Five years to the day - Matt Dawson - That try!

By Lenny the Lion
June 21 2002

Its the fifth anniversary today of the famous try that put Matt Dawson down in the annals of British rugby history when at Newlands, Cape Town he dummied the whole Springbok defence and skipped into legend. Today we look back at that 1997 Lions Tour.

It was the first tour of the professional era and several of the better-known rugby pundits and ex Lions players were even questioning whether it was the end for the British & Irish Lions. How could a team that only tours every four years survive in the brave new world of pro rugby? Surely they were too archaic for the modern game and this tour, arranged before the advent of professionalism, would be the last.

Of course the Lions were on a hiding to nothing. South Africa were the world champions, and in the post apartheid years of the Rainbow Nation the whole country were rallying behind the Springboks. The Lions on the face of it were lambs to the slaughter. They were going to SA to just make up the numbers and were to be on the receiving end of a whitewash. It was not just the Springboks the Lions had to contend with, the games against the Super 12 sides and provinces were rumoured to be akin to Test matches themselves.

There were not many that gave the Lions a chance but they were not counting on the tactical and inspirational nous of Ian McGeechan, who, along with Jim Telfer and Fran Cotton, moulded their selections into world-beaters. When the squad was announced it was roundly criticised on all fronts, but McGeechan is a veteran of Lions tours and knew that to beat the Boks in their own backyard needed a special class of player. Players who were 'tough and uncompromising and never troubled by thoughts of failure'.

Yes the Dallaglios, Guscotts, Gibbs, Johnsons and Jenkins were selected but the backbone of the squad were those whose names did not perhaps trip off the tongue so easily but who without this tour would never have been the success it was. The likes of Tom Smith, Dai Young, Paul Wallace, Jeremy Davidson, Rob Wainwright and Eric Miller in the forwards, Allan Bateman, Alan Tait, John Bentley, Will Greenwood, Tim Stimpson and Nick Beal in the backs.

Some of these players never made the Test side but their hard work in support of the chosen XV was recognised as a major force in the success of the tour. As McGeechan said at the time, 'there are no midweek and weekend teams there are just Lions'.

The tour opened with a solid but uneventful win over Eastern Province 39-11 in Port Elizabeth followed up by a defeat of Border in the rainswept mud of East London on the Cape. The win was unconvincing and already the South African press were predicting an easy 3-0 win for the Boks in the Test series.
Things improved in the third game of the tour with a ground out win over the fancied Western Province. The pack struggled at times against the WP forwards who contained the likes of Garry Pagel but held firm enough to allow the backs to run in the tries as they came away the victors at 38-11.

The press were now grudgingly paying compliments to the Lions squad and when in the following game against Mpumalanga they ran in ten tries in a 64-14 victory a few started to sit up and take notice but surely they would have no answer to the Springboks?

It was during the Mpumalanga game that the ugly side of South African play reared its head. The home lock Marius Bosman was clearly a player of little class, what he lacked in ability he made up for in thuggery. Late in the game, and after several earlier misdemeanors (all 'unsighted' by the local referee) Bosman stamped on the outstretched leg of Doddie Weir ending his tour in an instant.

If anything the injury to Weir, who was replaced by Bath's Ollie Redman had a galvanising effect on the squad. They now knew what they were up against as the opposition took a step up in class with three games over Super 12 teams in quick succession.

After going down 35-30 to Northern Transvaal in a game they should have won the Lions edged out Guateng 20-14. One of the Lions tries that evening was the score of the tour. The irrepressible John Bentley took the ball as almost the last line of defence just outside the Lions 22. After beating a couple of players, Bentley put his head down looped round the outside, cut inside then went for the line. To this day I swear he overtook the same player three times in his maze like run to the line.

The Lions were now on a roll with Natal Sharks up next in Durban. Natal were the current Currie Cup holders and were considered the best SA had to offer outside the Springboks, indeed they had a fair smattering of Boks in the ranks. Now at last the SA press were saying, these upstart Lions will see what South African rugby is all about. The Lions stuffed them! Tries by Gregor Townsend, Mike Catt and Lawrence Dallaglio added to 24 points kicked by Neil Jenkins easily saw the Lions past their much-vaunted opposition.
Seeds of doubt were now starting to be planted in South African minds. However the joy of the win was tempered by the shoulder dislocation of first-choice scrum-half Robert Howley. Matthew Dawson, who at the time was considered by England coach Jack Rowell to be his fourth choice No9 would have to step into Howley's shoes.

With one game to go before the first Test the team for the Springbok games was starting to take shape and it was not as one would predict. The players selected for the easy win over the Emerging Springboks 51-22 gave clues to the makeup of the Test XV. There would be no place for Jason Leonard considered a cert before the plane left Heathrow. John Bentley, considered by most, the man to take care of the Springboks 'modest' wing James Small was left out in the cold as fellow league returnee Alan Tait was favoured out wide.

McGeechan, Telfer, Cotton and skipper Martin Johnson opted for the following selection for the first Test. A front row of Tom Smith, Paul Wallace and Keith Wood Johnson would partner Jeremy Davidson in the second. The English trio of Richard Hill, Tim Rodber and Lawrence Dallaglio would form the back. In the backs Matt Dawson would partner his Northampton clubmate Gregor Townsend at half-back. The cruiser Jeremy Guscott and the pocket battleship Scott Gibbs teamed up in the centre. Tait and the veteran Ieaun Evans took the wings while Neil Jenkins, who had been kicking points from all over the park was selected out of position at fullback.

