken, McGeechan, JJ Williams, Bennett, Edwards, Davies, Uttley, Slattery, Ralston, McBride (c), Cotton, Windsor, McLauchlan

[edit] References

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

Jenkins, Vivian (1975). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1975-76. Brickfield Publications Limited. ISBN 0362002215. 

[edit] External links

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

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