1997 British Lions tour to South Africa

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]

1997 British Lions tour to South Africa
Date24 May – 5 July
Coach(es) Ian McGeechan
Jim Telfer
Tour captain(s) Martin Johnson
Test series winnersBritish Lions (2–1)
Top test point scorer(s) Neil Jenkins (41)
Top point scorer(s) Tim Stimpson (111)
Top test try scorer(s) Matt Dawson (2)
Top try scorer(s) John Bentley (7)
Tony Underwood (7)

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:

Name Position Club Home Nation Notes
Martin Johnson (c)LockLeicester England
Neil JenkinsFullbackPontypridd Wales
Tim StimpsonFullbackNewcastle England
Nick BealWingNorthampton England
John BentleyWingNewcastle England
Ieuan EvansWingLlanelli Wales
Tony UnderwoodWingNewcastle England
Allan BatemanCentreRichmond Wales
Scott GibbsCentreSwansea Wales
Will GreenwoodCentreLeicester England
Jeremy GuscottCentreBath England
Alan TaitCentreNewcastle Scotland
Paul GraysonFly-halfNorthampton England
Gregor TownsendFly-halfNorthampton Scotland
Matt DawsonScrum-halfNorthampton England
Austin HealeyScrum-halfLeicester England
Rob HowleyScrum-halfCardiff Wales
Paul WallacePropSaracens IrelandReplaced the injured Peter Clohessy before the start of the tour
Jason LeonardPropHarlequins England
Graham RowntreePropLeicester England
Tom SmithPropWatsonians Scotland
Dai YoungPropCardiff Wales
Mark ReganHookerBristol England
Barry WilliamsHookerNeath Wales
Keith WoodHookerHarlequins Ireland
Jeremy DavidsonLockLondon Irish Ireland
Simon ShawLockBristol England
Doddie WeirLockNewcastle Scotland
Neil BackBack rowLeicester England
Lawrence DallaglioBack rowWasps England
Richard HillBack rowSaracens England
Eric MillerBack rowLeicester Ireland
Scott QuinnellBack rowRichmond Wales
Tim RodberBack rowNorthampton England
Rob WainwrightBack rowWatsonians Scotland
Tony StangerWingHawick ScotlandLater addition to the tour
Mike CattFly-halfBath EnglandLater addition to the tour
Kyran BrackenScrum-halfSaracens EnglandLater addition to the tour
Tony DiproseBack rowSaracens EnglandLater addition to the tour
Nigel RedmanLockBath EnglandLater addition to the tour

Matches

Scores and results list British Lions's points tally first.[1]
Date Opponent Venue Result Score
Match 1 24 May Eastern Province XV Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth Won 39–11
Match 2 28 May Border Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London Won 18–14
Match 3 31 May Western Province Newlands, Cape Town Won 38–21
Match 4 4 June Mpumalanga Johann van Riebeeck Stadium, Witbank Won 64–14
Match 5 7 June Northern Transvaal Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Lost 30–35
Match 6 11 June Gauteng Lions Ellis Park, Johannesburg Won 20–14
Match 7 14 June Sharks King's Park, Durban Won 42–12
Match 8 17 June Emerging Springboks Boland Stadium, Wellington Won 51–22
Match 9 21 June South Africa Newlands, Cape Town Won 25–16
Match 10 24 June Free State Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Won 52–30
Match 11 28 June South Africa King's Park, Durban Won 18–15
Match 12 1 July Northern Free State Noord-wes Stadium, Welkom Won 67–39
Match 13 5 July South Africa Ellis Park, Johannesburg Lost 16–35

