# 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa

The 1997 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was a series of matches played by the British & Irish Lions rugby union team in South Africa. This tour followed the Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand and preceded their 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. The much-anticipated tour was the first after the end of apartheid in South Africa, and the first British & Irish 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.
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 British & Irish 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 British & Irish 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 British & Irish 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 British & Irish 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) | 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.
| 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 ||