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. The much-anticipated tour was the first after the end of apartheid in South Africa, and the first British Lions tour since rugby union turned professional. It was only the third time that a touring side 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
Date	24 May – 5 July
Coach(es)	Ian McGeechan Jim Telfer
Tour captain(s)	Martin Johnson
Test series winners	British Lions (2–1)
Top test point scorer(s)	Neil Jenkins (41)
Lions' top point scorer(s)	Tim Stimpson (111)
Top test try scorer(s)	Matt Dawson (2)
Lions' top try scorer(s)	John Bentley (7) Tony Underwood (7)
← New Zealand 1993 Australia 2001 →

1997 British Lions tour to South Africa
Summary	P W D L
Total	13 11 00 02
Test match	03 02 00 01
Opponent	P W D L
South Africa	3 2 0 1

A documentary Living with Lions was produced and contains footage of players and coaching staff during and away from matches. This tour followed the Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand and preceded their 2001 tour to Australia.

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".

Test series

The British 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 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, with Lawrence Dallaglio putting in a try-saving tackle, and won the match 18–15 to take the series. The third test at Ellis Park was won by South Africa, 35–16.

The tour was a triumph for the British Lions management of Fran Cotton (manager), Ian McGeechan (head coach), Jim Telfer (assistant coach) and the captain Martin Johnson. It was the last time the Lions won a test series until their tour of Australia in 2013.

Lions squad

The original 35-man squad was:

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

Matches

Scores and results list British Lions' points tally first.^[1]

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

First Test

21 June 1997

South Africa	16–25	British 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)

FB 15 André Joubert RW 14 James Small OC 13 Japie Mulder IC 12 Edrich Lubbe  40' LW 11 André Snyman FH 10 Henry Honiball SH 9 Joost van der Westhuizen N8 8 Gary Teichmann (c) OF 7 André Venter BF 6 Ruben Kruger RL 5 Mark Andrews LL 4 Hannes Strydom TP 3 Adrian Garvey HK 2 Naka Drotské LP 1 Os du Randt Replacements: FB 16 Russell Bennett  40' FB 17 Boeta Wessels SH 18 Werner Swanepoel LK 19 Krynauw Otto HK 20 James Dalton PR 21 Dawie Theron Coach: Carel du Plessis

FB 15 Neil Jenkins RW 14 Ieuan Evans OC 13 Scott Gibbs IC 12 Jeremy Guscott LW 11 Alan Tait FH 10 Gregor Townsend SH 9 Matt Dawson N8 8 Tim Rodber OF 7 Richard Hill BF 6 Lawrence Dallaglio RL 5 Jeremy Davidson LL 4 Martin Johnson (c) TP 3 Paul Wallace HK 2 Keith Wood LP 1 Tom Smith  79' Replacements: PR 16 Jason Leonard  79' WG 17 John Bentley CE 18 Mike Catt SH 19 Austin Healey HK 20 Barry Williams FL 21 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)

FB 15 André Joubert RW 14 André Snyman OC 13 Percy Montgomery IC 12 Danie van Schalkwyk LW 11 Pieter Rossouw FH 10 Henry Honiball SH 9 Joost van der Westhuizen N8 8 Gary Teichmann (c) OF 7 André Venter BF 6 Ruben Kruger  50' RL 5 Mark Andrews LL 4 Hannes Strydom TP 3 Adrian Garvey  67' HK 2 Naka Drotské LP 1 Os du Randt Replacements: PR 16 Dawie Theron  67' LK 17 Fritz van Heerden  50' FB 18 Russell Bennett FB 19 Boeta Wessels SH 20 Werner Swanepoel HK 21 James Dalton Coach: Carel du Plessis

FB 15 Neil Jenkins RW 14 John Bentley OC 13 Scott Gibbs IC 12 Jeremy Guscott LW 11 Alan Tait  76' FH 10 Gregor Townsend SH 9 Matt Dawson N8 8 Tim Rodber  76' OF 7 Richard Hill  57' BF 6 Lawrence Dallaglio RL 5 Jeremy Davidson LL 4 Martin Johnson (c) TP 3 Paul Wallace HK 2 Keith Wood LP 1 Tom Smith Replacements: SH 16 Austin Healey  76' FL 17 Neil Back  57' N8 18 Eric Miller  76' CE 19 Mike Catt HK 20 Barry Williams PR 21 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)

FB 15 Russell Bennett RW 14 André Snyman OC 13 Percy Montgomery  53' IC 12 Danie van Schalkwyk LW 11 Pieter Rossouw FH 10 Jannie de Beer  71' SH 9 Joost van der Westhuizen  80' N8 8 Gary Teichmann (c)  73' OF 7 Rassie Erasmus BF 6 André Venter RL 5 Krynauw Otto LL 4 Hannes Strydom TP 3 Dawie Theron HK 2 James Dalton  69' LP 1 Os du Randt  63' Replacements: FH 16 Henry Honiball  53' WG 17 Justin Swart  71' SH 18 Werner Swanepoel  80' PR 19 Adrian Garvey  63' HK 20 Naka Drotské  69' LK 21 Fritz van Heerden  73' Coach: Carel du Plessis

FB 15 Neil Jenkins RW 14 John Bentley OC 13 Jeremy Guscott  40' IC 12 Scott Gibbs LW 11 Tony Underwood  30' FH 10 Mike Catt SH 9 Matt Dawson  80' N8 8 Lawrence Dallaglio OF 7 Neil Back BF 6 Rob Wainwright RL 5 Jeremy Davidson LL 4 Martin Johnson (c) TP 3 Paul Wallace HK 2 Mark Regan LP 1 Tom Smith Replacements: CE 16 Allan Bateman  40' FB 17 Tim Stimpson  30' SH 18 Austin Healey  80' FL 19 Richard Hill HK 20 Barry Williams PR 21 Dai Young Coach: Ian McGeechan