rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
team toured Southern and Eastern Africa. Overall the tourists played twenty-five matches, winning sixteen, losing five and drawing four.
The Lions were unsuccessful in the test series against , losing by three matches to nil with one match drawn. The first three tests were close; the first match was drawn 3–3 and South Africa won the second 3–0 and the third 8–3. The fourth test resulted in a bigger win for South Africa, 34–14.
The tour included games against Rhodesia (which would become
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
), South West Africa (future
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
, then part of South Africa) and East Africa in Kenya; winning all three. The Lions won all their non-international matches except for those against
Northern Transvaal
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
and
Eastern Transvaal
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique ...
.
The touring party was captained by Arthur Smith. The manager was Brian Vaughan and the assistant manager was Harry McKibbin.
Squad
Management
* Manager D. B. Vaughan ()
* Coach H. R. McKibbin ()
Backs
*
Dewi Bebb
Dewi Iorwerth Ellis Bebb (7 August 1938 – 14 March 1996) ESPN Scrum.com was a Welsh
University College Dublin
University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...
and )
* H. J. C Brown (
Blackheath Blackheath may refer to:
Places England
*Blackheath, London, England
** Blackheath railway station
**Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England
*Blackheath, Surrey, England
** Hundred of Blackh ...
and RAF)
* J. M. Dee (
Hartlepool Rovers
Hartlepool Rovers F.C. are a rugby union club who play at The New Friarage, West View Road in Hartlepool. The club play in Durham/Northumberland 1, the seventh tier of the English rugby union system after being relegated from North One East at ...
Queen's University RFC
Queen's University Belfast Rugby Football Club is the rugby union team of Queen's University Belfast, currently playing in Division 2A of the All-Ireland League.
Founded in 1869, it is the most successful and oldest continuous rugby union clu ...
and )
*
Raymond Hunter
William Raymond Hunter (3 April 1938 – 9 December 2020) was a Northern Irish cricketer and rugby union player. He played for Ireland in both sports. In cricket he won 28 international caps and played in 11 first-class matches. In rugby h ...
(CIYMS and )
*
Dickie Jeeps
Richard Eric Gautrey Jeeps, (25 November 1931 – 8 October 2016), known as Dickie Jeeps, was an English rugby union player who played for Northampton having started his career with Cambridge Rugby Club. He represented and captained both the ...
Llanelli
Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...
and )
*
Tom Kiernan
Thomas Joseph Kiernan (7 January 1939 – 3 February 2022) was an Ireland international rugby union player. He won 54 caps for Ireland as a full-back between 1960 and 1973 and captained his country 24 times. At the time of his retirement he w ...
(
University College Cork R.F.C.
University College Cork Rugby Football Club currently plays in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. Founded in 1872, they originally played as ''Queen’s College Cork'', as UCC was then known. Recent success ...
Aberavon
Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distr ...
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
Edinburgh Wanderers
Edinburgh Wanderers is a former rugby union club, founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the Scottish Rugby Union, playing home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with Murrayfield RFC to form Murrayfie ...
and )
*
Gordon Waddell
Gordon Herbert Waddell (12 April 1937 – 13 August 2012, born Glasgow, died London, was a Scottish rugby union player, a South African politician, and the son of Herbert Waddell. He played for , the Barbarians and on two British and Irish Lio ...
Mike Weston
Michael Philip Weston (born 21 August 1938) is a former international rugby union player and captain.
Weston was capped twenty-nine times for England between 1960 and 1968, winning twenty-four caps as a centre and five caps as a fly-half.Griff ...
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
and )
*
Glyn Davidge
Glyn Davidge (31 December 1933 – 18 March 2006) was a Wales, Welsh international flanker who played club rugby for Tredegar RFC, Tredegar and Newport RFC, Newport. He was awarded nine caps for Wales national rugby union team, Wales and toured w ...
Stewart's College FP
Stewart's College FP RFC was a Scottish rugby union club in Edinburgh.
Founded
The club was founded in 1875, when a match took place between the former pupils of Daniel Stewart's Hospital and George Watson's College.
In 1887, the club became ...
and )
* H. O. Godwin (
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
and )
*
Willie John McBride
William James McBride, CBE, better known as Willie John McBride (born 6 June 1940) is a former rugby union footballer who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He played 63 Tests for Ireland including eleven as captain, ...
Haydn Morgan
Haydn Morgan (30 July 1936 – 20 July 2018) was a Welsh international flanker who played club rugby for Abertillery and Bicester Rugby Union Football Club. He was awarded twenty-seven caps for Wales and toured with Ronnie Dawson's 1959
...
(
Abertillery
Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area ...
and )
*
Bill Mulcahy
William Albert Mulcahy (born 7 January 1935 in Rathkeale, County Limerick, Ireland) is a retired Irish rugby union player. He represented UL Bohemians R.F.C. University College Dublin R.F.C., Bective Rangers, Skerries RFC, Leinster, Ireland and ...
(
Bohemians
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
Howe of Fife
The Howe of Fife is the broad, low-lying valley of the River Eden, lying between the Ochil Hills and the Lomond Hills in Fife, Scotland. ''Howe'', in Scots means a hollow or a plain bounded by hills. The alternative terms ''Laich of Fife'' and ...
and )
*
Keith Rowlands
Keith Alun Rowlands (7 February 1936 – 18 November 2006), was a Welsh international lock rugby union player and later administrator, who was the first chief executive officer of the International Rugby Board.
Playing career
Rowlands was born ...
(Cardiff and )
* T. P. Wright (Blackheath and )
Results
''Scores and results list British Lions' points tally first.''