In 1980 the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

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 South Africa (including one game in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

, South West Africa, the 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 ...

). The tour was not a success for the Lions, as they lost the first three tests before salvaging some pride with a win in the fourth. The team did however win all their 14 non-international matches. The Lions were captained by

Bill Beaumont Sir William Blackledge Beaumont, (born 9 March 1952 in Chorley, Lancashire, England) is a former rugby union player, and was captain of the England rugby union team, earning 34 caps. His greatest moment as captain was the unexpected 1980 Grand ...

Political controversy

The tour went ahead in the face of opposition from the British Government and groups opposed to sporting contact with the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime in South Africa. Britain was a signatory to the 1977 Gleneagles Agreement in which Commonwealth governments agreed to discourage sporting contacts with South Africa. The Government of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

were also against the tour. The Four Home Unions committee which organises Lions tours decided to go ahead with the planned tour, despite this opposition, in November 1979 and the rugby unions of England (

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

), Ireland (

IRFU The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

(

SRU SRU may refer to: Organizations * Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island, US * Scottish Rugby Union * Shri Rawatpura Sarkar University, Chhattisgarh, India * Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, US * Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai ...

) and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

( WRU) all approved the tour by January 1980.

Touring party, injuries and replacements

Of the 30 players originally selected, ten had previous Lions tour experience. Derek Quinnell had toured New Zealand in 1971 and 1977; Andy Irvine and Fran Cotton had toured South Africa in 1974 and New Zealand in 1977 while Bruce Hay, Bill Beaumont, Allan Martin, Graham Price, Jeff Squire, Peter Wheeler and Clive Williams had all toured New Zealand in 1977. Elgan Rees, added to the party before it left the UK, and Phil Orr, a replacement during the tour, had also toured in 1977. Quinnell was selected despite not playing in the

1980 Five Nations Championship The 1980 Five Nations Championship was the 51st Five Nations Championship series of the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of , , , , and . Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this ...

; he had also toured in 1971 when yet to be capped by Wales. The tour party was disrupted by an unusually high number of injuries and replacements throughout the 10-week-long tour. Eight players flew to South Africa to reinforce the original 30 tourists; Gareth Williams, Tony Ward, Ian Stephens,

John Robbie John Cameron Robbie (born 17 November 1955) is a former international rugby union player who played scrum half, and a well known radio presenter in South Africa on Talk radio 702. His previous rugby career has also seen him take up the role of ...

, Phil Orr, Andy Irvine, Paul Dodge and Steve Smith. Smith joined the tour as cover prior to the final test after Patterson was injured and did not appear in any games. Irvine was in the original 30 selected tourists but withdrew due to injury prior to leaving the UK. He was replaced by Elgan Rees but joined the tour later when Slemen withdrew. Nine players left the tour early, including Mike Slemen who went home due to family illness. The eight players who were ruled out by injury were Rodney O'Donnell (neck), David Richards (shoulder), Gareth Davies (shoulder and knee), Terry Holmes (shoulder and knee), Stuart Lane (knee), Phil Blakeway (rib) and Fran Cotton (suspected heart trouble). Lane's injury occurred after 55 seconds of the opening game and gave him the shortest career of any Lions tourist. He never played international rugby again. O'Donnell's neck injury ended his rugby career completely. Colin Patterson suffered a knee injury in the penultimate game against Griqualand West which also proved career-ending.

Squad

Management

* Manager Syd Millar (Ireland) * Coach Noel Murphy (Ireland) * Team Doctor Jack Matthews (Wales)

Backline

Fullbacks *

Rodney O'Donnell Rodney Christopher O'Donnell (born 16 August 1956)Known by all as “The HotRod�ESPN Scrum.com is a former Ireland international rugby union player. He made his Ireland debut in Australia in 1979 when Ireland won both tests (the first Northern H ...

( St. Mary's College and Ireland) *

Bruce Hay Bruce Hamilton Hay (23 May 1950 – 1 October 2007) was a Scotland international rugby union player. Background Hay was born in Edinburgh and educated at Liberton High School. From there he went on to work as an engineer for the National Coal ...

( Boroughmuir and Scotland) * Andy Irvine ( Heriots FP and Scotland) as replacement Wings *

Mike Slemen Michael Anthony Charles Slemen (11 May 1951 – 20 July 2020) was an international rugby union player. He toured South Africa in 1980 with the British and Irish Lions and at the time played club rugby for Liverpool. Early life Mike Slemen wa ...

(

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and England) * John Carleton ( Orrell and England) *

Elgan Rees Harold Elgan Rees (born 5 January 1954) is a Welsh former international rugby union player. Rugby career Rees toured with the British & Irish Lions to New Zealand in 1977, when he had yet to be capped by Wales, and South Africa in 1980 and at ...

(

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

and Wales) * Peter Morgan (

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, Carmarthen. ...

and Wales) Centres *

Jim Renwick Jim Renwick (born 12 February 1952) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Centre.Bath, p154 Rugby Union career Amateur career He played for Hawick Harlequins and then moved to play for Hawick. Provincial care ...

