1997 British Lions tour to South Africa

Last updated

1997 British Lions tour to South Africa
Date24 May – 5 July
Coach(es) Flag of Scotland.svg Ian McGeechan
Flag of Scotland.svg Jim Telfer
Tour captain(s) Flag of England.svg Martin Johnson
Test series winners British Lions (2–1)
Top test point scorer(s) Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Neil Jenkins (41)
Lions' top point scorer(s) Flag of England.svg Tim Stimpson (111)
Top test try scorer(s) Flag of England.svg Matt Dawson (2)
Lions' top try scorer(s) Flag of England.svg John Bentley (7)
Flag of England.svg Tony Underwood (7)
1997 British Lions tour to South Africa
Summary
PWDL
Total
13 110002
Test match
03020001
Opponent
PWDL
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
3 2 0 1

The 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa was a series of matches played by the British Lions rugby union team in South Africa. This tour followed the Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand and preceded their 2001 tour to Australia. The much-anticipated tour was the first after the end of apartheid in South Africa, and the first Lions tour since rugby union turned professional. It was only the third time that a touring side had won a test series in South Africa; the others being the 1974 Lions and the 1996 All Blacks. [1]

Contents

A documentary Living with Lions was produced and contains footage of players and coaching staff during and away from matches.

Pre-tour prospects

South Africa had won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, but were in decline at the time of the tour. The inaugural Tri Nations in 1996 had been comfortably won by New Zealand with South Africa winning only one of their four matches in the tournament. There was also some disarray in the management of the game in South Africa with the resignation of the coach Andre Markgraaff and the acrimonious replacement of the World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar. Nevertheless, the Lions were seen to be underdogs – for example an editorial in the South African sports magazine "SA Sports Illustrated" said "The British Lions arrived in South Africa rated – by their own media, South African media and supporters – as nothing more than rank underdogs. A nice bunch of blokes who were making a bit of history and, in so doing, winning friends rather than matches".

The results

The Lions won the first test at Newlands 25–16 with Neil Jenkins kicking five penalties, and Matt Dawson and Alan Tait scoring tries. Despite scoring three tries in the second test at Durban, the Springboks suffered from some woeful goalkicking and failed to land any penalties or conversions, while the Lions Neil Jenkins once again kicked five penalties to level the scores at 15–15 before a Jerry Guscott drop goal for an 18–15 lead for the Lions. The Lions then held off a ferocious South African fightback, Lawrence Dallaglio putting in a magnificent try-saving tackle, to win the match 18–15 and take the series. The third test at Ellis Park proved a match too far for the Lions squad and they lost 35–16.

The tour was a triumph for the Lions management of Fran Cotton (manager), Ian McGeechan (head coach), Jim Telfer (assistant coach) and especially the Captain Martin Johnson. It was the last occasion on which the Lions returned victorious from a tour until the victorious tour of Australia in 2013.

Lions squad

The original 35-man squad was:

NamePositionClubHome NationNotes
Martin Johnson (c)Lock Leicester Flag of England.svg England
Neil Jenkins Fullback Pontypridd Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales
Tim Stimpson Fullback Newcastle Flag of England.svg England
Nick Beal Wing Northampton Flag of England.svg England
John Bentley Wing Newcastle Flag of England.svg England
Ieuan Evans Wing Llanelli Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales
Tony Underwood Wing Newcastle Flag of England.svg England
Allan Bateman Centre Richmond Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales
Scott Gibbs Centre Swansea Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales
Will Greenwood Centre Leicester Flag of England.svg England
Jeremy Guscott Centre Bath Flag of England.svg England
Alan Tait Centre Newcastle Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
Paul Grayson Fly-half Northampton Flag of England.svg England
Gregor Townsend Fly-half Northampton Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
Matt Dawson Scrum-half Northampton Flag of England.svg England
Austin Healey Scrum-half Leicester Flag of England.svg England
Rob Howley Scrum-half Cardiff Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales
Paul Wallace Prop Saracens IRFU flag.svg Ireland Replaced the injured Peter Clohessy before the start of the tour
Jason Leonard Prop Harlequins Flag of England.svg England
Graham Rowntree Prop Leicester Flag of England.svg England
Tom Smith Prop Watsonians Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
Dai Young Prop Cardiff Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales
Mark Regan Hooker Bristol Flag of England.svg England
Barry Williams Hooker Neath Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales
Keith Wood Hooker Harlequins IRFU flag.svg Ireland
Jeremy Davidson Lock London Irish IRFU flag.svg Ireland
Simon Shaw Lock Bristol Flag of England.svg England
Doddie Weir Lock Newcastle Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
Neil Back Back row Leicester Flag of England.svg England
Lawrence Dallaglio Back row Wasps Flag of England.svg England
Richard Hill Back row Saracens Flag of England.svg England
Eric Miller Back row Leicester IRFU flag.svg Ireland
Scott Quinnell Back row Richmond Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales
Tim Rodber Back row Northampton Flag of England.svg England
Rob Wainwright Back row Watsonians Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
Tony Stanger Wing Hawick Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland Later addition to the tour
Mike Catt Fly-half Bath Flag of England.svg England Later addition to the tour
Kyran Bracken Scrum-half Saracens Flag of England.svg England Later addition to the tour
Tony Diprose Back row Saracens Flag of England.svg England Later addition to the tour
Nigel Redman Lock Bath Flag of England.svg England Later addition to the tour

