ONCE WERE LIONS
Jeff Connor & Martin Hannan
CONTENTS
Foreword by Finlay Calder OBE
Preface The men who once were Lions
Chapter 1-First twenty years of the Lions 1888–1908
Chapter 2-Then they were Lions 1910–1938
Chapter 3-Karl Mullen’s Happy Band Australia and New Zealand 1950
Chapter 4-Robin Thompson’s Quality Street Gang South Africa 1955
Chapter 5-Ronnie Dawson’s Proud Squad Australia, New Zealand and Canada 1959
Chapter 6-Arthur Smith’s Big Boys didn’t cry South Africa 1962
Chapter 8-Tom Kiernan’s Frolicsome Brigade South Africa 1968
Chapter 9-John Dawes and The Great Revival New Zealand and Australia 1971
Chapter 10-Willie John Mcbride’s Legends South Africa 1974
Chapter 11-Phil Bennett’s Bad News Boys New Zealand and Fiji 1977
Chapter 12-Bill Beaumont and The Bad Luck Tour South Africa 1980
Chapter 13-Ciaran Fitzgerald’s Men Cut Down New Zealand 1983
Chapter 14-Finlay Calder: No Compromise Australia 1989
Chapter 15-Gavin Hastings and the tale of two tours New Zealand 1993
Chapter 16-Martin Johnson’s Marvels South Africa 1997
Chapter 17-Scribblers for Martin Johnson’s Lions Australia 2001
Chapter 18-Speared by the all Blacks: Brian O’Driscoll New Zealand 2005
Index
Roll of Honour and Archive of Results
FOREWORD By Finlay Calder OBE Captain, the British and Irish Lions in Australia, 1989
On 15 July 2006, I sat in the Caledonian Club in London, surrounded by friends from the British and Irish Lions who had toured Australia with me some seventeen years previously.
Rory Underwood apart, the rest of us had long given up on our youthful looks, and much water had passed beneath the bridge since those wonderful days back then. It was a night of great warmth, more than a few drams: an evening of mutual respect, trust and friendship. Before we said Grace, I suggested that in the intervening years, probably not one of us has escaped the passing of time. In truth, most of us at some stage must have trod a pretty uncomfortable path, whether that had been in terms of health, wealth or indeed happiness.
But why should a British Lion be different from anyone else? The truth is of course, he is not, and just like everyone else, they are burdened with the trials that come along in this life of ours.
To quote Max Ehrmann:
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born out of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
A night like that in London reminded us all just how privileged we had been in our lives to have come in contact with this wonderful pastime.
This book, Once were Lions by Jeff Connor and Martin Hannan, perhaps underlines that although some may have suffered at times, all Lions, I’m sure, will have felt privileged to at least have been given the chance to have worn the famous red jersey in their rugby lives.
Finlay Calder, January 2009
PREFACE THE MEN WHO ONCE WERE LIONS
There is no such thing as a ‘former’ British and Irish Lion. Like the kings and queens of Britain, once you are a Lion you always stay a Lion, except that you can never abdicate Lionship. That is entirely fitting, for to be a Lion means to be a king, if only of the wonderful, glorious, many-hued jungle that is rugby union.
In this book you will find no references to ‘former’ or ‘ex’-Lions. To us, the men who once were Lions on the field have stayed Lions in name and status ever since. Since the day they pulled on the Lions jersey, through the many vicissitudes of life—in this book you will read of some who have suffered—they have carried the title of Lion. It is an honoured name, revered indeed.
