It is impossible to think of the Lions without thinking of Willie John McBride. So what better week to look at the career of the living legend.
It is nigh on 40 years since he last flew into a ruck but Willie John McBride is still one of the biggest names in world rugby. He appears in the big budget ad to promote the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia and his views on the squad, the captain and all other things Lions are pounced upon by the press.
Why? Well he is a man who played on five Lions tours, squads that won in New Zealand in 1971 and South Africa in 1974. He captained that latter tour on an unbeaten 22-game visit to South Africa and his style of leadership and the camaraderie he brought to the travelling party is now legendary. His standard as captain is one that all those who came after him are held to and when it comes to listing great Lions, he’s usually in the top one.
McBride’s story begins in Toomebridge in Antrim in 1940. Only coming to rugby at 17, he played for Ballymena and was in the Irish squad by 1962. The lock went on his first Lions tour in the same year (a 3-0 defeat to South Africa) and he would endure Test defeats to Australia and New Zealand (1966) and South Africa (1968) before the glory years arrived.
The 1971 tour to New Zealand saw McBride installed as the leader of the pack and he helped them to a historic 2-1 series win, the first and last time the Lions beat the All Blacks.
The 1974 tour was his only one as captain but it remains the most famous Lions tour of all. As well as going unbeaten for 22 games, winning the Test series 3-0 with one draw, that tour is famed for its ‘99’ call. Instigated by McBride it was a ‘one in, all in’ plan that ensured that if any Lion was being bullied physically, a ‘99’ call indicated that the entire team had to step in and assist and hit the nearest Springbok.
Here it is in action…
Thanks to that physical attitude, tremendous squad cohesion and no shortage of skill to be fair, that tour remains the greatest ever Lions squad. That tour cemented McBride’s reputation as a rugby legend but he also played for Ireland for 13 years, winning 67 caps and he scored his only try in his final game at Lansdowne Road, in 1975, against France.
McBride would go on to coach Ireland and manage the Lions (1983 tour) and while results were mixed, the Ulster man’s giant reputation was never tarnished.
As he sets off to witness yet another Lions tour, we’re sure to see lots more of Willie John on our screens in the coming months. He remains an inspiration to every player who gets handed a red shirt, especially captains, and we hope he is around for many more tours to come too.
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