Matches

Scores and results list British Lions' points tally first. [1]
DateOpponentVenueResultScore
24 May Eastern Province XV Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port ElizabethWon39–11
28 May Border Basil Kenyon Stadium, East LondonWon18–14
31 May Western Province Newlands, Cape TownWon38–21
4 June Mpumalanga Johann van Riebeeck Stadium, WitbankWon64–14
7 June Northern Transvaal Loftus Versfeld, PretoriaLost30–35
11 June Gauteng Lions Ellis Park, JohannesburgWon20–14
14 June Sharks King's Park, DurbanWon42–12
17 June Emerging Springboks Boland Stadium, WellingtonWon51–22
21 June South Africa Newlands, Cape TownWon25–16
24 June Free State Free State Stadium, BloemfonteinWon52–30
28 June South Africa King's Park, DurbanWon18–15
1 July Northern Free State Noord-wes Stadium, WelkomWon67–39
5 July South Africa Ellis Park, JohannesburgLost16–35

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

5 July 1997
South Africa  Flag of South Africa.svg35–16British and Irish Lions flag with no Lion.svg  British Lions
Try: Van der Westhuizen
Montgomery
Snyman
Rossouw
Con: De Beer (2)
Honiball
Pen: De Beer (3)
Report Try: Dawson
Con: Jenkins
Pen: Jenkins(3)
Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
Attendance: 62,000
Referee: Wayne Erickson (Australia)
FB15 Russell Bennett
RW14 André Snyman
OC13 Percy Montgomery Sub off.svg 53'
IC12 Danie van Schalkwyk
LW11 Pieter Rossouw
FH10 Jannie de Beer Sub off.svg 71'
SH9 Joost van der Westhuizen Sub off.svg 80'
N88 Gary Teichmann (c)Sub off.svg 73'
OF7 Rassie Erasmus
BF6 André Venter
RL5 Krynauw Otto
LL4 Hannes Strydom
TP3 Dawie Theron
HK2 James Dalton Sub off.svg 69'
LP1 Os du Randt Sub off.svg 63'
Replacements:
FH16 Henry Honiball Sub on.svg 53'
WG17 Justin Swart Sub on.svg 71'
SH18 Werner Swanepoel Sub on.svg 80'
PR19 Adrian Garvey Sub on.svg 63'
HK20 Naka Drotské Sub on.svg 69'
LK21 Fritz van Heerden Sub on.svg 73'
Coach:
Flag of South Africa.svg Carel du Plessis
FB15 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Neil Jenkins
RW14 Flag of England.svg John Bentley
OC13 Flag of England.svg Jeremy Guscott Sub off.svg 40'
IC12 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Scott Gibbs
LW11 Flag of England.svg Tony Underwood Sub off.svg 30'
FH10 Flag of England.svg Mike Catt
SH9 Flag of England.svg Matt Dawson Sub off.svg 80'
N88 Flag of England.svg Lawrence Dallaglio
OF7 Flag of England.svg Neil Back
BF6 Flag of Scotland.svg Rob Wainwright
RL5 IRFU flag.svg Jeremy Davidson
LL4 Flag of England.svg Martin Johnson (c)
TP3 IRFU flag.svg Paul Wallace
HK2 Flag of England.svg Mark Regan
LP1 Flag of Scotland.svg Tom Smith
Replacements:
CE16 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Allan Bateman Sub on.svg 40'
FB17 Flag of England.svg Tim Stimpson Sub on.svg 30'
SH18 Flag of England.svg Austin Healey Sub on.svg 80'
FL19 Flag of England.svg Richard Hill
HK20 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Barry Williams
PR21 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Dai Young
Coach:
Flag of Scotland.svg Ian McGeechan

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References

  1. 1 2 Mick Cleary and John Griffiths, ed. (1997). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1997–98. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN   0-7472-7732-X.