Coach Andre Markgraaff was fired in 1997 over a racial comment he made. Despite a successful career as a player, Markgraaff's replacement Carel du Plessis led the team to successive defeats in the British and Irish Lions 1997 tour and the 1997 Tri Nations Series. He was replaced later in 1997 by Nick Mallett, who went on to coach the unbeaten 1997 South Africa rugby union tour of Europe in late 1997. In 1998 Mallett and new captain Gary Teichmann tied the then-existing record of the 1965–69 All Blacks for longest Test winning streak, winning 17 consecutive Tests, including the 1998 Tri-Nations. In the same year, South Africa mourned as Christie's illness claimed his life.