1997 British Lions tour to South Africa - Definition and Overview

The 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa was the first after the end of apartheid in that country. The Springboks had won the 1995 Rugby Union World Cup. This tour was the first of the professional era, and the Lions' victory

The Lions squad was captained by Martin Johnson, and managed by Fran Cotton, and coached by Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer. The Lions won the series 2-1.

Lions Squad

The origninal 35 man squad was:

• Captain and second row

• • Martin Johnson (Leicester and England).
• Full backs
  • Neil Jenkins (Pontypridd and Wales).
  • Tim Stimpson (Newcastle and England).
• Wingers
  • Nick Beal (Northampton and England).
  • John Bentley (Newcastle and England)
  • Ieuan Evans (Llanelli and Wales).
  • Tony Underwood (Newcastle and England)
• Centres
  • Allan Bateman (Richmond and Wales).
  • Scott Gibbs (Swansea and Wales).
  • Will Greenwood (Leicester).
  • Jeremy Guscott (Bath and England).
  • Alan Tait (Newcastle and Scotland)
• Fly-halves
  • Paul Grayson (Northampton and England).
  • Gregor Townsend (Northampton and Scotland).
• Scrum-halves
  • Matt Dawson (Northampton and England)
  • Austin Healey (Leicester and England)
  • Rob Howley (Cardiff and Wales).
• Props
  • Peter Clohessy (Queensland and Ireland).
  • Jason Leonard (Harlequins and England).
  • Graham Rowntree (Leicester and England).
  • Tom Smith (Watsonians and Scotland)
  • David Young (Cardiff and Wales).
• Hookers
  • Mark Regan (Bristol and England)
  • Barrie Williams (Neath and Wales)
  • Keith Wood (Harlequins and Ireland).
• Second Row
  • Jeremy Davidson (London Irish and Ireland).
  • Simon Shaw (Bristol and England).
  • Doddie Weir (Newcastle and Scotland).
• Back Row
  • Neil Back (Leicester and England).
  • Lawrence Dallaglio (Wasps and England).
  • Richard Hill (Saracens and England).
  • Eric Miller (Leicester and Ireland).
  • Scott Quinnell (Richmond and Wales)
  • Tim Rodber (Northampton & England)
  • Rob Wainwright (Watsonians and Scotland).

Matches

• May 24 Eastern Province XV 11 British Lions 39 (Port Elizabeth)
• May 28 Border 14 Lions 18 (East London)
• May 31 Western Province 21 British Lions 38 (Cape Town)
• June 4 Mpumalanga 14 Lions 64 (Witbank)
• June 7 Northern Transvaal 35 Lions 30 (Pretoria)
• June 11 Gauteng Lions 14 Lions 20 (Johannesburg)
• June 14 Natal 12 Lions 42 (Durban)
• June 17 Emerging Springboks 22 Lions 51 (Wellington)

First Test

• 21 1st TEST: South Africa 16 Lions 25(Cape Town)

• Planet-Rugby stats (http://www.planet-rugby.com/stats/matchreport/index.phtml/p_r/ENG?tm1Code=SA&tm2Code=BI&date=21-Jun-1997&tournament_code=international&setCode=&navCode=results)

South Africa: 15. Joubert 14. Small 13. Mulder 12. Lubbe 11. Snyman 10. Honiball 9. van der Westhuizen 1 du Randt 2 Drotske 3 Garvey 4 Andrews 5 Strydom 6 Kruger 7 Venter 8 Teichmann (capt). Replacements: Bennett (Unused: Dalton, Otto, Swanepoel, Theron, Wessels)

British Lions. 15 Jenkins; 14. Evans 13. Guscott, 12 Gibbs, 11. Tait 10. Townsend, 9 Dawson. 1. Smith, 2 Wood 3. Wallace, 4. Johnson (capt), 5. Davidson; 6. Dallaglio, 7. Hill, 8. Rodber

Referee: Colin Hawke (New Zealand)