Barry John will go down in history as one of the greatest British & Irish Lions of all time but it could have been very different after he broke his collarbone in the opening Test of the 1968 Tour of South Africa.
The 25-cap Wales legend would go on to play a starring role three years later on the iconic 1971 British & Irish Lions Tour of New Zealand.
He finished top Test points scorer as the Lions recorded their first and so far only series win against the All Blacks.
However, John almost didn't even go on the tour after a physically taxing Grand Slam-winning Five Nations campaign with Wales.
The strength of Welsh rugby at that time was incredible. We were all on top of each other and every game was a local derby. If you were part of one of the top teams, every game was an unofficial Welsh trial. It was crazy. I knew we had a good side in the making and coaching was just spawning in ‘66/67. In around ‘68/69 is when we really gelled and we became a good side. When it came to the Lions of 1968, I thought I had a chance of selection and they picked Gareth [Edwards] and me, which was clearly a source of real pride. [caption id="attachment_30849" align="alignnone" width="1920"]
The Lions squad of 1968[/caption] I felt totally at home in South Africa ahead of the first Test because we were playing what we called on-top-of-the-ground rugby. There was no mud and you didn't have to slog your way through terrible pitches and thunderstorms. We were quietly confident going into the first Test on the back of an unbeaten build-up but unfortunately, I broke my collarbone and that somewhat set the tone. From there, we were plagued by injuries. I knew as soon as Jan Ellis tackled me that something was wrong, I felt a zing right across my body. It was a strange one because we were given brand new jerseys for the Test and normally I used to unfold the collar, but for some reason, I didn't do it. I took a tap penalty around the ten-yard line and Keith Savage followed me. I should have just given the ball to Keith as he would have been under the posts, but suddenly a shadow came on my inside. That shadow stuck its hand out and popped me underneath the collar. Jan did not emerge totally unscathed either - when I saw him afterwards, he had badly sprained his finger and it was bent right back.
As a Wales side, we toured Down Under in 1969 and we are still the last Welsh team to have beaten Australia in Australia. That whetted the appetite for us. We realised on that trip that, two years down the line when the Lions were touring, we had to be there. The camaraderie between the players in ‘71 was brilliant. When you look at the chemistry of the team itself and then look back to ‘68, several of those boys were the spine of the ‘71 team. You had Gerald Davies, Gareth [Edwards], myself, Willie John McBride, John Taylor and so many others. Crucially, the players that came in to supplement that group were brilliant. We had Mike Gibson, probably the greatest outside back ever, and when people used to ask me about playing, I would say anyone could play fly-half in that team because you've got Gareth on the inside and Mike on your outside. When I looked around the dressing room and saw who was hanging their jerseys up, I thought ‘wow, this group here’. [caption id="attachment_25653" align="alignnone" width="1920"]
John enjoyed linking up with the supremely talented Mike Gibson[/caption] That said, how we won the first Test [9-3], I will never know. The All Blacks were unbelievable in the first 20 minutes, I don't think I touched the ball. There was no way we would be able to keep them out for four Tests like that but we did keep them out that day and then we were able to counter. We knew the next three Tests would be difficult and we were beaten 22-12 in Christchurch in the second Test – but we were not disheartened. We created more chances in the second Test and the way we went about things made us realise we could beat them. It may sound strange but we were far more confident after defeat than we had been after we had won. [caption id="attachment_30912" align="alignnone" width="1920"]
The 1971 tourists[/caption] That confidence carried itself to Wellington, when we came out of the blocks quickly. John Dawes was great that day, he won it before we had even touched that ball. He told us to go underneath the posts to our right when we came out – he had already won the coin tosses but he did not make the decisions in the tunnel. It was psychology. He won both tosses, so we had the kick-off and we got to play exactly where we wanted to play. On a personal note, it was obviously special to play such a big part in the win [John scored 10 points in a 13-3 victory]. The early drop goal settled any nerves and it was a joy to finish a fantastic move for the try which sealed the win. From then on, we knew we couldn’t lose the series – the All Blacks were in uncharted territory at home.