First Test

21 June 1997
South Africa  16–25 British and Irish Lions
Try: Du Randt 23' m
Bennett 44' m
Pen: Lubbe (1/1) 3'
Honiball (1/1) 50'
Report Try: Dawson 73' m
Tait 79' m
Pen: Jenkins (5/6) 6', 33', 35', 43', 62'
Newlands Stadium, Cape Town
Referee: Colin Hawke (New Zealand)
FB15André Joubert
RW14James Small
OC13Japie Mulder
IC12Edrich Lubbe 40'
LW11André Snyman
FH10Henry Honiball
SH9Joost van der Westhuizen
N88Gary Teichmann (c)
OF7André Venter
BF6Ruben Kruger
RL5Mark Andrews
LL4Hannes Strydom
TP3Adrian Garvey
HK2Naka Drotské
LP1Os du Randt
Replacements:
FB16Russell Bennett 40'
FB17Boeta Wessels
SH18Werner Swanepoel
LK19Krynauw Otto
HK20James Dalton
PR21Dawie Theron
Coach:
Carel du Plessis
FB15 Neil Jenkins
RW14 Ieuan Evans
OC13 Scott Gibbs
IC12 Jeremy Guscott
LW11 Alan Tait
FH10 Gregor Townsend
SH9 Matt Dawson
N88 Tim Rodber
OF7 Richard Hill
BF6 Lawrence Dallaglio
RL5 Jeremy Davidson
LL4 Martin Johnson (c)
TP3 Paul Wallace
HK2 Keith Wood
LP1 Tom Smith 79'
Replacements:
PR16 Jason Leonard 79'
WG17 John Bentley
CE18 Mike Catt
SH19 Austin Healey
HK20 Barry Williams
FL21 Rob Wainwright
Coach:
Ian McGeechan

Second Test

28 June 1997
South Africa  15–18 British Lions
Try: Van der Westhuizen
Montgomery
Joubert
Report Pen: Jenkins (5)
Drop: Guscott
Kings Park Stadium, Durban
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Didier Mene (France)
FB15André Joubert
RW14André Snyman
OC13Percy Montgomery
IC12Danie van Schalkwyk
LW11Pieter Rossouw
FH10Henry Honiball
SH9Joost van der Westhuizen
N88Gary Teichmann (c)
OF7André Venter
BF6Ruben Kruger 50'
RL5Mark Andrews
LL4Hannes Strydom
TP3Adrian Garvey 67'
HK2Naka Drotské
LP1Os du Randt
Replacements:
PR16Dawie Theron 67'
LK17Fritz van Heerden 50'
FB18Russell Bennett
FB19Boeta Wessels
SH20Werner Swanepoel
HK21James Dalton
Coach:
Carel du Plessis
FB15 Neil Jenkins
RW14 John Bentley
OC13 Scott Gibbs
IC12 Jeremy Guscott
LW11 Alan Tait 76'
FH10 Gregor Townsend
SH9 Matt Dawson
N88 Tim Rodber 76'
OF7 Richard Hill 57'
BF6 Lawrence Dallaglio
RL5 Jeremy Davidson
LL4 Martin Johnson (c)
TP3 Paul Wallace
HK2 Keith Wood
LP1 Tom Smith
Replacements:
SH16 Austin Healey 76'
FL17 Neil Back 57'
N818 Eric Miller 76'
CE19 Mike Catt
HK20 Barry Williams
PR21 Jason Leonard
Coach:
Ian McGeechan

Third Test

5 July 1997
South Africa  35–16 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)
FB15Russell Bennett
RW14André Snyman
OC13Percy Montgomery 53'
IC12Danie van Schalkwyk
LW11Pieter Rossouw
FH10Jannie de Beer 71'
SH9Joost van der Westhuizen 80'
N88Gary Teichmann (c) 73'
OF7Rassie Erasmus
BF6André Venter
RL5Krynauw Otto
LL4Hannes Strydom
TP3Dawie Theron
HK2James Dalton 69'
LP1Os du Randt 63'
Replacements:
FH16Henry Honiball 53'
WG17Justin Swart 71'
SH18Werner Swanepoel 80'
PR19Adrian Garvey 63'
HK20Naka Drotské 69'
LK21Fritz van Heerden 73'
Coach:
Carel du Plessis
FB15 Neil Jenkins
RW14 John Bentley
OC13 Jeremy Guscott 40'
IC12 Scott Gibbs
LW11 Tony Underwood 30'
FH10 Mike Catt
SH9 Matt Dawson 80'
N88 Lawrence Dallaglio
OF7 Neil Back
BF6 Rob Wainwright
RL5 Jeremy Davidson
LL4 Martin Johnson (c)
TP3 Paul Wallace
HK2 Mark Regan
LP1 Tom Smith
Replacements:
CE16 Allan Bateman 40'
FB17 Tim Stimpson 30'
SH18 Austin Healey 80'
FL19 Richard Hill
HK20 Barry Williams
PR21 Dai Young
Coach:
Ian McGeechan

References

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