1971 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia
1971 British Lions tour to New Zealand | |
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Date | 12 May – 14 August |
Coach(es) | Carwyn James |
Tour captain(s) | John Dawes |
Test series winners | British Lions (2-1) |
Top test point scorer(s) | Barry John (30) |
1971 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia | |||||
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Summary |
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Total |
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Test match |
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Opponent |
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New Zealand |
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In 1971 the
Background
Although the Lions had done poorly when touring New Zealand in 1966 (they lost all four Tests to the All Blacks), the seeds had been sown for the successful series of 1971.[
New Zealand, after a long period of success, had lost their most recent series in 1970 away to South Africa.
Key factors
A major factor in their victory was self belief. Gerald Davies explained, "...somewhere along the line it becomes a mental thing...We grew in confidence; we came to believe it was possible to beat the All Blacks."[1] The coaching team had also done important reconnaissance work.[2]
Colin Meads said Mervyn Davies was "the one player who probably had the biggest impact on that 1971 Lions Test series," particularly as he prevented New Zealand winning line out ball via Brian Lochore.[3][4]
Test series
The Lions won the
Following the third Test the Lions led the series 2–1. The final game played in
Squad
Backs
- London Welshand Wales) (captain)
- London Welshand Wales)
- Bob Hiller (Harlequins and England)
- John C Bevan (Cardiff and Wales)
- Alastair Biggar (London Scottish and Scotland)
- London Welshand Wales)
- David Duckham (Coventry and England)[a]
- Arthur Lewis (Ebbw Vale and Wales)
- John Spencer (Headingley and England)
- West of Scotlandand Scotland)
- North of Ireland FCand Ireland)
- Barry John (Cardiff and Wales)
- Gareth Edwards (Cardiff and Wales)
- Chico Hopkins (Maesteg and Wales)
- Chris Wardlow (Northampton and England) was an original selection but withdrew due to injury. His place was taken by Chris Rea
Forwards
- Frank Laidlaw (Melrose and Scotland)
- John Pullin (Bristol and England)
- Ian McLauchlan (Jordanhill College and Scotland)
- West of Scotlandand Scotland)
- Sean Lynch (St Mary's College RFC and Ireland)
- Ray McLoughlin (Blackrock College RFC and Ireland)
- Stack Stevens (Harlequins and England)
- Gordon Brown (West of Scotland and Scotland)
- London Welshand Wales)
- Willie John McBride (Ballymena and Ireland)
- London Welshand Wales)
- Delme Thomas (Llanelli and Wales)
- Mike Hipwell (Terenure College RFC and Ireland)
- Rodger Arneil (Leicester and Scotland)
- Derek Quinnell (Llanelli)[b]
- University College Dublin RFCand Ireland)
- London Welshand Wales)
- London Welshand Wales)
- Peter Dixon (Harlequins and England)[c]
Results
Match | Date | Opponent | Location | Result | Score |
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Match 1 | 12 May | Queensland | Lang Park, Brisbane | Lost | 11–15 |
Match 2 | 15 May | New South Wales | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | Won | 14–12 |
Match 3 | 22 May | Counties / Thames Valley |
Pukekohe Stadium, Pukekohe | Won | 25–3 |
Match 4 | 26 May | Wanganui / King Country |
Spriggens Park, Wanganui
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Won | 22–9 |
Match 5 | 29 May | Waikato | Rugby Park, Hamilton | Won | 35–14 |
Match 6 | 2 June | New Zealand Māori
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Eden Park, Auckland | Won | 23–12 |
Match 7 | 5 June | Wellington | Athletic Park , Wellington
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Won | 47–9 |
Match 8 | 9 June | South Canterbury / Mid Canterbury / North Otago |
Fraser Park, Timaru | Won | 25–6 |
Match 9 | 12 June | Otago | Carisbrook, Dunedin | Won | 21–9 |
Match 10 | 16 June | West Coast-Buller | Rugby Park, Greymouth | Won | 39–6 |
Match 11 | 19 June | Canterbury | Lancaster Park, Christchurch | Won | 14– 3 |
Match 12 | 22 June | Marlborough / Nelson Bays |
Lansdowne Park, Blenheim | Won | 31–12 |
First Test | 26 June | New Zealand
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Carisbrook, Dunedin | Won | 9–3 |
