The following article is an extract from 'The British & Irish Lions: The Official History 2025 Tour edition'.

1997

MCGEECHAN'S MARVELS

When the Lions boarded their Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet for South Africa with 2.5 tonnes of baggage, no one gave them a cat in hell's chance of winning the three-Test Series. Confident bookmakers were posting odds of 5-1 on them losing every Test. After all, they had won only three of their previous 14 Tests, even though they had won the Series in Australia 2-1 eight years earlier.

The southern hemisphere 'super powers' were simply light years ahead. New Zealand had won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, Australia had followed them in 1991 and South Africa had taken over as world champions in 1995. The Super 12 and Tri Nations tournaments had given them a huge edge. They played the game at breathtaking pace, tackles and hits were ferocious and their management and administration were far superior. South Africa were confident of a victorious Series, one that would be the perfect warm-up for their 1997 Tri-Nations campaign. They even had a cup made, aptly named the Lion Trophy (after its major sponsor).

The Lions management had anticipated such attitudes and, understanding the task ahead of them, had plotted long and hard in the months preceding the Tour, leaving no stone unturned to ensure the first Tour to South Africa for 17 years would be a winning one. The player selection process involved comprehensive analysis of ability, attitude and fortitude. Fact-finding trips were made to South Africa, including visits to 1996 Tri Nations Tests, and advice was sought from such rugby luminaries as All Blacks coach John Hart.

McGeechan, on his unprecedented third consecutive Lions Tour as coach, knew the type of player he wanted for the Tour: 'I wanted decision-makers, players who would not be afraid to play as they saw it. This meant strong individuals, ones who would be tough and uncompromising and never troubled by thoughts of failure. We had to have people who had no fear of trying things, because if you never try you will never succeed.'

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It was an abrasive Tour, but not unique in that respect. Lions teams of years gone by can testify to the physical and mental stress that goes with touring South Africa. Six players were ruled out of the Tour as the physical nature of the campaign took its toll. By the kick-off in the last Test, nearly half of the original Test team had been ruled out through injury.

A notable aim of McGeechan throughout the Tour was to avoid the situation where two separate teams within the squad were developed: the Test team and the midweek team. He stated at the outset that there would be no such policy, and this proved true. This had the effect of giving all players ample opportunity to push for Test places and contributed greatly to player morale.

The Tour kicked off in positive fashion in Port Elizabeth against Eastern Province. A 39-11 victory over the 'Elephants', while satisfying, was not overly impressive, but it did not merit an attack by opposition coach Johan Kluyts, who declared that the 'Boks would win the Test Series 3-0. He also proclaimed that full-back Neil Jenkins was a poor player and that the 'Boks would kill him. Such rants would come back to haunt him.

Next up the Lions headed further east along the Cape to East London, where they disposed of a plucky Border in the mud. The 18-14 victory, however, highlighted several shortcomings in the forward play, and only a late try by Rob Wainwright saved the day. Centre Gibbs caused a scare by damaging his ankle, an injury which necessitated x-rays and kept him out of several matches. It was a similar story in Cape Town against Western Province, where frailties in the pack again surfaced, but the play of the three-quarters indicated that an expansive game plan was part of the Tour tactics. Captain Johnson took the field for his first appearance of the Tour, but it was obvious that after a gruelling domestic season for the powerful lock McGeechan was going to use him sparingly outside of the Tests. Such tactics reaped dividends later in the Tour when Johnson's form peaked for the Test matches.