Success on the 1997 tour of South Africa was as much to do with the performances on the field as it was with the work off it. Take a look at one of the the most famous speeches in British & Irish Lions history with words from Fran Cotton and Sir Ian McGeechan that set the tone for the rest of the tour.

Fran Cotton – Lions Tour manager 24 May 1997

“The first game of the tour is always special, but there are a lot of special games on tour so we don’t want to labour the point.

“For all of us, there is going to be that little tingle through the spine when we see those red shirts trod out onto the rugby playing fields of South Africa. It’s a special moment of your careers – particularly those of you wearing the jersey for the first time.

“There have been a lot of special players in that shirt. But we have got a special group of players in this room – that is very obvious to myself and the management from the first two weeks together.

“I know that you will wear it with pride boys, enjoy the day and from all of us – there have been a hell of a lot of faxes, phone calls and messages – so let’s go out there and do the business.”

Sir Ian McGeechan – Lions coach 24 May 1997

“You have got the jerseys, you carry the responsibility and you carry the challenge.

“What you have got now is four countries playing as one. I think Jim (Telfer) and I both feel privileged and to a certain extent humbled about coming together with the most talented players in the British Isles.

“The mantle you carry and the challenge that you have is to put a marker down in South Africa about the way we can play rugby.

“The whole thing should be a challenge, you have got to enjoy it. If you look around at the talent you have been rubbing shoulders with. We are underestimated – I am convinced of that, I am quite happy about that.

“But the ability for us to stay in this game, to keep them under pressure, to play at the pace we want comes down to this: If somebody hits the deck or goes into contact, there has to be that commitment to get three or four players behind.

“There has to be that commitment to get in behind the ball, there has to be that commitment to knock them away, and then there has to be that commitment to get in behind and make the second wave.

“I want the marker put down today. But I tell you, the hairs will be up on the back of my neck when you run out today.

“A Lion in South Africa is special, the Lions are special, the legends go with it. You’re making history, you’re putting the marker down. You, this afternoon, are saying what the ‘97 Lions are all about.”


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