British and Irish Lions Tour, South Africa 1974
Against a Backdrop of Apartheid, '74 Lions Become the Invincibles
May 27, 2009
The 1974 Lions left Britain to tour South Africa despite massed demonstrations from opponents of Apartheid and despite condemnation from the British government who put pressure on them not to go.
The 2009 Lions tour will last 6 weeks and 10 matches, but in these pre-professional times tours were marathons. The British Lions would play 22 matches and would be away from home for three and a half months. When they returned, they would be heroes, acclaimed by the same government who disowned them at the beginning.
British Lions 1974 First Test, Cape Town
The Lions had played and comfortably won seven games prior to the first test at a very wet Newlands, where the pitch was more reminiscent of a January game in Pontypridd than a test match on the Cape.
The conditions decided the style of rugby and the Lions shocked the Springboks by dominating their forwards. They destroyed the Springbok scrum, shunting them back yards.
Despite this dominance, the game was tied 3-3 at half time, but the Lions pulled ahead after the break, with two penalties by Phil Bennett and a snap drop goal from Gareth Edwards. The final score was a12-Lions victory.
British Lions 1974 2nd Test, Pretoria
The defeat in the first test sent the ‘Boks into panic and they made wholesale changes to the team for the 2nd test. Six new caps were selected, with another being awarded off the bench.
Such an inexperienced side had no change against a Lions team of this quality and they were hammered 28-9, The Lions forwards had set the scene by dominating the Springbok pack, but it was the backs who set the game alight, with Phil Bennett scoring a scintillating try and JJ Williams getting the first two of the four test tries he scored in 1974.
British Lions 1974 3rd Test, Port Elizabeth
The Lions cemented their place in history with another comfortable win at Port Elizabeth. The Springboks again handed out debuts like confetti, but this time decided to try and intimidate the Lions.
This Lions pack, with players like Fergus Slattery, Fran Cotton, and Bobby Windsor and led by legend Willie John McBride, simply didn’t get intimidated and after some ugly scenes which saw the Lions infamous ‘99’ call utilised, the Lions ran away with the game.
They scored three tries, one by Scottish lock Gordon Brown and two by JJ Williams to add to his brace in the 2nd test.
The final score was 26-9 with the Springboks again having failed to score a try.
British Lions 1974 4th Test, Johannesburg
The series may have gone, but the Springboks were desperate to salvage some pride from a series that had shaken South African machismo to the core. The Lions, on the other hand, were coming to the end of a long and arduous tour with the series already won. Half the squad had already left for home and the other half were struggling with their focus.
The referee for the match was South African Max Baise who had also refereed the Cape Town test. Baise did the Lions a huge favour, awarding a try when a loose ball went over the line and Roger Uttley appeared to have dived on it. It was subsequently shown that Uttley didn't ground the ball.
This game was much closer than the others and although the Lions scored two tries, the Springboks also managed to score their first of the series and with seconds left, the scores were level.
Desperate to retain their 100% record, the Lions launched a final attack. JPR Williams made a break and just short of the line he passed to Fergus Slattery who dived over the line. Baise decided the ball had not been grounded and blew the final whistle for a 13-13 draw.
The 1974 Lions had become the only Lions team to go through a tour unbeaten.
The first game of the 2009 British Lions tour is on May 31st
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