The winds of change
by Dan Retief | 29 June 2009 (08:43)
The amazing thing about the 11th British Isles tour to South Africa under Bill Beaumont in 1980 was that it took place at all.
From a rugby sense the tour will be remembered for an unprecedented spate of injuries suffered by the tourists, the emergence of a wonderful generation of Springboks and some epic Test matches but the bigger picture was of a sporting world in utter turmoil.
The anti-apartheid protest movement had sensed that sport was the soft underbelly of South Africa’s abhorrent racial policies and massive pressure was brought to bear on the Four Home Unions to cancel the scheduled tour.
Dr Danie Craven, sensing that the cessation of tours would render rugby’s Springbok extinct, fought tooth-and-nail to maintain contact with South Africa’s long-standing partners and brought all his influence at the IRB to bear.
Members of the rugby unions of the Four Home Unions, France, New Zealand and Argentina were torn between old loyalties, the unique camaraderie of the game and massive socio-political realities but tended to lean towards the old club tie.
In 1979 a South African Barbarians team consisting of eight blacks, eight coloureds and eight whites had made a tour to Britain as part of the effort to keep the door open and, brilliantly led by Chick Henderson, had managed to pull the sting of the protests while demonstrating the quality of South Africa’s rugby.
South Africa however had not appeared at an Olympic Games since 1960 (indeed many African nations boycotted the 1976 Games because of the All Blacks’ tour to South Africa), the ruling National Party was unbending and the forces against tours, including groups such as HART (Halt All Racist Tours) and SANROC (South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee) and black conscience movements such as the ANC were ardently opposed to sporting contact with the Republic.
Ironically two of those opposed to the 1980 tour were prominent rugby men – Dickie Jeeps scrumhalf in the 1955 side in his capacity as head of Britain’s Sports Council and Hector Munro the Minister of Sport who was a former president of the Scotland Rugby Union.
Both appealed to the tours committee of the Four Home Unions to abort the tour but, after a fact-finding meeting to South Africa that was ridiculed as nothing more than a charade by all who were in opposition, the members agreed that the tour should go ahead.
A number of factors encouraged a “Yes” vote – not least the fact that the 1977 tour to New Zealand under Phil Bennett had been a particularly unhappy one.
However the rugby debate was overtaken when President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States would boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow which drew most of the media’s attention and took the heat off the Lions tour.
Thus it was that Bill Beaumont, an immensely popular figure who had led England to the first Five Nations championship in 16 years, was named to captain the Lions on an 18 fixture tour (including four Tests) from May to July.
A scheduled fixture against Zimbabwe was scrapped and against a backdrop of political outrage some prominent players declined to tour and others, young men determined to climb to the pinnacle of their chosen sport by joining the tour, lost their jobs.
The South African rugby fraternity was elated to receive Beaumont’s men but fate conspired to treat these Lions unkindly.
Seldom has a touring team been hit by so many injuries; right from the word go with Welsh flanker Stuart Lane seriously damaging his knee within the first minute of the opening game against Eastern Province.
In all the Lions would have to call for eight replacements – including John Robbie who would emigrate to South Africa and become a highly visible broadcaster – and ended up having to use three scrumhalves, three flyhalves and five centres in the course of a series they lost 3-1.
Beaumont’s Lions were able to field a powerful pack – including Peter Wheeler, Graham Price, Beaumont himself, Maurice Colclough, Jeff Squire, John O’Driscoll and Derek Quinnell – but they one thing they did not have was the pace Rob Louw gave the Springboks.
Louw was a constant irritation to the Lions and his work in the first two Tests, in Cape Town and Bloemfontein, paved the way not only for the opening tries in both games but also the eventual series victory.
Although the outcome of the series was seemingly emphatic all four games were keenly contested and with better luck the Lions might have edged the second and definitely have won the third Test.
South African fans for their part could exult in a number of players who were the best of their generation. Morné du Plessis stamped himself as one of his country’s greatest captains while Gysie Pienaar, Ray Mordt, Gerrie Germishuys, Naas Botha, Divan Serfontein, Louw, Louis Moolman, Moaner van Heerden and Theuns Stofberg count among the best of any era.
And no telling of the tale of the ’80 Lions would be complete without a nod to my own escapades and how I came to earn one of the cleverest nicknames ever bestowed on a rugby journalist.
I covered the tour for The Rand Daily Mail, my first major assignment, and drew the ire and attention of the team when in my first match report (of the EP game) I stated that the ’80 Lions would struggle to emulate the all-conquering ’74 team. It was a provocative statement to make; more so because all tourists to this country tend to read English newspapers while being quite oblivious of the harsh things said about them by Afrikaans writers.
The tour had progressed to the second international in the Free State when one morning I walked into the breakfast room of the old Bloemfontein Hotel. On my way I had to pass the tables set aside for the Lions (these days teams dine in private) and Ray Gravell, the powerful red-headed, red-bearded Welsh centre who had become a huge character in the team, looked up from The Mail and uttered the words, in his distinctive Welsh accent, that have stuck with me ever since.
“Ah Dan Retief, Dan Retief… I tell you what… from now on we’re going to call you Hand Relief! – it’s a good way of calling you a fooking wanker!”
Such was the glint in Grav’s eye that I knew he meant in jest (well, a little) and we would become good friends by the end of the tour when I was hugely flattered to be the only journalist invited to attend the team’s famous “Sunday School” gathering on the last Sunday in Kimberley – an experience which left me much the worse for wear but nevertheless proud to have been accepted into the inner ring.
The first two Tests, won 26-22 at Newlands and 26-19 in Bloemfontein by the Springboks were absolute classics, and the third was one of the most bizarre I have attended.
One of the enduring memories was driving to the Boet Erasmus Stadium in driving rain and seeing many of the crowd leaving. The rain was so strong that people on the vast open embankment could hardly see and they were rushing home to their TV sets.
And, in the ensuing match, I have seldom seen a side so dominant and still losing the match as a wonderful piece of quick-thinking and interplay between Gerrie Germishuys, when he rushed to collect a ball that had been side-footed into touch by none other than Clive Woodward, and Theuns Stofberg resulted in a try by the former that was miraculously (given the heavy leather ball, rain and wind) converted from the touchline by Botha to give the Boks a 12-10 victory.
With the series won the Springboks struggled to get up for the last Test at Loftus and the much admired Bill Beaumont was spared the ignominy of leading the first Lions side to be white-washed as the tourists won 17-13.
The Test was played in July 1980 and the Lions would not be seen in South Africa again for 17 years.
By the time Martin Johnson’s 1997 side arrived in South Africa the winds of change had completely altered the country’s landscape – both from the aspect of the affairs of state as well as the game of rugby.
Nelson Mandela had been released, the first democratic elections had been held, the Springboks had won the World Cup in 1995 and rugby had undergone the massive transformation from amateurism to professionalism; thus making Johnson’s Lions the first professionals.
Much was expected of the world champions but in reality the Springboks were in a state of flux. A number of key World Cup figures – Kitch Christie, Morné du Plessis, Francois Pienaar and Joel Stransky – were no longer involved, the Boks had dropped their first home series to the All Blacks in 1996 and in Carel du Plessis they had gifted thinker but with minimal coaching experience.
The Springboks could still call on a number of their best – Andre Joubert, James Small, Henry Honiball, Joost van der Westhuizen, Gary Teichmann, Andre Venter, Ruben Kruger, Hannes Strydom, Mark Andrews, Naka Drotske and Os du Randt to name a few – but their poor goal-kicking cost them dearly and to a certain measure they underestimated the strength and professionalism of the Lions.
The Lions had “hard-nosed” written over their every action – from manager Fran Cotton, coaches Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer, captain Johnson and any number of those who made up the squad the Lions were tough in mind and body, ready to hand it out and take it.
The squad included six former rugby league internationals in Scott Gibbs, John Bentley, Scott Quinnell, Alan Tait, Allan Bateman and David Young who added a keen physical edge as well as the core of what would become England’s World Cup winners in 2003.
In addition the Springbok management made a mistake by pulling the Boks out of provincial matches and the upshot was a shock defeat in the crucial first test of a three-match series at Newlands as late tries by Matt Dawson and Tait, allied to the goal-kicking of Neil Jenkins, trumped a poorly prepared home-side.
Welsh flyhalf Jenkins had been picked at fullback for his ability to kick goals, with Gregor Townsend to provide greater fluidity at flyhalf, and one of the talking points was the Springboks’ failure to test him under the high ball.
And Jenkins it was who secured the series for the Lions in the second test in Durban as he kicked five out of penalties, to trump three Springbok tries, before Jeremy Guscott snapped over a dropped goal three minutes from time to win it for Johnson’s men – 18-15.
With the job done the Lions were no match for the Boks in the final test as the Boks, with Jannie de Beer making his debut and kicking his goals, restored some honour by winning 35-16.
However tours are about which of the teams wins the series and it would be another 12 years before the Springboks would be able to avenge the heartbreak of 1997 and ironically kicks would make all the difference in a pair of somewhat fortuitous victories over Paul O’Connell’s class of 2009 – long-range ones by Francois Steyn in both tests and a 54-metre show-stopper by Morné Steyn after fulltime to clinch it at Loftus Versfeld.
Twelve years from now when, if?, the next Lions arrive in 2021 we’ll still be talking about the incredible Test at Loftus when Morné Steyn’s name was writ large in the annals of Springbok rugby.
