0:00:03 > 0:00:05MUSIC PLAYS
0:00:33 > 0:00:37So much of our rugby is familiar, close to home.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Grand Slams in the Five Nations, the Six Nations.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Grand days out in places we know.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46But the finest contribution ever by Welsh rugby
0:00:46 > 0:00:49was made in an alien environment,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52about as far from home as you can go.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Every three or four years since 1888,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53the best players of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales -
0:01:53 > 0:01:56what we now call the British and Irish Lions -
0:01:56 > 0:02:01have been going on tour to the major rugby-playing countries of the southern hemisphere...
0:02:01 > 0:02:05New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08The Lions have won six times in Australia,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11four in South Africa, with a drawn series in 1955,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15but in New Zealand, only the once.
0:02:21 > 0:02:2440 years ago, rugby tours were long.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27The '71 tour would last from May to August -
0:02:27 > 0:02:3015 weeks, 26 games in total.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35Compare that with the Lions of 2009 - six weeks, ten games.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43For me, Hong Kong is the one and only pause,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47but flying to New Zealand is still a slog through the time zones.
0:02:47 > 0:02:5240 years ago, the Lions' BOAC Boeing 707
0:02:52 > 0:02:56stopped at Frankfurt, Rome, Tehran, Delhi and here,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59and from here to Brisbane, Sydney,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01and from Australia to New Zealand.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08They played two games in Australia,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10the first in Brisbane against Queensland.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13They lost, prompting Queensland coach Des Connor
0:03:13 > 0:03:17to describe them as "the worst Lions ever".
0:03:17 > 0:03:21They beat New South Wales in Sydney, but nobody in New Zealand thought
0:03:21 > 0:03:25there would be anything but a routine series win for the All Blacks.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33I've been coming here for nearly 30 years
0:03:33 > 0:03:36and in all that time, I've seen the All Blacks lose once -
0:03:36 > 0:03:38one single game -
0:03:38 > 0:03:42and even then, in 1993, they went on to win the series.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Touring New Zealand is an exercise in being crushed -
0:03:45 > 0:03:47every time, bar one.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Rugby in 1971 was red.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58BILL McLAREN: Edwards. Barry John.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02Nicely along from Hall to John Dawes. This is Bevan inside Steel.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Beautifully tackled by Rea. Kicked on by John Taylor.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10Booted on by Barry John. Can John make it?
0:04:10 > 0:04:12This would be a remarkable score!
0:04:13 > 0:04:18Delme Thomas again. Edwards to Barry John. Out to John Dawes.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20John Williams, Gerald Davies.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Can Ian Smith get him? It's Gerald Davies for Wales!
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Wales had won the Grand Slam in the Five Nations championship that year,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30and now they supplied - for the first time -
0:04:30 > 0:04:32the captain of the Lions, John Dawes.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35They also supplied the coach, Carwyn James,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39who was not the coach of his country and never would be.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Complex Carwyn, often troubled in life,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46brought simplicity to rugby.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49His weapon of choice...the brain.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Think about it. That's the important thing.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Every single one of you, think about it, think about it, think about it. It's a thinking game.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02The coach of Llanelli sifted his way through the Welsh team.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07He carefully researched the best of the rest of Britain and Ireland.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12Mike Gibson, Ray McLaughlin and Willie John McBride of Ireland.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15John Pullin and David Duckham of England.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Sandy Carmichael and Ian "Mighty Mouse" McLauchlan of Scotland.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25New Zealand gave them no chance - but inside the mind of the coach,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28thoughts were spinning, ideas were forming.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31He was putting his Lions together, quietly.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34A different kettle of fish
0:05:34 > 0:05:37to any coach I'd ever met in my life before, cos, you know,
0:05:37 > 0:05:39coaching was the bawling, snarling scenario.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43But not Carwyn. He was very quiet and...
0:05:43 > 0:05:45just very precise and accurate.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Eyes on the ball, John.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Well, Carwyn was really an amateur psychologist.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54Not only was he a great coach - he treated every player individually.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56I was very physical in our training,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59and I was banned from training on Mondays.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01So the weekends, for me, were great.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05People like Derek Quinnell and Chico Hopkins had to train twice a day -
0:06:05 > 0:06:10they were lazy and perhaps not as fit as they should be. He did treat every player as an individual.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13I think Carwyn would have done a lot of homework.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16I can't remember who was manager of Man United at the time -
0:06:16 > 0:06:19I think it might have been Sexton or O'Farrell.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22And I know he went up there for a couple of days,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25just to watch what it was like to deal with players -
0:06:25 > 0:06:27professional players - because you must...
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Although we weren't professional players,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32to all intents and purposes, we were for that three months.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37GERALD DAVIES: We needed to play a 15-a-side game
0:06:37 > 0:06:41that each individual player had a contribution to make to the whole.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44We knew where New Zealand's strengths lay.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48We knew the kind of patterned play that New Zealand had -
0:06:48 > 0:06:52and it was very much a pattern. Er...
0:06:52 > 0:06:56There was no real pattern to us - our game - I don't think,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59other than to win the ball and to do the best we could with it
0:06:59 > 0:07:03by running in attack against New Zealand. That was the plan.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06That was the way that we believed as individual players,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08as a group of players, how to play the game.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26It's hard to say why it has always been so difficult to win here.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Perhaps New Zealand plays tricks.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33Stunning New Zealand, full of sights and sounds
0:07:33 > 0:07:35and smells that are totally alien.
0:07:35 > 0:07:41It's beautiful, but it's also a country full of menace and danger.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Fall in there and you're dead.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46And their rugby's a bit like that.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53CHEERING
0:07:58 > 0:08:00New Zealand were the kings.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08And they thought their forwards were...the cream.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12- COMMENTATOR:- Pretty useful wheel, that, by New Zealand.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14And here's the real power stuff.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19Never worry about coming second to a pack they were facing,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21and that's their mentality.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26The philosophy in New Zealand was they were always better than us
0:08:26 > 0:08:30and that, possibly, they were much more physical than we were.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34I mean, they had a plethora of tremendous players.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39Kirkpatrick was a fantastic player. Alex Wyllie was a fantastic player.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Sutherland was a great, great player - number eight -
0:08:42 > 0:08:45and, er...Meads.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49- COMMENTATOR:- ..by Colin Meads. The referee waving "play on".
