1977 British Lions tour to New Zealand
| 1977 British Lions Tour to New Zealand | |
|---|---|
| Date | 18 May – 16 August |
| Coach(es) | John Dawes |
| Tour captain(s) |
 Phil Bennett
|
| Test series winners |
 New Zealand (3–1) |
| Top test point scorer(s) |
Phil Bennett (18) |
In 1977 the British Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand. The Lions played 26 matches, including four internationals against the All Blacks. They lost the series against the All Blacks by three matches to one. The team played as the British Isles in their internationals against the All Blacks and the British Lions for the non-international games. One game was also played at Buckhurst Park, Suva, against Fiji.
The Lions tourists left London on 10 May 1977 and returned on 19 August. Of their 26 matches on tour, they won 21 and lost 5. Although the Lions lost the test series against the All Blacks they were level 1–1 after the second international and came close to drawing the series; they led 9–6 going into injury time in the fourth test only to concede a match-winning try scored by Lawrie Knight.
Outside the test series, the Lions beat all their New Zealand provincial opponents as well as the NZ Maori and NZ Juniors representative teams, losing only to the New Zealand Universities team four days before the first international – this was the first defeat for a Lions team since the 1971 tourists lost the second test to the All Blacks on the same Christchurch ground and ended an unbeaten run of thirty-nine matches for the Lions. It was during the Junior All Blacks game that the famous 'Mudman' image of Fran Cotton, waiting for the ball at a line-out while caked head-to-toe in mud, was taken. Captured by Colorsport's Colin Elsey, it become one of the iconic images of rugby union, and in 2009 was named the 5th greatest sporting photo of all time.
On their way home, in August 1977, the Lions stopped off to play the Fijian national team for the first time and suffered their fifth defeat of the tour. Fiji beat them 25–21.
A team selected from the 1977 British Lions touring party played one further match, against the Barbarians at Twickenham Stadium on 10 September 1977, to mark the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Lions won by 23 points to 14 in front of a capacity crowd, having led 15–0 at half-time.
...
Wikipedia