‘Invincibles’ gave Boks a real battering
ADAM HATHAWAY Coach: Syd Millar Captain: Willie John Mcbride
Played 22, won 21, drew Tests played won drew 1
CAPTAIN Willie John Mcbride told his side, who would become known as ‘The Invincibles’, what was coming even before they left the UK.
With anti-apartheid demonstrations raging outside their Marble Arch hotel, Mcbride said: “I have been to South Africa before and there is going to be a lot of intimidation, a lot of cheating.
“So if you’re not up for a fight, there’s the door.” No one left.
They were to become the first Lions to win a series in South Africa since 1896, in three months away, and Mcbride took the lead.
He had JPR Williams, Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett, Mervyn Davies, Fran Cotton, Bobby Windsor, JJ Williams,
Roger Uttley, Ian Mclauchlan and the rest following.
Also there was a Scottish centre, Ian Mcgeechan, who played all four Tests and would become the most significant figure in Lions history. Mcgeechan, a school teacher at the time, acted as head coach of the 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2009 tourists.
The Lions fought fire with fire on a tour made famous for the ’99 call’, an instruction for the whole team to pile in when the fists were flying.
On the ground in South Africa, they were supported by many black locals who wanted to see the Springboks dethroned in the apartheid era.
The tourists obliged winning 21 of 22 games, scoring 107 tries, with only one draw – the fourth Test, which finished 13-13, in Johannesburg. All on £2.50-a-day expenses.