(

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

and Scotland) *

Ray Gravell Raymond William Robert Gravell (12 September 1951 – 31 October 2007) was a Welsh rugby union centre who played club rugby for Llanelli RFC. At international level, Gravell earned 23 caps for Wales and was selected for the 1980 British Lions t ...

(

and Wales) * David Richards (

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

and Wales) *

Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lion ...

(

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

and England) *

Paul Dodge Paul William Dodge (born 26 February 1958 in Leicester, England) is a former English rugby union international footballer who gained 32 caps for his country between 1978 and 1985. His Leicester Tigers career earned him 436 appearances. Dodg ...

(

and England) as replacement Flyhalves * Gareth Davies (

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 Wales) *

Ollie Campbell Seamus Oliver Campbell (born 5 March 1954) is an Irish former rugby union player. He played flyhalf for Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland from 1976 to 1984. He is most well known for his role in orchestrating Ireland's Triple Crown vict ...

(

Old Belvedere Old Belvedere R.F.C. is a senior Irish rugby union club based on Anglesea Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland. Old Belvedere was originally founded in 1918–19 by former pupils of Belvedere College. Old Belvedere enters senior men's teams in th ...

and Ireland) * Tony Ward ( Garryowen and Ireland) as replacement Scrumhalves *

Terry Holmes Terence David "Terry" Holmes (born 10 March 1957) is a Welsh former rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who won 25 caps for as a scrum-half, and later played rugby league for Bradford Northern. Holmes was a highly physical ...

(

and Wales) * Colin Patterson (

Instonians Instonians is a sports club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that incorporates rugby union, men's and ladies' hockey and cricket sections. There is also a golf society that plays under the Instonians name. Instonians Rugby Football, Cricke ...

and Ireland) *

(

Greystones RFC Greystones Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Greystones, County Wicklow in the Republic of Ireland, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. The club was formed in 1937. They won their first trophy in 1944 when the ...

and Ireland) as replacement *

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

( Sale and England) as replacement

Forwards

Hookers * Peter Wheeler (Leicester and England) * Alan Phillips (Cardiff and Wales) Props *

Fran Cotton Francis Edward Cotton (born 3 January 1947) is a former rugby union prop forward who played for England and the British Lions. His clubs included Coventry R.F.C. and Sale. After retiring, he remained in rugby administration and founded a cl ...

(Sale and England) * Clive Williams (

and Wales) * Ian Stephens (

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

and Wales) as replacement *

Phil Orr Philip Andrew Orr (born 14 December 1950) is a former Irish international and British and Irish Lions Rugby Union loosehead prop. Orr was born in Dublin. Educated at The High School, Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, he played for Old Wesley ...

(

Old Wesley Old Wesley Rugby Football Club was founded in 1891 from the past pupils of Wesley College, Dublin. Since then it has become one of Leinster's most famous clubs. It plays in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. The club won the Leinster Seni ...

and Ireland) as replacement *

Graham Price Graham Price MBE (born 24 November 1951 in Moascar, Egypt) is a former Welsh rugby union player, who was a member of the famous Pontypool RFC front row known as the "Viet Gwent". He won 41 caps for , and a record 12 for the British and Irish L ...

(

Pontypool Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970. Location It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ri ...

and Wales) * Phil Blakeway (

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and England) Locks *

(capt) ( Fylde and England) * Maurice Colclough (

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...

and England) *

Alan Tomes Alan Tomes (born 6 November 1951) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. Rugby Union career Amateur career Born in Hawick, Tomes moved to Gateshead when he was 8 years old. He played rugby for Gateshead Fell. His grandfather ...

(Hawick and Scotland) * Allan Martin (

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 distri ...

and Wales) Loose forwards * John O'Driscoll (

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

and Ireland) * Colm Tucker ( Shannon and Ireland) * Jeff Squire (Pontypool and Wales) * Stuart Lane (Cardiff and Wales) *

Derek Quinnell Derek Leslie Quinnell (born 22 May 1949 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire) is a former Welsh rugby union player. He played as a lock-forward and as a number eight. He was capped for Wales youth 1967/8 season. Club career Educated at Coleshill Seco ...

(

and Wales) * John Beattie (Glasgow Academicals and Scotland) * Gareth Williams (Bridgend and Wales) as replacement

Results

The matches

First Test

South Africa:

Gysie Pienaar Zacharias Matheus Johannes 'Gysie' Pienaar (born 21 December 1954 in Bloemfontein, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player. Playing career Pienaar played for the Free State and the Springboks. He made his test debut agai ...

Ray Mordt Raymond Herman "Ray" Mordt (born 15 February 1957 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a Zimbabwean/South African rugby footballer who represented his country in rugby union before moving to English professional rugby league club, Wigan, with whom he ...

, David Smith, Willie du Plessis,

Gerrie Germishuys Johannes Servaas Germishuys, best known as Gerrie Germishuys (born 29 October 1949 in Port Shepstone, Natal) is a former South African rugby union player who played wing for the Springboks. Biography As a winger, Germishuys was known for his sp ...

Naas Botha Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player, who played for Northern Transvaal and South Africa (the Springboks). He was voted ''Rugby Player of the Year'' in 1979, 1981, 1985 and 1987. B ...

