1997 British Lions tour to South Africa

1997 British & Irish 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 and Irish Lions (2–1)
Top test point scorer(s)	Neil Jenkins (41)
Top point scorer(s)	Tim Stimpson (111)
Top test try scorer(s)	Matt Dawson (2)
Top try scorer(s)	John Bentley (7); Tony Underwood (7)
	← New Zealand 1993 Australia 2001 →

The 1997 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was a series of matches played by the British Lions rugby union team in South Africa. This tour followed the Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand and preceded their 2001 tour to Australia. The much-anticipated tour was the first after the end of apartheid in South Africa, and the first 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.^[1]

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 Lions convincingly 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 goal kicking 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 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 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 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 (Capt.)	Second Row	Leicester	England
Neil Jenkins	Full back	Pontypridd	Wales
Tim Stimpson	Full back	Newcastle	England
Nick Beal	Winger	Northampton	England
John Bentley	Winger	Newcastle	England
Ieuan Evans	Winger	Llanelli	Wales
Tony Underwood	Winger	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	Scrumhalf	Northampton	England
Austin Healey	Scrumhalf	Leicester	England
Rob Howley	Scrumhalf	Cardiff	Wales
Paul Wallace	Prop	Saracens	Ireland
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	Second Row	London Irish	Ireland
Simon Shaw	Second Row	Bristol	England
Doddie Weir	Second Row	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	Winger		Scotland	Later addition to the tour
Mike Catt	Fly-half		England	Later addition to the tour
Kyran Bracken	Scrum-half		England	Later addition to the tour
Tony Diprose	Back Row		England	Later addition to the tour
Nigel Redman	Second Row		England	Later addition to the tour

Matches

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

	Date	Opponent	Location	Result	Score
Match 1	24 May	Eastern Province XV	Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth	Won	39–11
Match 2	28 May	Border	Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London	Won	18–14
Match 3	31 May	Western Province	Newlands, Cape Town	Won	38–21
Match 4	4 June	Mpumalanga	Johann van Riebeeck Stadium, Witbank	Won	64–14
Match 5	7 June	Northern Transvaal	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Lost	30–35
Match 6	11 June	Gauteng Lions	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Won	20–14
Match 7	14 June	Sharks	King's Park, Durban	Won	42–12
Match 8	17 June	Emerging Springboks	Boland Stadium, Wellington	Won	51–22
Match 9	21 June	South Africa	Newlands, Cape Town	Won	25–16
Match 10	24 June	Free State	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Won	52–30
Match 11	28 June	South Africa	King's Park, Durban	Won	18–15
Match 12	1 July	Northern Free State	Noord-wes Stadium, Welkom	Won	67–39
Match 13	5 July	South Africa	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Lost	16–35

First Test

21 June

South Africa	16–25	Lions
Try: Du Randt Bennett Pen: Lubbe Honiball		Try: Dawson Tait Pen: Jenkins (5)

Newlands, Cape Town
Attendance: 50099
Referee: Colin Hawke (New Zealand)

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: 16. Bennett 17. Wessels 18. Swanepoel 19. Otto 20. Dalton 21. Theron

Lions: 15. Jenkins 14. Evans 13. Gibbs 12. Guscott 11. Tait 10. Townsend 9. Dawson 1. Smith 2. Wood 3. Wallace 4. Johnson (capt) 5. Davidson 6. Dallaglio 7. Hill 8. Rodber Replacements: 16. Leonard 17. Bentley 18. Catt 19. Healey 20. Williams 21. Wainwright

Second Test

28 June 1997

South Africa	15–18	Lions
Try: Van der Westhuizen Montgomery Joubert		Pen: Jenkins (5) Drop: Guscott

King's Park, Durban
Attendance: 50000
Referee: Didier Mene (France)