0:08:49 > 0:08:50And it's out.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52That's what makes you want to play the game -
0:08:52 > 0:08:55it's standing up to the best, or what you consider to be the best,
0:08:55 > 0:09:01and, certainly, New Zealand's reputation was such that, er... at the time they certainly were.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04CHEERING
0:09:04 > 0:09:06- COMMENTATOR:- He's over.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Rugby Union was invented in England, for young gentlemen.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19A chap called Charles Monroe brought rugby here
0:09:19 > 0:09:23when he returned from his English public school.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26But soon, it was working New Zealanders who were playing.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Here, they loved the sport invented for gentlemen,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33hated the amateurism designed to keep them out.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37They toed the amateur line because in such geographical isolation,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40there was a reluctance to break sporting links.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43But those ties could be a little strained.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50In Te Kuiti, King Country, where Colin Meads played his rugby -
0:09:50 > 0:09:53he was an All Black for 14 seasons -
0:09:53 > 0:09:56they would have been aware that over in England,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00there was a rugby establishment that was ever so slightly suspicious
0:10:00 > 0:10:03of the likes of Colin Meads playing their game.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Not a gentlemen.
0:10:05 > 0:10:12And rough, tough Meads set about the representatives of that old establishment with relish.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Some of our rugby, in those days, was just "win at all costs",
0:10:15 > 0:10:18and test matches and whichever you thought you could do,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20whatever way you thought you could do it.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24- COMMENTATOR:- And it's getting like the old maul in goal in there.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Colin Meads trying to sort it out, but Willie John McBride,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Tom Lister, Sean Lynch...
0:10:30 > 0:10:32This is an absolute tragedy.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35You WERE the enforcer.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Well, that's what they say, but not...
0:10:37 > 0:10:39You know, I was just one of them.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42Well, no, I mean, you didn't just go out there
0:10:42 > 0:10:45to hit somebody for the sake of hitting them.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48You go and play the game, but if you jersey-pulled me, you'd get an elbow.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52If you did it again it might be, "Do that again and I'll bloody hit you."
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Yes, there was kicking, punching, gouging, fighting.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00But again, I expected it and, as I said,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02as long as all the players stuck together -
0:11:02 > 0:11:05all the forwards stuck together - then, OK, we'll take it.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12- COMMENTATOR:- And this...
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Not a pleasant sight to see in rugby.
0:11:15 > 0:11:16We're going to show you.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18You know, we're the colonials
0:11:18 > 0:11:20and we're not meant to be good at this game,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22and we'll show you that, you know,
0:11:22 > 0:11:24we can play this game better than you.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35There were ten games to play before the first Test -
0:11:35 > 0:11:38five on the North Island and five on the South.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42There were interesting sub-plots in these warm-up games for the four Tests.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45The youngest Lion, 20-year old wing John Bevan,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48scoring six tries in his first three games.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51The weather, surprisingly fair.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53The Lions were winning.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Nothing was going wrong at all,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03but nothing was going particularly right.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04It was steady,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07but nothing was happening to make New Zealand sit up -
0:12:07 > 0:12:12until they came to game five, their last of stage one on North Island.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14They arrived in the capital.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19- GARETH EDWARDS:- Maybe Wellington were being talked about
0:12:19 > 0:12:22as probably the best side in New Zealand at that time.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27And to this day, it probably ranks as one of the best games
0:12:27 > 0:12:29that I ever played in.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36- COMMENTATOR:- Gibson. Here's Dawes. The double round.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Past Cleeland.
0:12:40 > 0:12:41Williams.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Bevan.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48I just remember the quality of the running.
0:12:48 > 0:12:54The wizardry and the silkiness of the back division,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57with Mike Gibson and John Dawes and Barry.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00That really stood out for me.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03- COMMENTATOR:- No-one seems to want it. This is Slattery.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Here's a chance. Out to Duckham.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Must score, I think, if he's got the pace. John.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13We probably averaged about 25, 26.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18And, so, probably just peaking nicely and, obviously,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22we hit a bit of luck weather-wise and so on, and everything clicked.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26And you could feel it from the start. You know, marvellous. Great feeling.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31The Lions ran up nearly a half-century of points,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34with Bevan scoring four tries.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36- COMMENTATOR:- Gibson.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38Bevan.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Try to Bevan. Marvellous try!
0:13:41 > 0:13:43You're the most important person in the world.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45You know, make something happen.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47That's the way I felt.
0:13:47 > 0:13:53I've got the ball - something's going to happen here. Show what you can do.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Anything in a different-coloured shirt was the enemy.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00- COMMENTATOR:- Bevan.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Davies. Try on here. Pullin.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09That victory was mind-blowing.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14And it really taught, not only New Zealanders,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17but the rest of the world, how rugby could be played.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22- COMMENTATOR:- There's McBride. There's Carmich, who got the try.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26Look at this ball popping out. There's John, sliding through,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30Gibson, the try. It'll make it 40 points. Around goes Gibson.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43The grand prize in New Zealand's provincial rugby in 1971
0:14:43 > 0:14:45was the Ranfurly Shield.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48You won it by challenging the province that held the shield.
0:14:48 > 0:14:49You travelled to their backyard,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51and if you beat them you became the holders,
0:14:51 > 0:14:55until a province came to your home and took it from you.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57In late June 1971,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Canterbury had been beating all challengers for the Log o' Wood,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04as the Ranfurly Shield was called, for nearly two years.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10The Lions couldn't challenge for any provincial trophy,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13but on the Saturday before the First Test,
0:15:13 > 0:15:18they were facing the Ranfurly Shield holders in their backyard.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23The Lions were playing with grace and technical superiority...
0:15:23 > 0:15:26but something was about to come crashing at them.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32The nastiest game I've ever seen or witnessed.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37I think the New Zealand coach likened it to the Battle of Passchendaele, I think was the words he used.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40It was horrendous. The ball was irrelevant.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44It was the last game before the test.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48I think the All Blacks knew which 15 were playing.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50There was quite a few of us playing on the day.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53And...I think that, er,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55they wanted to see how tough we were.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59And if we fall by the wayside in the meantime, so be it.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01It wasn't a team thing.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04It was just mentioned as a front row to front row thing,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08or amongst the front row, that they weren't going to let anything happen.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10And I was playing on the side of the scrum at that stage,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14for Canterbury, and I remember one of our players - prop -
0:16:14 > 0:16:19turning round and saying, "Get your bloody head up, otherwise something might happen."
