1971 British Lions tour to New Zealand
Date12 May  – 14 August
Coach(es)Wales Carwyn James
Tour captain(s)Wales John Dawes
Test series winners British Lions (2-1)
Top test point scorer(s)Wales Barry John (30)
1971 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia
Summary
P W D L
Total
26 23 01 02
Test match
04 02 01 01
Opponent
P W D L
 New Zealand
4 2 1 1

In 1971 the British Lions toured New Zealand, also playing two matches in Australia. Despite losing the first match to Queensland the tour was a great success, the Lions winning the Test series against the All Blacks. They are still the only Lions side to have won a Test series in New Zealand. The side was captained by John Dawes, coached by Carwyn James and managed by Doug Smith.

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. Wales had won the Grand Slam in the Five Nations Championship in 1971, and appropriately supplied more players than any other home nation to the touring squad. Both the coach and captain were also Welsh. This was the only tour to result in a Lions victory over the All Blacks.

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 first Test in Dunedin 9–3, with a penalty goal to the All Blacks, and two penalties and a try, (scored by Ian McLauchlan) to the Lions. Several Lions players later admitted they were overconfident following their initial Test victory. The Lions were thus convincingly beaten 22–12 in the second Test in Christchurch, with the All Blacks outscoring them five tries (Bob Burgess (2), Sid Going, Ian Kirkpatrick, pen try) to two (Davies (2)). The third Test was played at Athletic Park, Wellington. The Lions did not make the same mistake they had in Christchurch, resulting in a 13–3 win, the Lions scored two converted tries and a drop goal. The All Blacks managed only a try.

Following the third Test the Lions led the series 2–1. The final game played in Auckland would require an All Black victory for New Zealand to draw the series. A draw or Lions victory would give the Lions a series win. Scores were level 8–8 at half time with a try, conversion and penalty each. The first 15 minutes of the second half saw the Lions land a penalty goal and the All Blacks score a try. With the scores tied 11–11, Lions fullback JPR Williams received the ball 45 metres out and attempted a drop goal, it was successful and put the Lions ahead 14–11. Williams's drop goal was the only one he landed in his Test career. The All Blacks could only manage three further points from a penalty to draw the game 14-14, which gave the Lions the series.

Squad

Backs

Forwards

Results

Match Date Opponent Location Result Score
Match 1 12 May Queensland Queensland Lang Park, Brisbane Lost 11–15
Match 2 15 May New South Wales 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 Won 22–9
Match 5 29 May Waikato Rugby Park, Hamilton Won 35–14
Match 6 2 June New Zealand New Zealand Māori Eden Park, Auckland Won 23–12
Match 7 5 June Wellington Athletic Park, Wellington 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 New Zealand 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 New Zealand 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 Poverty Bay /
East Coast		 Rugby Park, Gisborne Won 18–12
Match 21 24 July Auckland Eden Park, Auckland Won 19–12
Third Test 31 July New Zealand New Zealand Athletic Park, Wellington Won 13–3
Match 23 4 August Manawatu /
Horowhenua		 Showgrounds, Palmerston North 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
New Zealand Fourth Test 14 August New Zealand Eden Park, Auckland Draw 14–14

The Canterbury game was particularly violent.[5]

The Test matches

First Test

26 June 1971
New Zealand 3–9 British Lions
Pen: McCormickReportTry: McLauchlan
Pen: John (2/6)
Carisbrook, Dunedin
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: John Pring (New Zealand)

Second Test

10 July 1971
New Zealand 22–12 British Lions
Try: Burgess (2)
Going
Kirkpatrick
Penalty try
Con: Mains (2)
Pen: Mains		ReportTry: Davies (2)
Pen: John
Drop: John
Lancaster Park, Christchurch
Attendance: 57,500
Referee: John Pring (New Zealand)

Third Test

31 July 1971
New Zealand 3–13 British Lions
Try: MainsTry: Davies
John
Con: John (2)
Drop: John
Athletic Park, Wellington
Referee: John Pring (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 14–14 British Lions
Try: Cottrell
Lister
Con: Mains
Pen Mains (2)		Try: Dixon
Con: John
Drop: Williams
Pen: John (2)
Eden Park, Auckland
Referee: John Pring (New Zealand)

NEW ZEALAND: Laurie Mains, Ken Carrington, Mick Duncan, Phil Gard, Bryan Williams, Wayne Cottrell, Sid Going, Brian Muller, Tane Norton, Richie Guy, Colin Meads (c), Peter Whiting, Ian Kirkpatrick, Tom Lister, Alex Wyllie

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 1974 British Lions tour to South Africa. Many of the players who played on the 1971 Lions tour believe the 1974 Lions team would have beaten the 1971 Lions team, due to having better forwards and because many of the 1971 players had become better players by 1974.[7] J.P.R. Williams has said that whilst the 1971 Lions back division could not be bettered, the 1974 squad was better at winning games.[8]

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

  1. ↑ Palenski, R: Century in Black, 100 Years of All Black Test Rugby, page 122. Hodder Moa Beckett Publishers Ltd, 2003
  2. ↑ Shephard, Sarah. "Boars, beers and black eyes that forged a unique bond for the 1971 Lions heroes" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ Willie John McBride; David Roach; Mervyn Davies (2004). "Foreword". In Strength And Shadow: The Mervyn Davies Story. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 9781840188653.
  5. ↑ Parfitt, Delme (15 May 2017). "The story of the Lions match still labelled 'a disgrace to rugby'". WalesOnline.
  6. ↑ "Lions Hero: John Spencer on Gordon Brown". www.lionsrugby.com. 28 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Willie John McBride, Ian McLauchlan, Ian McGeechen, Fergus Slattery, Chapter 24, Undefeated, Rhodri Davies
  8. ↑ Orders, Mark (4 March 2019). "The life of JPR at 70, a Welsh rugby great who was different from the rest". Wales Online.
  9. ↑ 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. ISBN 0720705452.

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