Divan Serfontein David Jacobus 'Divan' Serfontein (born 3 Augustus 1954 in Krugersdorp, South Africa) is a former Springbok rugby union player. Playing career Provincial career Serfontein started his rugby career in 1974 at where he was selected for the club' ...

Morne du Plessis Morne is an Old-French word for a small mountain. It may refer to: * Morne a Chandelle, a village in the Sud-Est department of Haiti * Morne-à-l'Eau, a commune in Guadeloupe * Morne Bois-Pin, the fourth highest mountain in Haiti * Morne la Vigie ...

(c),

Theuns Stofberg Marthinus Theunis Steyn 'Theuns' Stofberg was the captain of the South Africa national rugby union team (Springboks) for four tests between 1980 and 1984. He is remembered for his speed and his size, both remarkable for a flank at that time. You ...

Rob Louw Robert James Louw (born 26 March 1955) is a South African rugby footballer who represented South Africa 19 times in international test rugby union. He also played in the Western Province teams that won the Currie Cup five consecutive times. Sou ...

Louis Moolman Louis Christiaan Moolman (21 January 1951 - 10 February 2006) was a Northern Transvaal and Springboks Rugby Union player. He was born in Pretoria, South Africa and went to school at Hoërskool Verwoerdburg. He played in the lock position. Pla ...

Moaner van Heerden Johannes Lodewikus 'Moaner' van Heerden (born 18 July 1951) is a former South African rugby union international player. He played as a lock. His son, Wikus van Heerden, is also a South African international who played for Saracens in the Guinn ...

Martiens le Roux Marthinus 'Martiens' le Roux (born 30 March 1951 – 14 October 2006) was a South African rugby union player. Playing career Le Roux played his entire provincial career for the Free State Cheetahs, Free State and made 162 appearances for his p ...

Willie Kahts Wilhelm Julius Heinrich Kahts (born 20 February 1947 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player. Playing career Kahts made his test debut for the Springboks on 31 May 1980 at Newlands in Cape Town against the tourin ...

Richard Prentis Richard Basil Prentis (born 27 February 1947) is a former South African rugby union player. Playing career Prentis played for Transvaal during his provincial career, which began in 1974. He made his international debut for the Springboks agai ...

Lions: O'Donnell, Carleton (replaced by Gravell), Richards, Renwick, Slemen, Ward, Patterson, Quinnell, O'Driscoll, Squire, Colclough, Beaumont (c), Price, Wheeler, Williams

Second Test

South Africa:

, David Smith, Willie du Plessis,

Morné du Plessis Morné du Plessis OIS (; born 21 October 1949) is a former South African rugby union player often described as one of the Springboks' most successful captains. During the five years from 1975 to 1980 that he served as captain, the Springboks wo ...

(c),

(replaced by

Thys Burger Matthys Boshoff 'Thys' Burger (born 3 Augustus 1954 in Pietersburg, Limpopo, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player. Playing career Burger played for Northern Transvaal and made his provincial debut in 1976. Burger's firs ...

, Kevin de Klerk,

Lions: Irvine, Carleton, Gravell, Woodward, Hay, Davies (replaced by Campbell), Patterson, Quinnell, O'Driscoll, Squire, Colclough, Beaumont (c), Price, Wheeler, Williams

Third Test

South Africa:

, David Smith, Willie du Plessis,

(c),

(replaced by

Ewoud Malan Ewoud Malan (born 4 July 1953) is a former South African rugby union player. Playing career Malan played for Northern Transvaal and the Springboks. He made his international debut in the third test against the visiting Lions team on 28 June 1 ...

Lions: Irvine, Woodward, Gravell, Dodge, Hay, Campbell, Patterson, Squire, O'Driscoll, Tucker, Colclough, Beaumont (c), Price, Wheeler, Williams

Fourth Test

South Africa: Gysie Pienaar,

, David Smith, Willie du Plessis, Gerrie Germishuys,

, Divan Serfontein,

(c),

, Martiens le Roux, Ewoud Malan, Richard Prentis Lions: Irvine, Carleton, Gravell, Dodge, Hay, Campbell, Robbie, Squire, O'Driscoll, Tucker, Colclough, Beaumont (c), Price, Wheeler, Williams

References

Carwyn James Carwyn Rees James (2 November 1929 – 10 January 1983) was a Welsh rugby union player and coach. He won two Welsh international caps but is most famous for his coaching achievements with Llanelli, the 1971 British Lions and the Barbarians, with ...

and

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues singer and guitarist from Middlesbrough. A "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart" known for his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty five solo albums, two of which t ...

(1980) ''Injured pride: the Lions in South Africa'' (Arthur Barker) * *

External links

1980 British Lions tour at Official Lions Website
{{Rugby union tours of South Africa British & Irish Lions tours of South Africa British Lions tour Rugby union tours of Namibia Rugby union and apartheid British Lions Tour To South Africa, 1980 Lions tour Lions tour Sports scandals in England Sports scandals in Scotland Sports scandals in Ireland Sports scandals in Wales