The Lions of 1974 did something extraordinary. Unbeaten in all 22 matches on their Tour of South Africa, they created a legacy that remains to this day. July marked 50 years since that famous Lions Tour and one of our own was involved. Alan Old a Middlesbrough legend, was playing at Leicester at the time, but was soon to play a part in what some claim, the greatest ever Lions side. Who could argue.
This Lions squad went on a 21 game winning streak brushing all the South Africans could throw at them, only to fall short of the whitewash in the final test. The Lions won all of the provincial games and the first 3 test matches, drawing the last test in controversial circumstances. Fergus Slattery appeared to ground the ball only for the South African referee to rule that the ball was held up. Slattery claimed that even the South African players agreed he had scored. To add more controversy, it is claimed the referee then blew the whistle four minutes early whilst the Lions were camped on the South Africa line. When asked about those decisions later the referee was said to have replied “Look boys, I have to live here.”
The tour was also famous for violence, especially in the provincial games before the tests. The Lions management declared that the Springboks dominated their opponents with physical aggression because of their size advantage. To show that they were not going to be intimidated Lions Captain Willie McBride decided that the ’99 call’ would be used to show that the Team would not be intimidated by violence. The thinking being that the referee was unlikely to send off a whole team if they reacted as one. Although talk of the ’99 call’ is now legendary, McBride claimed that it was only used once.
Recently the LionsOfficial posted the featured image of the legendary Lions and one of a recent reunion (below). Unfortunately, many of the squad are no longer with us, but I trust those left to meet up had a great time sharing their stories and memories of the tour.