FIRST TEST, 21 June, 1997 Newlands, Cape Town
The Boks threw everything at the Lions in the opening half but only had an Os du Randt try and a solitary penalty to show for their efforts at half time. The boot of the magnificent Jenkins kept the Lions in front at 9-8 but it looked ominous for the Lions as Bennett went over for the second South African score soon after the break.

The Lions to their credit regrouped and forged their way back into the game Jenkins hit two more penalties and with the score at 16-15 in the Springboks favour it needed a bit of inspired brilliance to break the game. Step up Matt Dawson. From the base of a scrum 20 yards out Dawson picked up the ball and sped down the narrow right-hand channel.

Easily outflanking the blindside flanker he ran deep into Bok territory. Just as it looked like Gary Teichmann or Andre Joubert was about to close him down Dawson did the most audacious thing. Taking the ball in one hand he feigned to pass inside to one of his supporting players.

Joubert and Teichmann both fell for the feint and Dawson just strolled over the line to touch down one of the most famous tries in Lions history. The Boks were broken and the Lions took the upperhand finally sealing the game when Tim Rodber found Alan Tait with a looping pass coming up on his wing. Tait went over for the try to give the Lions the famous victory.

Result: South Africa 16 Lions 25

SECOND TEST, 28 June, 1997, Kings Park, Durban
Four days after the first test win the Lions won a game that Fran Cotton described as the performance of the tour. Playing Free State at altitude having only traveled there on the day of the match the Lions ran out easy winners 52-30 with John Bentley getting a further three tries. With Ieaun Evan picking up a groin injury the way was clear for Bentley to make the team for the second Test in the only change from the victors of the first.

Not so much a game that the Lions won but a game that the Springboks lost. It was said that if Neil Jenkins were a South African they would have won this match by a proverbial country mile. Luckily for the Lions Jenkins hails from Pontypridd!

The Boks dominated the game and ran in a trio of tries through Joost van der Westhuizen, Percy Montgomery and Andre Joubert but failed with half a dozen kicks or more from Henri Honnibal, Joubert and Montgomery. Jenkins kept the Lions in the game with penalty after penalty from all angles and distances until the scores sat at 15-15 with the clock running down.

With time running out Gregor Townsend was held up short of the Springbok line but managed to feed the ball back through the ruck to half-back partner Matt Dawson. Dawson instinctively turned to pass the ball back but horror upon horrors neither Townsend or Jenkins were in the fly-half position, Jerry Guscott was!

Dawson had no option but to feed Guscott, who himself had limited options outside. There was only one thing to do. Guscott calmly took one step back then slotted the ball through the South African uprights to put his side in front 18-15 as the referee blew the whistle for the end of the match and an unassailable 2-0 Test win for the British and Irish Lions.

The team that had just gone to make up the numbers had done the unthinkable. They had shown the doubters, the South African press and certain vociferous Springbok players up for the fools that they were. Result: South Africa 15 Lions 18

THIRD TEST, 5 July, 1997, Ellis Park, Johannesburg

With the series won both the Lions and the Springboks made wholesale changes for the final Test at Ellis Park, Johannesburg. The Boks ran in four tries to a single one from Matt Dawson to take the game 35-16 but it was too little too late for the South Africans, the die had been cast. Result: South Africa 35 Lions 16

Series Result: British & Irish Lions 2 South Africa 1

A tour that will be long remembered and one that certainly put the British & Irish Lions back on the international rugby map. Who will ever forget Dawson's dummy and try, Guscott's drop-goal, Scott Gibbs' brushing aside Os du Randt like he was a flyweight halfback and John Bentley's 80 metre try. The memories will live long and after this tour hopefully so will the Lions.

Played Won Drawn Lost For Against
13 11 0 2 480 278

Eastern Province W 39 - 11
Border W 18 - 14
Western Province W 38 - 21
Mpumalanga W 64 - 14
Northern Transvaal L 30 - 35
Gauteng Lions W 30 - 14
Natal Sharks W 42 - 12
Emerging Springboks W 51 - 21
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Test) W 25 - 16
Free State W 52 - 30
SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Test) W 18 - 15
Northern Free State W 67 - 39
SOUTH AFRICA (3rd Test) L 16 - 35

Player Nation Club
Neil Jenkins Wales Pontypridd
Tim Stimpson England Newcastle
Allan Bateman Wales Richmond
Nick Beal England NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
John Bentley England Newcastle
Mike Catt England Bath
Iuean Evans Wales Llanelli
Scott Gibbs Wales Swansea
Will Greenwood Uncapped Leicester
Jerry Guscott England Bath
Tony Stanger Scotland Hawick
Alan Tait Scotland Newcastle
TonyUnderwood England Newcastle
Kyran Bracken England Saracens
Matt Dawson England NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Paul Grayson England NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Austin Healey England Leicester
Rob Howley Wales Cardiff
Gregor Townshend Scotland NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Neil Back England Leicester
Lawrence Dallaglio England Wasps
Jeremy Davidson Ireland London Irish
Tony Diprose England Saracens
Richard Hill England Saracens
Martin Johnson England Leicester
Eric Miller Ireland Leicester
Scott Quinnell Wales Richmond
Ollie Redman England Bath
Mark Regan England Bristol
Tim Rodber England NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Graham Rowntree England Leicester
Simon Shaw England Bristol
Tom Smith Scotland Watsonians
Rob Wainwright Scotland Watsonians
Paul Wallace Ireland Saracens
GeorgeWeir Scotland Newcastle
Barry Williams Wales Richmond
Keith Wood Ireland Harlequins
Dai Young Wales Cardiff



Copyright Chris Gleadell 2001