0:16:19 > 0:16:20And next thing, it did happen.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34I was just worried about hooking the ball.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36I didn't know anyone was boring in,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39but I think Hoppy thought that Sandy was...
0:16:39 > 0:16:42trying to get underneath him, and he just said to me,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46"Well, if he continues this, I'm going to have to deal with it."
0:16:46 > 0:16:50And he told him not to and then, two scrums later,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54he must have done it again and that's where he got one black eye, anyway.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57I don't know where the other one come from. But he...
0:16:57 > 0:17:00He wasn't a pretty sight, no.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Sandy Carmichael was out of the tour.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07The other first-choice prop, too.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12Ray McLoughlin, realising what was happening, used - shall I say? -
0:17:12 > 0:17:18the strength of, er, his hand,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20and broke a finger.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Willie John says it pretty correctly -
0:17:22 > 0:17:27that he had to be a complete fool hitting Alec Wyllie in the head.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Yeah, and, ironically, I mean...
0:17:30 > 0:17:36It might sound a bit funny, but I was going in because I think him and Hamish McDonald
0:17:36 > 0:17:38were having a disagreement.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42I went in there to do something and next thing, bang! Ray hit me.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Hit me, sort of, just under the cheek.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49Opened it up but, in those days, you didn't have to worry about the blood.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58It helped team spirit. It was us against the rest of New Zealand.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01OK, there were a few ex-pats living out there, but nevertheless,
0:18:01 > 0:18:06it was a party of 30 and we had to survive in our own little cocoon,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10and take on everything that New Zealand could throw at us.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13- COMMENTATOR:- This is Dawes, to Bevan. He's under...
0:18:13 > 0:18:15Bevan one yard short. He's in!
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Also, having survived that kind of physicality,
0:18:18 > 0:18:23New Zealand themselves knew that we were no ordinary team -
0:18:23 > 0:18:26that we were not going to be a team that knuckled under.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30That we would be a team that would stay the course.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35Ten matches played, ten matches won.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38One battle fought, with the loss of two props.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Replacements were sent for Stack Stevens of England
0:18:41 > 0:18:43and Geoff Evans of Wales.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Now for the first test against the New Zealand All Blacks.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52There was a front row to rebuild, quickly.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57Sean Lynch and Ian McLauchlan would pack down on either side of hooker John Pullin.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00The Lions would still target the All Black scrum.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06But Carwyn James was working on something else.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10The Lions had just met the tough Canterbury fullback Fergie McCormick.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Carwyn was interested in meeting him again...
0:19:14 > 0:19:18- COMMENTATOR:- The long kick for McCormick. An important one.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20McCormick was playing for Canterbury,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24and he was a fullback the following week, from the first test in Dunedin.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27He just said at half time, "Come over and sit next to me,"
0:19:27 > 0:19:29which I did,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33and he just said to me, in Welsh, "Diddorol?" - "Interesting?" -
0:19:33 > 0:19:36and I said, "Yeah, it is interesting."
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Nothing was said, but I knew what it meant and it was McCormick.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43And I just looked at McCormick during that game -
0:19:43 > 0:19:46where his positioning was, where he was likely to be...
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Looked at his game, basically, for the next week.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53Unfortunately, the following week, he never played for New Zealand again.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00The first test was to be played back in Dunedin, at Carisbrook.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04The crowd would be 45,000 strong, a strange blend of gnarled
0:20:04 > 0:20:06old workers of the land,
0:20:06 > 0:20:10coming down from the Otago hills, old Gold Rush country,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13mixing with students from the University of Otago.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Together they trailed out of town through, well,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21not exactly an urban wasteland, but through these scenes of mangling
0:20:21 > 0:20:24and bending out of shape.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27It's the perfect setting for rugby's original "house of pain".
0:20:27 > 0:20:31Carisbrook is not the biggest stadium in New Zealand,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34but it is the most raucous, thanks to those "scarfies",
0:20:34 > 0:20:36the students wearing their scarves.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Those that paid, they filled those terraces there,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43those that didn't went in their thousands
0:20:43 > 0:20:45up on to the railway embankment.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48It was announced that the three o'clock express, the Southerner,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51would be slowing down, would whistle as it passed,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53but it would not be stopping.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57'We're quite near to the Antarctic because there's quite
0:20:57 > 0:21:01'a stiff, southerly blowing for this, the first Test match
0:21:01 > 0:21:05'which has caused tremendous interest here in New Zealand.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08'More than 50,000 people will pack into the ground.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12'Those people there are standing on Scottish Grandstand.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14'A free view of the Test match.'
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Went with about six others in a little Mini Minor.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19Christchurch to Dunedin.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Fabulous time, but you were on the embankment at Carisbrook
0:21:22 > 0:21:25and shoulder to shoulder with other people.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28It was just amazing to be squashed there,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31trying to peer over other people's shoulders.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34But it was wonderful, wonderful atmosphere.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38You wanted to go there to win against New Zealand.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40That was the aim, the only aim.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44You could have lost all the provincial games, it didn't matter.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47Play the Test matches and beat New Zealand, that was the challenge.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49That was the ultimate goal.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53We knew that we were in for a real battle.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56But we were the All Blacks and we were playing at home,
0:21:56 > 0:21:58so we knew we were in with a shot.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02- COMMENTATOR:- A switch, John Taylor's switch.
0:22:02 > 0:22:0513 there is wing three-quarter Ken Carrington,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09one of seven new caps in this All Black side.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14Captained for the first time by Colin Meads.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18'I was struggling because I didn't know half the team.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20'First year in the All Blacks,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23'and you don't know whether to give them a roasting or...
0:22:23 > 0:22:28'I was rather a brutal sort of a captain, put it that way.'
0:22:28 > 0:22:30This is the mighty Meads himself.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35'I must confess, when I first met Colin Meads, I didn't know how to address him.'
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I think I called him "Sir" or something like that.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42"No, mate," he said, "you're my team-mate. Call me pine tree.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47- COMMENTATOR:- Meads, the big man himself, the mighty Meads.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50'King Meads of New Zealand, he was an awesome figure.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54'Colin was the talisman, there's no doubt, of New Zealand rugby.'
0:22:54 > 0:22:56Nicely back. Here he is once again,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58the man himself, ten yards short of glory.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02The slip in, Mervyn Davies forced over his own line.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06I was convinced there was more than 15 All Blacks on the field.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Because all it seemed was we were running from one corner
0:23:10 > 0:23:13to the other trying to tackle as many people as we could.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Number 1 prop forward, Brian Muller, 17 stone of him.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19Good deflection at the back.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21This is the new cap Peter Whiting.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Good attacking stuff from Burgess there.
