The Lions' Roar of '74

Introduction

The British and Irish Lions are one of the most enduring of all sporting teams. Like the Barbarians, they are a invitational side, who are chosen from the best rugby players in the four home nations every three or four years to tour Australia, New Zealand and South Africa on a rotational basis. After the 1971 tour to New Zealand, where they lost only one match and took the series 2-1, they re-assembled three years later under the captaincy of the Irish lock Willie-John McBride, making his fifth tour - a record that still stands.
 
Under the cloud of apartheid and amidst protests, the thirty-strong touring side (including team doctor Ken Kennedy and assistant doctor JPR Williams, who both also played) set out on the three month tour in May 1974. What happened has gone down in rugby folklore as the greatest tour by probably the greatest Lions team ever, going 22 games unbeaten, earning the nickname 'The Invincibles'. As the Springboks were (and still are) renowned for their physicality, the Lions decided not to take a backward step and, though the origins vary, the famous '99' call was created.  As one version goes, in a game that was becoming increasingly heated and with the South African referee (all the officials were from the host country) reluctant to take action, McBride told him that, if he wouldn't take action, they would. He then told his players that, if they heard him shout '99', they were to punch the nearest Springbok, making it impossible for the referee to single out any individual and show the South Africans that they would not be intimidated.

 
This DVD is in two parts, the first a documentary made for the Wooden Spoon Society about the tour in 1999 and featuring action from all the tests with contributions from some 1974 squad members and also a few 1997 Lions tourists to South Africa. This runs to slightly less than an hour and is followed by a more lengthy ESPN programme, At Home with the Invincibles, which features McBride, Roger Uttley, Mike Burton, Ian McGeechan and Andy Ripley in which they reminisce about the tour, the games, the training sessions and the huge sense of fun and adventure of touring in the amateur days with their mates.
 

 

Video

The first feature looks its age, presented in 4:3 and with some colour bleeding and softness. The game footage is obviously poor, being one of the first Lions tour to be filmed in colour and 35 years old but you can see the quality of the rugby and appreciate the ferocious physical nature of the games.
 
At Home with the Invincibles is a pretty simply set feature, appearing to be filmed in Uttley's home rather than a set - his son introduces it while leaning over a banister and, at one point, you hear the phone ring and a dog bark! This gives it a more familiar feel than if it had been shot on a stage as they act like old mates meeting up for a natter - which they are - and it feels very natural, even the bits that are obviously staged. Helpfully, when they refer to an absent player by his nickname, a pop-up at the bottom corner appears with their nickname, name and position so, when they refer to 'Lurch', information about Chris Ralston, the English lock, appears.
 

Audio

Like the visuals, the audio quality differs between the two programmes: the first has variable volume and is not brilliantly mixed as a fade from game footage to an interview has Nigel Starmer Smith's commentary a little too loud and they battle on almost equal terms! The second is very clear with no problems making out the conversation.
 
It's worth noting that the '99 documentary contains some 'rugby language' so may not be universally suitable.
 

 

Extra Features

The documentary 'A Pride of Lions', which is also available to buy separately, is the sole piece of supplementary material and is a 1996 documentary made for HTV about the 25th Anniversary reunion of the 1971 Lions.  At 51 minutes, it is a reasonably comprehensive look at the tour with some cracking footage of the tests and midweek games with contributions from many of those involved.
 

 

Conclusion

Obviously released in anticipation of the 2009 Lions tour to South Africa (the more cynical would call this a cash-in, but you can't blame them and it's a good release), this is a wonderful celebration of one of the finest stories of any era or sport. The guys who were chosen to go to South Africa in 1974 and represent the British and Irish Lions know, respect and almost love one another, having formed a life-long bond in those three months, played against non-white sides and made conscious efforts to warm up in front of the segregated areas. Though they saw it as a strictly sporting event in which politics played no part, they were one of the few sides to break the boycott on sporting links with South Africa and, when they left, were almost seen as traitors.  When they returned with the series win - and only a crooked refereeing decision deciding the forth test as a draw and thus preventing the Springboks from being whitewashed - the furore had died down and they were greeted as returning heroes.
 
This is a very good DVD that any rugby fan should consider buying, whether you've heard the story or not of the hotel fire and Willie-John McBride responding to the manager's decision to call the police by asking, dressed only in his pants and socks and smoking a pipe, "will there be many of them?" This and many others are on here, told by various members of the touring party across the two features along with some wonderful footage and some of the finest rugby played by any Lions side.