kameraad mhambi

In 1980, my father took me to a Lions game in Durban. South Africa won that day. But said he, these Lions were nothing like the Lions of 1974.

That group of English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish players never lost a match in South Africa. They played 4 times against the Springboks and a number of games against smaller Unions so it was no mean feat.

It was also a tour when black South Africans supported the opposing team. No surprise why.

The UK Guardian has published some previously unseen pictures of that tour.

The Lions against Border

Full back Andy Irvine recalls the story behind this iconic photograph: “The Lions had played the Cape Coloureds in Cape Town, but this was the first time we had ever played a black team. It was a bit of a milestone to play the Leopards because up until then there was no way that the South African rugby union would have allowed us to mix with blacks.”

The controversial score at Ellis Park.

Willie John Macbride, the succesful Lions captain looking cool.

And it was also the tour of the infamous 99 call. The Lions would call 99 when one of their players were in trouble, and then all of them would join in the fight. The theory being, that the referee could not possibly send all the players off. See this video below.

Related deployments:

1. England and South Africa win the Ashes
2. Zapiro is guilty of being a cartoonist in South Africa
3. Mhambi’s 2008: Twice bitten by South Africa, once comfortably numb
4. Where the English have football the South Africans have politics