South Africa: 15. Joubert 14. Small 13. Montgomery 12. Snyman 11. Rossouw 10. Honiball 9. van der Westhuizen 1. du Randt 2. Drotske 3. Garvey 4. Strydom 5. Andrews 6. Kruger 7. Venter 8. Teichmann (capt). Replacements: 16. van Heerden 17. Theron 18. Bennett 19. Wessels 20. Swanepoel 21. Dalton

Lions. 15. Jenkins 14. Bentley 13. Gibbs 12. Guscott 11. Tait 10. Townsend 9. Dawson 1. Smith 2. Wood 3. Wallace 4. Johnson (capt) 5. Davidson 6. Dallaglio 7. Hill 8. Rodber. Replacements: 16. Back 17. Healey 18. Miller 19. Catt 20. Williams 21. Leonard

Third Test

5 July 1997

South Africa	35–16	Lions
Try: Van der Westhuizen Montgomery Snyman Rossouw Con: De Beer (2) Honiball Pen: De Beer (3)		Try: Dawson Con: Jenkins Pen: Jenkins(3)

Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Attendance: 62000
Referee: Wayne Erickson (Australia)

South Africa: 15 Bennett, 14 Snyman, 13 Montgomery, 12 van Schalkwyk, 11 Rossouw, 10 de Beer, 9 van der Westhuizen, 1 du Randt, 2 Dalton, 3 Theron, 4 Strydom, 5 Otto, 6 Erasmus, 7 Venter, 8 Teichmann, (capt). Replacements: 16 Honiball, 17 Garvey, 18 Drotské, 19 Swart, 20 van Heerden, 21 Swanepoel

Lions: 15 Jenkins, 14 Bentley, 13 Gibbs, 12 Guscott, 11Underwood; 10. Catt, 9. Dawson; 1 Smith, 2 Regan, 3 Wallace 4 Johnson (capt), 5 Davidson, 6 Wainwright, 7 Back, 8 Dallaglio. Replacements: 16 Stimpson, 17 Bateman, 18 Healey, 19 Hill, 20 Williams, 21 Young

References

1 2 Mick Cleary and John Griffiths, ed. (1997). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1997–98. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0 7472 7732 X.

Preceded by 1993 Tour to New Zealand	Tour to South Africa 1997	Succeeded by 2001 Tour to Australia

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[Cleary-1] 1 2 Mick Cleary and John Griffiths, ed. (1997). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1997–98. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0 7472 7732 X.

Rugby union tours of South Africa
British and Irish Lions	1891 1896 1903 1910 1924 1938 1955 1962 1968 1974 1980 1997 2009 2021
New Zealand	1928 1949 1960 1970 1976 1992 1996
Australia	1933 1953 1961 1963 1969 1992
Argentina	1965 (no test) 1971 (no test) 1994 2002 2003
England	1972 1984 1994 1998 2000 2007 2012 2018
France	1958 1964 1967 1971 1975 1980 1993 2001 2005 2006 2017
Ireland	1961 1981 1998 2004 2016
Italy	1973 (no test) 1999 2001 2008
Scotland	1999 (no test) 2003 2006
Wales	1964 1995 1998 2002 2004 2008 2014
Fiji	1996
Samoa	2003 (no test) 2007
Tonga	1997
Various selections	1978 (American Cougars) 1980 (S.A.Jaguars) 1982 (S.A.Jaguars) 1985 (Cavaliers) 1987 (South Sea Barbarians) 1989 (World XV)

South Africa squad – 1997 British Lions incoming tour
Forwards	Mark Andrews James Dalton Naka Drotské Os du Randt Rassie Erasmus Adrian Garvey Ruben Kruger Krynauw Otto Hannes Strydom Gary Teichmann Dawie Theron Fritz van Heerden André Venter
Backs	Russell Bennett Jannie de Beer Henry Honiball André Joubert Edrich Lubbe Percy Montgomery Japie Mulder Pieter Rossouw James Small André Snyman Werner Swanepoel Justin Swart Joost van der Westhuizen Danie van Schalkwyk Did not play: Boeta Wessels
Coach	Carel du Plessis