In September 1903, The British & Irish Lions came head-to-head with South Africa in a hugely tense second Test in Kimberley.
As a gruelling 1903 Tour spanning over two months was coming to an end, the Lions (who had not officially been given that title), on only their fifth Tour and third in South Africa, were locked in an even Test series.
The Tour began in July, where a squad of 21 Lions, led by captain Mark Morrison, arrived for an intense 22-match schedule, playing throughout South Africa, with some matches as little as two days apart.
It did not get off to the best of starts for the tourists, losing their opening three matches against Western Province Country, Western Province Towns and Western Province respectively in Cape Town.
That preceded a run of five games in just nine days in the Eastern Province, with the Lions winning all five, most notably a 37-3 win over King William’s Town.
The matches continued to come thick and fast, with the Lions losing twice to Griqualand West in Kimberley, where they would play the second Test a month later.
More wins came in Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg and by the time the Test series began, the Lions had won nine and lost seven in just over five weeks.
Tries from William Cave and a phenomenal effort from Reg Skrimshire saw the Lions draw the first Test 10-10 in front of a crowd of 5,000 people in Johannesburg’s now famous Wanderers Ground, with John Gillespie adding two conversions.
The tourists took their winning tally to 11 with two further matches in between the first and second Test, defeating Orange River County 17-16, before a revenge 11-5 win over Griqualand West back in Kimberley.
Three days later and they were in Test action once more, in their fourth match in Kimberley, exactly 120 years ago today.
Incredibly, after such a long Tour, the Lions made just two changes to their starting XV, as Robert Neil came in at full-back for Edward Harrison and Edward Walker, who never ended up representing England, replaced Ian Davidson on the right wing.
Once again, the Lions were led out onto the Johannesburg turf by Morrison, the first Scotsman to captain the Lions, in a team that contained five Scots, six Englishmen, three Irishmen and one Welshman – Skrimshire, who scored 10 tries and 59 points on the Tour.
Included in the forward pack with Morrison were Alfred Tedford, widely regarded as one of Irish rugby’s greatest ever forwards and David Bedell-Sivright, who would captain the Lions the following year in Australia and New Zealand.
South Africa did not come out in their now famous green and gold, wearing white as they had done in the first Test.
“For all of us, there’s going to be a little tingle in the spine when we see those red jerseys run out onto the rugby playing fields of South Africa….”
23 years ago this week the ’97 Lions kicked off the Tour of South Africa – this is the first jersey presentation of the Tour! pic.twitter.com/AT3Ybu5J3U
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) May 28, 2020
It was their chosen home strip for the very last time in Kimberley – donning the green shirts supplied by captain Barry Heatlie’s Old Diocesan’s Club in the third Test at Newlands after their success in 1896, and forever adopting them since.
South Africa’s side included local hero Fred ‘Uncle’ Dobbin, a scorer in the first Test as well as players who became household names, such as Paddy Carolin, Japie Krieg and Bob Loubser.
The match itself proved to be very much a match of two halves, with South Africa, who became known as the Springboks three years later in 1906, largely in charge in the first half.
The Lions did bounce back though and were dominant in the second half, although neither side were able to manage a score in a game that ultimately finished 0-0.
The result meant it was once again all to play for in the third Test and in the process, legendary prop Frank Stout became the first Lion to be involved in two series deciders, after his success four years previously in Australia.
This time around he was not as successful as South Africa, back in the green jerseys in front of 6,000 spectators in a game that became known as ‘the Umbrella Test’ due to the heavy rain in Cape Town, triumphed.
Joe Barry and Alec Reid got the tries in the third Test, as South Africa again held the Lions to zero on the scoreboard, although Skrimshire did have a try disallowed for a forward pass, winning 8-0 to see the Lions lose a series for the first time.
It was an historic moment in rugby, with South Africa making their mark and quickly becoming one of the sport’s true heavyweights.
Incredibly, South Africa would not lose another Test series for 53 years, when they were beaten 3-1 by New Zealand in 1956.
The Lions were victorious the following year, defeating Australia 3-0 but they did not succeed in South Africa again until 1974, when Willie John McBride led the Lions to a famous series win in a Tour that, unlike in 1903, they went unbeaten, winning 21 and drawing one of the 22 matches.