0:23:24 > 0:23:30It was wave after wave of All Black attacking rugby.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Sweeping up towards the Lions' line.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Beautifully out on the All Blacks' side.
0:23:34 > 0:23:40Bryan Williams. First run of the game here for Carrington.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Willie John said the night before that they would come at you
0:23:43 > 0:23:46and they would hit you with everything but the kitchen sink.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49As Lynchy said, 20 minutes into the game,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52I'm sure I saw a kitchen sink flying across the field.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54New Zealand were immense.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Williams coming up, Bevan coming across, that's Bevan.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00'They look to intimidate, they looked to crush if they can,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03'and they look to pulverise up front.'
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Going for the corner, he beats one man.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11He's in. Touch, he's in touch.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15I think what we surprised them with is that we didn't succumb.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19This is the sort of rucking where New Zealanders get good ball.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22That's it, stolen away by Kirkpatrick.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Kirkpatrick straight through two men.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27'Even when we had pressure on them the first 25 minutes,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29'we couldn't score.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32'If we had scored, it might have broken them, but it didn't happen.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37'They held us out, they tackled us and kept us out.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39'I guess it was a bit of a downer for us.'
0:24:39 > 0:24:43We were thinking, "We're dominant," but we couldn't put them away.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47And so, psychologically, they came back at us saying,
0:24:47 > 0:24:48"We got a chance here, boys."
0:24:48 > 0:24:51It's Willie John McBride opposite Meads.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Behind Willie John is Sean Lynch and Delme Thomas.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Hopkins to Barry John.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58John Dawes, that's the big man.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00That's John Bevan.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06Number 8... A chance here - could be a try!
0:25:06 > 0:25:11It's a try for the Lions by centre forward Ian McLauchlan.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Fantastic try, fantastic. 62 yards.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Or was it metres? I cant remember.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Ian McLauchlan of Scotland, the little prop,
0:25:20 > 0:25:22the mighty mouse has done it.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27What a moment for him. 3-nil to the Lions.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30You could see the confidence in the Lions growing.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Barry started getting more possession,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36started controlling the ball,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39and demonstrated one of the finest performances,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43the art of kicking a rugby ball, that I've ever witnessed.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Nice chip through that by Burgess to Barry John
0:25:46 > 0:25:48McCormick,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51ten yards from his own line.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Can I ask about Barry John?
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Because you played against him,
0:25:57 > 0:26:02it has gone down in legend that he was given the brief to stretch you.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04He certainly stretched me a lot.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07I seemed to be chasing the ball all day and not being able
0:26:07 > 0:26:09to get my hands on it to do something with it.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12John...
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Beautifully flighted ball.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17McCormick has got to turn.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Kill him.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23I crossed him all over the place.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26People always thought that with these players,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29put them under pressure. Kick high kicks.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33The up and unders. No. That's the last thing you want to do.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36That means you're playing him into the game,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38and the crowd will be with him.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41The one thing you want to do is keep him quiet, and the crowd quiet.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43So you just drop and trot - all the time.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46It was a bit sticky as well, that particular day,
0:26:46 > 0:26:50so it was easy to drop and shot, move him sideways all over the place.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55In the end, you could see the crowd was getting at him now.
0:26:55 > 0:26:56He was the local hero.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58That was his home patch, that area.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Just a simple bit of thinking. Don't do the obvious.
0:27:01 > 0:27:07Did some part of you secretly admire that, or were you just cursing him all the way?
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Well, you know, you didn't go and kiss him, did you?
0:27:10 > 0:27:12Well... He was just...
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Yeah, he did worry me a wee bit.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Perhaps... I didn't verbally curse him,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21I just thought, "That little prick over there.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26"He's kicking another one across to the other side."
0:27:26 > 0:27:28The Lions, they put chases on the ball also.
0:27:28 > 0:27:34And left you no option either just to kick it straight out
0:27:34 > 0:27:37or just be mauled up and tied up a bit.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39Hopkins.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42The boot of Barry John.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45McCormick is there with Davies.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49You have your bad days, I don't think I had that bad a day,
0:27:49 > 0:27:54but, let's be honest, I didn't play for New Zealand again after that.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Back to Barry John, he knows what to do.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04And that's it, the Lions have won the Test match!
0:28:04 > 0:28:06What a magnificent victory it's been.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10One of the rare moments of rugby history abroad.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15And now this tour is well and truly on the road. What a day.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20What a tremendous moment. Nine points to three the score.
0:28:20 > 0:28:27We had two from this club going out to represent Great Britain in rugby.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30The coach Carwyn and Barry, who really made his name.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Followed them avidly in the middle of the night.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39We all met here, the team all came here
0:28:39 > 0:28:41and we listened to it on the radio,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44and it was an amazing feeling to be here.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47It was exactly as if we were out there.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51And Barry's mother would be shouting and giving advice
0:28:51 > 0:28:54exactly as if she was talking to Barry.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56She knew her rugby.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00We had a long table in those days,
0:29:00 > 0:29:04and we had laid out a rugby pitch.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06Whenever there was a break,
0:29:06 > 0:29:10they would put pint bottles of a bitter here, perhaps.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13Then pint bottles of mild here, with different colours on them.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16One would be the Lions, the other would be the All Blacks
0:29:16 > 0:29:19and then they would picture this match on the table.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22And move with the ball. They were there,
0:29:22 > 0:29:24in that particular while, they were there.
0:29:24 > 0:29:29And when they won in the end, of course, the whole place erupted.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32THEY ALL CHEER
0:29:33 > 0:29:36- Great show.- Very good, Barry.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40And many of us crawled back to bed about 6am,
0:29:40 > 0:29:45and believe me, headaches the following day.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48There were a lot didn't go back to bed!
0:29:54 > 0:29:59Remarkably, given that they had won practically no ball,
0:29:59 > 0:30:02the Lions were one up in the four-Test series.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06They set off for three games before the second Test
0:30:06 > 0:30:08down to Invercargill, up to Taranaki,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11but they were winning and settled.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28It wasn't the very first time the Lions had won
0:30:28 > 0:30:31the opening Test of a series.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34They had won back in 1930,
0:30:34 > 0:30:36but this time it changed the dynamic of the tour.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43New Zealand realised these Lions were a bit special.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47- We travelled to most of the games. - Really?
