Willie John McBride

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Willie John McBride
Toomebridge, County Antrim
, Northern Ireland
Height1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight110 kg (17 st 5 lb; 243 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s)
Lock
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1962–1975 Ireland 63 (4)
1971, 1974
Lions
 17 (3)

William James McBride

British and Irish Lions. He made 63 appearances for Ireland, including eleven as captain, and toured with the Lions five times; a record that earned him 17 Lions Test caps. He also captained one of the most successful Lions sides, which returned undefeated from South Africa in 1974. McBride, inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2009, is regarded as one of the most influential figures ever to play the game.[1]

Youth

McBride was born in

Toomebridge, County Antrim. Owing to his father's death when he was four years old,[2] he spent most of his spare time helping out on his family farm.[3] Because of this he did not start playing rugby until he was 17. He was educated at Ballymena Academy and played for the school's First XV. After he left he joined Ballymena
.

Playing career

In 1962 McBride was selected to play for

British and Irish Lions
.

McBride continued to play for Ireland throughout the 1960s and played for Ireland when they first defeated South Africa (the Springboks) in 1965, and when Ireland defeated Australia in Sydney — the first time a Home Nations team had defeated a major southern hemisphere team in their own country. He was again selected for the Lions in 1966, this time touring New Zealand and Australia. He toured South Africa with the Lions again in 1968.

He was selected to play for the Lions in their 1971 tour of New Zealand. Despite being criticized by some as being "over the hill", McBride was made

New Zealand; their first and last series win over New Zealand. He received an MBE in 1971 for services to rugby football.[4]

1974 Lions tour to South Africa

McBride's leadership qualities led to his appointment as captain of the

British and Irish Lions in their 1974 tour to South Africa. The Test series was won 3–0, with one match drawn; the first Lions series ever won in South Africa. It was one of the most controversial and physical Test match series ever played. The management of the Lions concluded that the Springboks dominated their opponents with physical aggression, and so decided to match fire with fire.[5] Willie John McBride instigated a policy of "one in, all in": that is, when one Lion retaliated, all other Lions were expected to join in the melee or hit the nearest Springbok.[6]

At that time there were only substitutions if a doctor agreed that a player was physically unable to continue and there were no video cameras and sideline officials to keep the punching, kicking and head butting to a minimum. If the South Africans were to resort to foul play then the Lions decided "to get their retaliation in first." The signal for this was to call "99" (a shortened version of the emergency number in Ireland and in the United Kingdom: 999). This was a signal for the Lions to clobber their nearest rival players.

Retirement

In 1975 as his international career was ending he played his last game for Ireland at Lansdowne Road. The game was against France, and near the end of the match he scored his first test try for Ireland. It was the crowning moment of a great playing career. His last international game was against Wales on Saturday 15 March 1975.[7]

After retiring from playing the game, McBride coached the Irish team and was manager of the 1983 Lions tour to New Zealand. Despite the test results being mainly poor, team camaraderie was high and some good wins were recorded in other games. In 1997 he was an inaugural inductee into the International Rugby Hall of Fame. He lives in Ballyclare. He has been asked to present Test jerseys and give motivational speeches to Lions players prior to matches. In 2004 he was named in Rugby World magazine as "Rugby Personality of the Century". He is a major supporter of the Wooden Spoon Society.[8]

McBride was awarded a

CBE in the 2019 New Year Honours list for services to Rugby Union.[9]

References

  1. ^ 'Willie-John McBride'. World Rugby, 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2025
  2. ^ The Story of Willie John McBride, 3 March 2015, retrieved 13 March 2021 – via YouTube
  3. ^ Matthews, Joe (1 November 2003). "Whatever Happened to Willie John McBride". The Independent. p. 9.
  4. ^ McBride 2005.
  5. ^ Great Lions rugby moments: Willie John McBride's '99' call Telegraph. Retrieved 20 October 2011
  6. ^ Small talk: PR Williams The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2011
  7. ^ Willie-John McBride ESPN Scrum.
  8. ^ "Happy Birthday" – Willie John McBride WoodenSpoon.com. Retrieved 21 October 2011
  9. ^ "New Year Honours 2019: Willie John McBride and Harry Gregg recognised". BBC. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.

Bibliography
Preceded by Irish national rugby coach
1983–84 		Succeeded by
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