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.<ref name=Cleary>Template:Cite book</ref>

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

Matches

Scores and results list British Lions' points tally first.<ref name=Cleary/>

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score
24 May	Eastern Province XV	Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth	Template:Yes2Won	39–11
28 May	Border	Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London	Template:Yes2Won	18–14
31 May	Western Province	Newlands, Cape Town	Template:Yes2Won	38–21
4 June	Mpumalanga	Johann van Riebeeck Stadium, Witbank	Template:Yes2Won	64–14
7 June	Northern Transvaal	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Template:No2Lost	30–35
11 June	Gauteng Lions	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Template:Yes2Won	20–14
14 June	Template:Rut	King's Park, Durban	Template:Yes2Won	42–12
17 June	Emerging Springboks	Boland Stadium, Wellington	Template:Yes2Won	51–22
21 June	South Africa	Newlands, Cape Town	Template:Yes2Won	25–16
24 June	Free State	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Template:Yes2Won	52–30
28 June	South Africa	King's Park, Durban	Template:Yes2Won	18–15
1 July	Northern Free State	Noord-wes Stadium, Welkom	Template:Yes2Won	67–39
5 July	South Africa	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Template:No2Lost	16–35

First Test

FB 15 André Joubert RW 14 James Small OC 13 Japie Mulder IC 12 Edrich Lubbe Template:Suboff 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 Template:Subon FB 17 Boeta Wessels SH 18 Werner Swanepoel LK 19 Krynauw Otto HK 20 James Dalton PR 21 Dawie Theron Coach: Template:Flagicon Carel du Plessis

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

Second Test

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 Template:Suboff RL 5 Mark Andrews LL 4 Hannes Strydom TP 3 Adrian Garvey Template:Suboff HK 2 Naka Drotské LP 1 Os du Randt Replacements: PR 16 Dawie Theron Template:Subon LK 17 Fritz van Heerden Template:Subon FB 18 Russell Bennett FB 19 Boeta Wessels SH 20 Werner Swanepoel HK 21 James Dalton Coach: Template:Flagicon Carel du Plessis

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

Third Test

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

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