‘My wife actually told me that I couldn’t go’
are certain things in life that are far more important than money, and this trip was one of those.”
The tour began with three straight victories before the first setback, a 35-30 defeat by Northern Transvaal. Bentley started that game, but by his own admission had played poorly, and got into a running battle with Springbok wing James Small.
Bentley was replaced and found himself starting the midweek game against the Gauteng Lions at Ellis Park. “I had two or three days in the build-up to that Wednesday game where I took a good look at myself,” Bentley said. “I decided that I was not just there to make everyone laugh and smile by being a prankster. I was actually there to play rugby. I made a number of sacrifices to go on the trip, so it was a case of put up or shut up.”
His moment came in the 67th minute, after Austin Healey had scored a brilliant try of his own. No prompts are needed. Bentley can recall every step and feint in detail. “I remember the ball being hacked through to Neil Jenkins,” Bentley said. “Even before he picked the ball up, I’d looked up, and there was a hooker and back-row forward in front of me with 25 metres of space outside. I called it and Jenks, good as gold, threw me it.
“The first bit was planned, going round the first two, although the hooker nearly caught me by the shirt collar. Thereafter it was broken field, and that’s what I loved.”
Bentley bypassed three further defenders, cutting sideways across the pitch until he ended up under the posts. “I remember Jerry calling for the pass, but I thought, ‘B------s to you’,” Bentley said. “He still complains about that.”
In the stands, coaches Ian Mcgeechan and Jim Telfer are filmed giggling like children witnessing their first try. The Lions would go on to win 20-14.
“At that particular point we were a squad that had some results but still needed to build confidence after our loss to Northern Transvaal,” Richard Hill, the England flanker, said.
“It was important not only to get the tour back on track with a performance but also that confidence of winning in a country where we were not perceived to be as good as them. That performance was a huge boost to us.”
That try forced Bentley back into the Test selection picture, and he finished the tour tied with Tony Underwood as the top try-scorer. Yet his contribution to the tour was not limited to tries. A television crew were filming a fly-on-the-wall documentary, and it was Bentley who became the star.
“I told them, ‘If you want to capture it as it is, then it has to be a player’,” Bentley said. “We rocked up in Natal and the main television producer knocked on my door with a camera and said, ‘Here, it is yours’.” The result, Living with Lions, offers the most revealing footage of any sports documentary. The humour, of which there was plenty, was generally provided by Bentley’s antics. “That was just me being myself,” he said. “I have always been crazy. I have always loved being the centre of attention and like the sound of my own voice.”
Bentley was not the only star to be created on this tour. Tom Smith and Paul Wallace leapfrogged several more established props to earn starting berths; Ireland second row Jeremy Davidson did likewise. But in the end it was left to Guscott to seize the ultimate glory with his dropped goal in the second Test in Durban.
“I remember thinking, ‘Why of all people did it have to be Guscott’,” Bentley said. “‘Thanks for coming’ he told everyone. Who else could it be?”
‘The first bit was planned, going round the first two. Then it was broken field, which I loved’