1974 in Rugby Union - 1974 British Lions Tour to South Africa, 1974 Five Nations Championship, 1974 New Zealand Rugby Union Tour of Ireland (Paperback)

Chapters: 1974 British Lions Tour to South Africa, 1974 Five Nations Championship, 1974 New Zealand Rugby Union Tour of Ireland, Wales and England, 1974 France Rugby Union Tour of Brazil and Argentina. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: In 1974 the British Lions toured South Africa, with matches in South West Africa and Rhodesia (which would become Namibia and Zimbabwe respectively). The tour was a great success, the Lions winning 21 of their 22 matches and drawing the other. After winning the first three test matches, the Lions drew the final test to preserve their unbeaten record. The side was captained by Willie John McBride, coached by Syd Millar and managed by Alun Thomas. The best known and most successful Lions team was that which toured South Africa in 1974 under the esteemed Irish forward Willie John McBride, that went 22 games unbeaten and triumphed 3-0, with one drawn, in the test series. The test series was beset by violence. The management of the Lions concluded that the Springboks dominated their opponents with physical aggression. At that time, in test matches the referee was from the home nation, 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 actions such as punching, kicking, and head-butting to a minimum. The Lions decided "to get their retaliation in first" with the infamous '99 call' (99 is a shortening of 999 which in Britain and Ireland is the phone number for the emergency services such as the police, ambulance or fire brigade). The idea was that a South African referee would be unlikely to send off all of the Lions if they all retaliated against "blatant thuggery." At the 'Battle of Boet Erasmus Stadium', in Por...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=279918