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Mike Gibson, John Dawes,
0:30:51 > 0:30:53do they live in the memory still?
0:30:53 > 0:30:56Oh, yeah. Particularly Mike Gibson.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59Gerald Davies, JPR Williams,
0:30:59 > 0:31:06the lock from Willie John McBride, the front row.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09The front row, unfortunately they went down to Canterbury.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12- There was a bit of a mess there. - It was a mess.- Yes.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16- Things went a bit AWOL. - Canterbury said, wasn't their fault.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18- No! - HE LAUGHS
0:31:18 > 0:31:20We have always had good scrums,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23so that was taken for granted that we'd get good positions.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27I think they started to play much more aggressively
0:31:27 > 0:31:30in the backs, in particular.
0:31:38 > 0:31:43There's an adage that the All Blacks remember their defeats more than their victories.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Well, they'd lost. They made changes for the second Test,
0:31:46 > 0:31:48to be played back in Christchurch.
0:31:48 > 0:31:54From places like this, Domett, in North Canterbury there would be a rugby migration
0:31:54 > 0:31:59down to Lancaster Park to see if the All Blacks had been stung into action.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04A single change was made on the Lions' side.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08The young John Bevan was starting to feel the effects
0:32:08 > 0:32:09of being away from home so long.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12David Duckham came in on the left wing for the second Test.
0:32:12 > 0:32:17- COMMENTATOR:- On the left, the Lions with their usual kick-off.
0:32:17 > 0:32:18The switch straightaway,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21Gerald Davies ever alive and alert.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24That's been the pattern of the Lions' play on this tour.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27'As All Blacks were expected to win all the time,'
0:32:27 > 0:32:30but if we don't, well, get on with it.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32Sid Going.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34Here's John Williams on the halfway line.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37'They started off at great speed,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40'lots of things were happening very quickly.'
0:32:40 > 0:32:43See how they slip it back.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45That's Sid Going. Mervyn Davies.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48'Sid Going was electrifying,
0:32:48 > 0:32:53'he was dictating the manner in which the game was being played,
0:32:53 > 0:32:57'linking up with his back row, creating lots of problems.
0:32:57 > 0:32:58'And he tore us to bits.'
0:32:58 > 0:33:01- COMMENTATOR:- Edwards. What a good tackle by Going.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Do you think Sid Going against Gareth Edwards was
0:33:04 > 0:33:06one of the great head-to-heads?
0:33:06 > 0:33:07Sure, yes.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09Completely different players in some ways,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Gareth had that great pass and Barry right back,
0:33:12 > 0:33:17and Sid wasn't regarded as a great passer, but he was a runner.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22His centre of gravity was like this.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26He was a dangerous, strong, nuggety runner.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30I would have hated to play against him too often.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38Oh! That was John and Edwards misunderstanding each other.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43'Gareth Edwards was the type of person, if he wasn't in himself'
0:33:43 > 0:33:48100 per cent fit, he wouldn't perform to his particular level.
0:33:51 > 0:33:52Edwards looking blind.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56You want to be at your best, you want to be as fit as you can be,
0:33:56 > 0:33:59but when you're carrying injuries and you've got nobody else
0:33:59 > 0:34:03to play in that position, you have to overcome them.
0:34:03 > 0:34:08That's Edwards. A misunderstanding with John and Edwards there.
0:34:08 > 0:34:14The management would also be pressurising you to get back,
0:34:14 > 0:34:18wondering whether your injuries were psychological
0:34:18 > 0:34:22and all that kind of thing which only added to the pressure.
0:34:22 > 0:34:23Sid Going's ball.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25Beautiful channelled heel.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27On the blind-side, Burgess.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30He's only one-yard there. What a good score.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33What a brilliant score.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36Bob Burgess scored a couple of tries,
0:34:36 > 0:34:41I think that day, and I was involved in a penalty try.
0:34:41 > 0:34:4435 yards out, this scrum, the Lions drive.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47'I was about to score one and...
0:34:47 > 0:34:49'Gerald jumped on my back and I carried him
0:34:49 > 0:34:52'across the ground as the ball hit the turf.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56'The referee went under the bar.'
0:34:56 > 0:35:00He's getting a penalty try. Let's see it again, what happened.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04'Bryan Williams, I can recall,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07'scored a good try on the blind side.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09'I remember being in the scrum'
0:35:09 > 0:35:12and Sean Lynch was telling me when I'm butting heads with him,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15"Is that the best sort of scrum you can put down?"
0:35:15 > 0:35:18I said, "Have a look up, we've just scored."
0:35:19 > 0:35:21This is constant pressure.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23That's Sid Going.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Underneath it, the inevitable,
0:35:26 > 0:35:27the brilliant,
0:35:27 > 0:35:29the exciting John Williams.
0:35:29 > 0:35:30He's got two outside,
0:35:30 > 0:35:31Gibson's with him.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33Gibson's got Gerald Davies, can he get there?
0:35:33 > 0:35:36He's got 25 yards to go! What a run it is.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38He's going under the sticks!
0:35:41 > 0:35:44Perhaps the vivid image of that Test was the try of
0:35:44 > 0:35:49Ian Kirkpatrick as he fended off tackler after tackler.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51This is where the All Blacks are strong.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54Look at that, Ian Kirkpatrick, the big man.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56He's got 30 yards to go.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Can Barry John catch him? He can't.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01What a try!
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Oh, what a wonderful try.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10We were on our way, and I suppose the way they came at me suited me,
0:36:10 > 0:36:12because I delayed fending them.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15When they start to go down and low-ish at you,
0:36:15 > 0:36:17then you've got them.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20You just have to turn round, delay it and push them off.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22I had to change the ball over a couple of times.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24Got a couple from each side.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28It was just pretty lucky for me in that respect.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30What a score by the great man Kirkpatrick.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32What a try.
0:36:32 > 0:36:376 ft 2 and a half, 16 stone three,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41the speed of a stag, what a magnificent try by Kirkpatrick.
0:36:41 > 0:36:47We won reasonably easy, but not without a bloody battle, I might add.
0:36:47 > 0:36:52You know, it was just a game that I guess, went our way.
0:36:52 > 0:36:57It was a bit like what didn't happen at Dunedin happened at Christchurch.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00Things went our way and we got on top of them
0:37:00 > 0:37:03and managed to keep that margin right through the game.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07On the 25, plenty of time for Cottrell to get that one clear.
0:37:07 > 0:37:08And that's it.