Match 14 | 30 June | Southland | Rugby Park, Invercargill | Won | 25–3 |
Match 15 | 3 July | Taranaki | Rugby Park, New Plymouth | Won | 14–9 |
Match 16 | 6 July | New Zealand Universities | Athletic Park, Wellington | Won | 27–6 |
Second Test | 10 July | New Zealand
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Lancaster Park, Christchurch | Lost | 12–22 |
Match 18 | 14 July | Wairarapa Bush | Memorial Park, Masterton | Won | 27–6 |
Match 19 | 17 July | Hawke's Bay | McLean Park, Napier | Won | 25–6 |
Match 20 | 21 July | East Coast
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Rugby Park, Gisborne | Won | 18–12 |
Match 21 | 24 July | Auckland | Eden Park, Auckland | Won | 19–12 |
Third Test | 31 July | New Zealand
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Athletic Park, Wellington | Won | 13–3 |
Match 23 | 4 August | Manawatu / Horowhenua |
Showgrounds , Palmerston North
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Won | 39–6 |
Match 24 | 7 August | North Auckland | Okara Park,Whangarei | Won | 11–5 |
Match 25 | 10 August | Bay of Plenty | Tauranga Domain, Tauranga | Won | 20–14 |
Fourth Test | 14 August | New Zealand
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Eden Park, Auckland | Draw | 14–14 |
The Canterbury game was particularly violent.[5]
The Test matches
First Test
26 June 1971 |
New Zealand ) |
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Second Test
10 July 1971 |
New Zealand ) |
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Third Test
31 July 1971 |
New Zealand ) |
NEW ZEALAND: Laurie Mains, Bruce Hunter, Howard Joseph, Wayne Cottrell, Ken Carrington, Bob Burgess (rep Mick Duncan), Sid Going, Brian Muller, Tane Norton, Richie Guy, Colin Meads (c), Brian Lochore, Alan McNaughton Ian Kirkpatrick, Alex Wyllie
LIONS: Williams, Gerald Davies, Dawes (c), Gibson, Duckham, John, Edwards, Lynch, Pullin, McLauchlan, McBride, Brown, Quinnell, Slattery, Mervyn Davies.
In the pack, the Lions selected Gordon Brown over Delme Thomas.[6]
Fourth Test
14 August 1971 |
New Zealand ) |
NEW ZEALAND:
LIONS: Williams, Gerald Davies, Dawes (c), Gibson, Duckham, John, Edwards, Lynch, Pullin, McLauchlan, McBride, Brown, Taylor, Dixon, Mervyn Davies.Thomas replaced injured Brown 60mins
Appraisal
The 1971 Lions are often compared to the unbeaten
However South Africa had not played a test match for two years before playing the Lions, whereas the New Zealand team had been active.[9] In addition the 1971 Lions overcame the mental hurdle of the Lions having lost every previous series in New Zealand before.
Notes and references
- ^ Palenski, R: Century in Black, 100 Years of All Black Test Rugby, page 122. Hodder Moa Beckett Publishers Ltd, 2003
- ^ Shephard, Sarah. "Boars, beers and black eyes that forged a unique bond for the 1971 Lions heroes" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
- ^ Colin Meads; Rob Cole (17 March 2012). "Mervyn Davies obituary". www.independent.co.uk. The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
For years so much of our play had revolved around throwing to Brian Lochore at the back of the line-out, but Mervyn dominated that area of the game for the entire series and stopped us playing.
- ISBN 9781840188653.
- ^ Parfitt, Delme (15 May 2017). "The story of the Lions match still labelled 'a disgrace to rugby'". WalesOnline.
- ^ "Lions Hero: John Spencer on Gordon Brown". www.lionsrugby.com. 28 January 2016.
- ^ Willie John McBride, Ian McLauchlan, Ian McGeechen, Fergus Slattery, Chapter 24, Undefeated, Rhodri Davies
- ^ Orders, Mark (4 March 2019). "The life of JPR at 70, a Welsh rugby great who was different from the rest". Wales Online.
- ^ O’Reilly, Peter. "Dick Milliken: The Springboks were physical and frightening – but they believed we were invincible" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
Notes
aDuckham had been playing for England at centre, but was selected on the wing.
bDerek Quinnell had not been capped at the time of the 1971 tour, but later played for Wales.
cPeter Dixon had not played for England at the time of his selection for the 1971 tour but then won his first cap against the President's Overseas XV on 17 April 1971 three weeks prior to the squad's departure for Australia.
Bibliography
Thomas, J. B. G. (1971). The Roaring Lions. London: Pelham Books.
External links
- British & Irish Lions | History
- Lions Flashback: 1971 - allblacks.com Archived 28 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine