This weekend marks exactly 40 years since the British and Irish Lions kicked off their Test series against the combat starved Springboks at Newlands.
Despite a one-off match against the World XV to mark the opening of Loftus Versfeld in 1977 and two clashes against a South American side earlier in 1980‚ Bill Beaumont’s Lions was the first team of international repute to play the Boks in four years.
"Later in life I would be interviewing people who were in jail while I was touring here. I’ve learnt to forgive myself and move on.” “I always say there are two things you want to do as a rugby player. You want to tour New Zealand and play the All Blacks and you want to play against the Lions. I was fortunate to do both‚” said Bok flyhalf Naas Botha.“In the build-up we were very much reminded of the 1974 series‚” recalled Botha.“It was the first series against serious opposition for a lot of guys‚” said Botha of the Bok team that had captain Morne du Plessis and Moaner van Heerden as the only players with more than 10 caps.
The 1974 series infamously produced several violent flashpoints and the 1980 series looked destined to go the same route after Lions’ No8 Derek Quinnell smashed Du Plessis in the face shortly after kick-off. Robbie said Rob Louw’s speed helped make the difference up front‚ while the attacking dimension brought by Gysie Pienaar from fullback further separated the teams in the Boks’ 3-1 series win.
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