0:37:08 > 0:37:13What a great victory it's been for the All Blacks.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16I would say, quite honestly,
0:37:16 > 0:37:18that in the losing of
0:37:18 > 0:37:21the second Test, I felt we had the winning of the series,
0:37:21 > 0:37:24because so many things happened in that second Test,
0:37:24 > 0:37:27I felt, we could improve upon
0:37:27 > 0:37:31and our counter-attacking game by this time was pretty good.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36Going hovering round, and John looking for the drop ball.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38What a beautiful piece of play,
0:37:38 > 0:37:40that's a great dummy for John Williams.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43'We started playing the type of game
0:37:43 > 0:37:46'that Carwyn had always said was going to win the series for us.
0:37:46 > 0:37:51'When JPR and Gerald intertwined and ran from deep.'
0:37:51 > 0:37:54This is Duckham on the outside.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57What beautiful play.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00'Gerald Davies scored a fabulous try and they had no answer to it.'
0:38:00 > 0:38:02Can he get it in the corner? What a run!
0:38:02 > 0:38:05Great score. What a try!
0:38:05 > 0:38:09'That was the moment we realised we could win the series.'
0:38:11 > 0:38:14Beautiful play, John Williams has got support on his right.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18I think that was Carwyn's finest moment.
0:38:18 > 0:38:23He said, "Boys, I now know we can win the series."
0:38:23 > 0:38:31Although you lost, suddenly you were elevated. "That's good. Great."
0:38:31 > 0:38:38The sense of optimism in defeat was complemented by victories in the next four provincial matches.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Christchurch was put behind them, forward they went.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45John Williams.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48Bevan. Gibson.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Williams.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55Arneil. Davies.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00Davies takes it ahead.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02It's a fine try!
0:39:02 > 0:39:06I don't think they'd seen somebody approach the game,
0:39:06 > 0:39:11not only myself, Mike Gibson, JPR was running from the deep
0:39:11 > 0:39:14and things like this, and somebody like Gerald,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17flying down the right, right down to the touchline,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19drop the shoulder, the sidestep,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22and bouncing and accelerating,
0:39:22 > 0:39:24scoring fantastic tries.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26COMMENTATOR: Six yards outside the 25.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Lions have won it, it's good ruck ball.
0:39:30 > 0:39:31Davies.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34One man to beat for a hat-trick.
0:39:37 > 0:39:43'Deep down, to some of us, anyway, we wanted the beautiful tries,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46'you know - out to Gerald Davies, Gerald beats two men, links inside,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49'John Taylor comes over there, switches it back, and, you know...
0:39:49 > 0:39:52'The perfect, glorious try.'
0:39:55 > 0:39:58COMMENTATOR: They've won the ruck. Dawes, Gibson.
0:40:02 > 0:40:03Davies.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07Wonderful rugby!
0:40:10 > 0:40:12If the tour was immediately back on track,
0:40:12 > 0:40:14there still had to be a re-think.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18Carwyn James surveyed his options and made changes.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22Gordon Brown, Broon of Troon, came into the second row.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26And to contain Ian Kirkpatrick and Sid Going,
0:40:26 > 0:40:28in came the uncapped Derek Quinnell of Llanelli.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32Meanwhile, in the All Black camp,
0:40:32 > 0:40:37coach Ivan Vodanovich was still letting victory sink in.
0:40:39 > 0:40:40Psychologically,
0:40:40 > 0:40:44you need to be brought back to Earth that this is another game
0:40:44 > 0:40:51and another place, and so, hey, flick out of it, it's not going to be easy.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56It's got to come from the coach, and we needed drilling, really,
0:40:56 > 0:40:57but we never got it.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00It wasn't quite Ivan Vodanovich's style.
0:41:00 > 0:41:05Do you think that actually Carwyn James might have out-thought Ivan Vodanovich?
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Oh, completely. Carwyn James was a brilliant coach.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10He was a great thinker of the game,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13and before they ever got to New Zealand he always said
0:41:13 > 0:41:15there was a weak link in the New Zealand team,
0:41:15 > 0:41:17but he wouldn't name him.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20Well, we all thought it was us, you know.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23Every player thought that, and particularly me,
0:41:23 > 0:41:25because I was 35 or 36, and you think,
0:41:25 > 0:41:28"Well, he's over the bloody hill," and that sort of thing.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32So you had all those sort of things going on.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35He was obviously a very smart cookie.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39They were always going to be probing into our weaknesses,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42and they did that well.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44He was no fool, Carwyn James, that's for sure.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54The Lions left the South Island for the last time
0:41:54 > 0:41:57and crossed the Cook Strait to Wellington,
0:41:57 > 0:42:01where they had played some of their best rugby.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03But that was 15 games ago.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Now it was the third Test at Athletic Park,
0:42:06 > 0:42:08with the series all-square.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13COMMENTATOR: The third Test between the British Lions and New Zealand,
0:42:13 > 0:42:18the most vital match that any British Lion player will ever play in his life.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22Barry John.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26Mike Gibson, Gerald Davies. See the swing of the hips!
0:42:26 > 0:42:28That was a beautiful run.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31He's on the ten-yard line, that's the half-way line.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34The New Zealand 25. Covering there is Hunter.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37Hunter... Beautiful tackle by John Taylor. Under the posts.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40They must ruck it now. Can they get it?
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Beautifully back to Barry John, looking for the drop-goal.
0:42:45 > 0:42:46He's done it!
0:42:49 > 0:42:54Barry John, consummate, but what about his half-back partner?
0:42:54 > 0:42:56Edwards, into the open space.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00The mighty Gareth Edwards had gone off injured in the first Test,
0:43:00 > 0:43:02had been outplayed in the second.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06By his standards he'd been below par, and we all knew,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08and there's got to be a performance in him.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12I remember talking to him a few days before, "Come on, Gareth, this is the one we want you.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15"You've got to perform now." And he came out unbelievable.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18Taylor, deflection. Edwards.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21He's nearly under the posts, can he get there?
0:43:21 > 0:43:24To Barry John, and Barry John has scored! What a try!
0:43:24 > 0:43:28Knowing I was fully fit, ready for it, preparation had gone very well.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33I wanted to prove that I could play the game.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35He peeled beautifully off the back of the line,
0:43:35 > 0:43:38ran straight at Bob Burgess, and Bob had long hair,
0:43:38 > 0:43:42he was a hippy or a freak out in New Zealand cos everybody had short hair.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44And Bob was there, and Bob came at him,
0:43:44 > 0:43:46and Gareth got him with the right hand like that
0:43:46 > 0:43:48and pushed him clean up,
0:43:48 > 0:43:51and his hair went, and the spray that came out like that...
