CALL TO ARMS TACKLING THE LIONS
After the Lions had pummelled the Springboks in the first Test at Newlands in 1974, Dr Danie Craven, the high-handed patriarch of South African rugby, could barely contain his temper.
His anger bubbled over at the post-match function when he presented the six debutants with their Springbok blazers.
‘It hurts me to be giving you these because you have not earned them,’ he said with barely disguised fury. ‘I have to present a cap and a blazer to [Bok wing] Chris Pope, who created a record by becoming the first Springbok ever to play for his country without touching the ball.’
Craven wasn’t done.
Peter Whipp, the centre, was his next victim: ‘At least he did better than Pope. He touched the ball once.’
Next came big lock forward Kevin de Klerk, ‘who looks like a big man here, but wasn’t a big man on the field’.