0:43:52 > 0:43:57And Barry, of course, had read it perfectly, he was right on my shoulder.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59Instead of running away from him,
0:43:59 > 0:44:02I cut my line across to be alongside him.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06That's all it was then, a little pop pass, and you skated in.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10Edwards handing off Burgess, the strength, the determination,
0:44:10 > 0:44:12the finesse of John at the end.
0:44:12 > 0:44:18And the third Test, the guys talking in the team room before the game...
0:44:18 > 0:44:21Everybody just thought, "This is a cakewalk.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24"We can definitely beat these guys."
0:44:24 > 0:44:27And then we did, we beat them very easily.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31Five yards now from the All Black line. Can the Lions ruck this ball?
0:44:31 > 0:44:34They can. To Edwards. Edwards is going. Davies is there!
0:44:34 > 0:44:36Gerald Davies has scored a try.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41Brian Lochore's deflection, Sid Going to Wayne Cottrell,
0:44:41 > 0:44:43he's got with him Duncan.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45Joseph on the burst.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47Underneath the posts.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50Back beautifully. Mains.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53Joseph couldn't get it, fell over a dog.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55We just didn't play well, we didn't gel.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59The Lions got a sniff again and Barry kept putting it behind us,
0:44:59 > 0:45:03and we were up against it, all right.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05And it just didn't work for us.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09Sid Going. It's the drive of the Lions, to Barry John.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12The Lions have done it!
0:45:12 > 0:45:16That's one of the great feats in rugby history
0:45:16 > 0:45:19as far as British Lions are concerned.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24It's been a day that none of the boys who have played on the field will ever forget,
0:45:24 > 0:45:29and what a tremendous climax now the last Test in two weeks' time will be at Auckland.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33The series could not be lost.
0:45:33 > 0:45:35The All Blacks had been overturned at the very moment
0:45:35 > 0:45:39when they were accustomed to taking full control.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44I think in those days we probably
0:45:44 > 0:45:48hadn't come up against a team like that British Isles team at that stage.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53Barry John just carved us up.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56Gosh, we went home in absolute depression
0:45:56 > 0:45:58after that match in Athletic Park!
0:46:09 > 0:46:12I'd never seen a display by an outside-half
0:46:12 > 0:46:14over an extended period of time
0:46:14 > 0:46:17that comes anything close to what he was able to do.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28There was nothing that Barry didn't feel he couldn't do on that tour.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32He just portrayed how simple the game can be,
0:46:32 > 0:46:39and he was majestic, and it was a pleasure to watch him perform.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44You're there to conduct the orchestra. You're the main playmaker.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46You're pulling the strings.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50Catch it and give it, and let the greyhounds go, let them loose.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52It was a simple task, to be honest.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07He had so much time on the ball,
0:47:07 > 0:47:10he treated them with disdain in many ways.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13No-one could get anywhere near him.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15He was so light and he evaded the tackles.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22He was...the...the king.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31I didn't have a clue about line-out signals, what they were,
0:47:31 > 0:47:33so if I'd been kidnapped and drugged and they'd said,
0:47:33 > 0:47:37"Give us the line-out signals," I didn't know what the hell they were on about.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39I didn't know we had any!
0:47:39 > 0:47:43And my motto, and I used to tell the boys, "Just get me the ball.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46"How you get it, I don't care. Just get me the ball."
0:47:51 > 0:47:54Out there on the pitch I felt absolutely wonderful.
0:47:54 > 0:47:59Free, I can do what the hell I want here. It's my little paradise, this.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01Leave me alone. And I was alone,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04so I could just go out and explain and declare yourself.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06Marvellous feeling.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22Who do you remember of the Lions of 1971?
0:48:22 > 0:48:26I named a baby after Barry John?
0:48:26 > 0:48:28- You never did?- Yeah, I did.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32Barry John Henry. It was just one of those things.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36He was the second boy we had, he was a bit brand-new,
0:48:36 > 0:48:39and Barry John just seemed to fit.
0:48:39 > 0:48:45But yeah, it sounded like a good name at the time.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48- They promoted Barry John a lot.- Yeah.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50King, King John.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52Well, you might have called him King John, but...
0:48:56 > 0:49:00The tourists headed north for the final three provincial games
0:49:00 > 0:49:03and the last Test, always played at Eden Park in Auckland.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06There were storylines to tie up -
0:49:06 > 0:49:08to remain unbeaten in the non-Test games,
0:49:08 > 0:49:10John Bevan to equal the try record
0:49:10 > 0:49:14set by Tony O'Reilly of Ireland in 1959 -
0:49:14 > 0:49:1617 tries for the Lions in New Zealand.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23You are weary, you've spent three and a half months changing your towels twice a week,
0:49:23 > 0:49:26you're wined and dined, you've got to go to receptions.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28It's now taking its toll,
0:49:28 > 0:49:32and certainly the last couple of weeks of the tour are hard.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37It's like a final lap in a marathon, I suppose.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40You know, you've done so far, you've worked all the way,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43don't mess it up now. Come on, boys.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50COMMENTATOR: Hello, everyone, from Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54And some 56,000 here in this garden-like setting at Eden Park
0:49:54 > 0:50:01have paid more than 130,000 to see the 1971 Lions play this,
0:50:01 > 0:50:04the most important and last game on New Zealand soil.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10Eden Park.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13They said a draw would be enough to win the series.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17Manager Doug Smith, way back after their first defeat against Queensland,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19had said that the Lions would win the Test series
0:50:19 > 0:50:22won two, lost one, drawn one.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25But in rugby, a draw is an unusual result.
0:50:25 > 0:50:30In 100 tests since 1891, there have been just nine draws.
0:50:30 > 0:50:35It was as improbable as JPR dropping a goal from 45 metres.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38These things simply didn't happen.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46COMMENTATOR: Davies, Barry John.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48Mike Gibson on the ten-yard line.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51That's a nice one into the box. Covering, Wayne Cottrell.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54Full of experience.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56That's what experience counts, knowing what to do,
0:50:56 > 0:50:59and what glorious running. The inside pass.
0:50:59 > 0:51:00It's a three-to-one situation...
0:51:00 > 0:51:05It's more desperation, I suppose, really. All we could do was draw it.
0:51:05 > 0:51:10I guess we knew we couldn't win it, fine, get on with it.
0:51:10 > 0:51:16We've got to beat these guys and at least come away with a drawn series.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20Sid Going. Number 8 forward Wyllie, the dummy.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22Beautiful piece of work there.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26This could be a try, but a great tackle, and a try for Cottrell.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28We started pretty well that game,
0:51:28 > 0:51:32and looked as if we could take it, but that was a great Lions side.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36They had lots of really top players, lots of experience.
0:51:39 > 0:51:44Edwards, two yards short. Can he get there? He's one yard short now.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47Back on the Lions side. Over they are, and it's a score!
0:51:47 > 0:51:51Was there an element of concern now that actually you might be
0:51:51 > 0:51:53the first to go down to the Lions?
0:51:53 > 0:51:58Oh, no, you don't go in with that concern, you go in,
0:51:58 > 0:52:02"we're going to win," you know, straight out.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05You know, I always think, we'd have scored a try
0:52:05 > 0:52:08if it hadn't have been for JPR Williams.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12I think he bowled Jazz Muller and nearly killed the poor bugger!
0:52:13 > 0:52:17Pick-up, though, by Muller. John Williams was with him.
0:52:18 > 0:52:22Well, that was a moment that I'd love to see again, the big man,
0:52:22 > 0:52:26the biggest in the side, and the Lions full-back
0:52:26 > 0:52:29the only thing between number 1, Muller, and glory and the line.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31And then he drop-kicked a goal,
0:52:31 > 0:52:34the only one he drop-kicked in his bloody life!
0:52:34 > 0:52:36And it was from bloody 45 yards out,
0:52:36 > 0:52:40it wasn't an easy drop-kick or anything like that,
0:52:40 > 0:52:44and so, you know, there was a bit of magic in their team.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47The ball was out near the touchline,
0:52:47 > 0:52:51and we were throwing it infield, and we were going backwards, actually.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54So I got the ball on the back foot, really,
0:52:54 > 0:52:57and there were a couple of people outside,
0:52:57 > 0:52:59and I didn't want to shovel bad ball on any further.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02So I thought, "Well, let's have a go for it,"
0:53:02 > 0:53:03and I just hit it perfectly,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06and it was still rising when it went over the posts.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08JPR decided that he'd be a drop-kicker.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11- I don't think he'd ever got a drop-kick in his life, had he?- No.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14And he banged it over from damn halfway.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17Gareth Edwards waiting for this one.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19Duckham flinging it out.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21John Williams, the full-back.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23Oh, he turned well!
0:53:23 > 0:53:25And he did it!
0:53:25 > 0:53:27John Williams, number 15 there...
0:53:27 > 0:53:31We're on the way to the test match, everyone was very tense.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35So I sat up and said, "OK, guys, today I'm going to drop a goal."
0:53:35 > 0:53:39And everyone just burst out laughing, it sort of cut the ice.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42And that's why I turned to the reserves
0:53:42 > 0:53:45in the stand after I did it, with the thumbs-up.
0:53:45 > 0:53:53Number 15 there, John Williams, hit that one straight and true.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56We're nearly there, we're nearly touching the winning line.
0:53:56 > 0:54:01And so I just kicked to the corner and put them under pressure.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05So we trapped them there for the last five or six minutes.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08It wasn't glorious stuff, but as I said, that was a result job.
0:54:08 > 0:54:13As Sid Going feeds this one. Cottrell with him going blind.
0:54:13 > 0:54:18The knock-on, and that's it!
0:54:18 > 0:54:20That's it!
0:54:20 > 0:54:23A drawn match here, 14 points all at Eden Park.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26But the British Lions have won the series.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32When you've put something on a pedestal like this
0:54:32 > 0:54:38and you actually crack it, it's a let-down in many ways.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41"What's happened to the other side? I've climbed Everest."
0:54:41 > 0:54:43There's nothing after Everest.
0:54:43 > 0:54:44A great day, Carwyn,
0:54:44 > 0:54:48in a life that has been a very distinguished one in rugby up to now,
0:54:48 > 0:54:49but this must be one of THE moments?
0:54:49 > 0:54:54Oh, yes, one of the truly emotional moments, I would have said.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56The boys played superbly yet again today.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59It's been a long journey, Cliff, it's been a hard tour.
0:54:59 > 0:55:0224 matches here in New Zealand, and the boys have played well,
0:55:02 > 0:55:04with spirit, in all these matches,
0:55:04 > 0:55:08and I think they thoroughly deserved to win the series in the end.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13Tortured, tormented Carwyn James,
0:55:13 > 0:55:17a quiet man who once made the Lions roar, just the once.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21He'd never coach them again, he'd never coach Wales.
0:55:21 > 0:55:25But 40 years ago he and his team came here and were the best.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29Because to win in this land of beauty and power and menace,
0:55:29 > 0:55:31you have to BE the best.
0:55:57 > 0:56:02I don't think that had ever happened in the history of rugby football,
0:56:02 > 0:56:04to come back to London Heathrow
0:56:04 > 0:56:08and to find there were thousands of people who had travelled
0:56:08 > 0:56:11the length and breadth of this country of ours to greet us home.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16It was an amazing moment,
0:56:16 > 0:56:21to think that that's what we had meant to so many people.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27I didn't realise at the time that we'd created history,
0:56:27 > 0:56:30it hadn't hit home, if you like.
0:56:30 > 0:56:36The fact that no British side had ever won a Test series in New Zealand prior to 1971.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38And now we're talking 40 years on here,
0:56:38 > 0:56:42nobody has ever won a Test series since then.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45So it's pretty unique in the annals of British rugby.
0:56:47 > 0:56:51We went to New Zealand and we played 24 games -
0:56:51 > 0:56:54four Tests, 20 provincials.
0:56:54 > 0:56:55And we only lost one game.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58And that is a phenomenal achievement.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00And that will never, ever be repeated.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04If you had said 40 years ago that I'd be sitting here
0:57:04 > 0:57:07talking about winning the series in '71,
0:57:07 > 0:57:09I would never have believed you.
0:57:09 > 0:57:14But it happened, and it's something to treasure.
0:57:16 > 0:57:21I think, in life sometimes, it was meant to be.
0:57:21 > 0:57:23It was meant to be,
0:57:23 > 0:57:26and maybe we were the people who were meant to be to achieve it.
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