Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: British Lions 1974 infamous '99 Call

Friday, June 15, 2007

British Lions 1974 infamous '99 Call

The 1974 test series between the Springboks and the British Lions was beset by violence. The management of the Lions concluded that the Springboks dominated their opponents with physical aggression.

At that time, in test matches the referee was from the home nation. There were no video cameras and sideline officials to keep things such as punching, kicking, and head-butting to a minimum.

The Lions decided 'to get their retaliation in first' with the infamous '99 call' (99 is a shortening of 999 which in Britain and Ireland is the phone number for the emergency services such as the police, ambulance or fire brigade).

The idea was that a South African referee would be unlikely to send off all of the Lions if they all retaliated against 'blatant thuggery'.

In the final incident, thats Klippie Kritzinger knocking out the late Gordon Brown.

Labels: British and Irish Lions

bad rugby, shame for both teams

By Anonymous, at June 15, 2007 6:16 pm
Nope, you're wrong there sunshine, it was very good rugby. This was from the 3rd Test - the Lions were 2-0 up in the series. These incidents helped the Lions dissuade the Bokks from persisting with their cheap-shots tactic in this match & also vent their own frustration. Once they had established they would not be bullied the Lions ran away with the game & inflicted a (then)record defeat on South Africa.

By Anonymous, at June 15, 2007 11:00 pm
Love the bit at the start with the Mighty Mouse putting a sneeking kick in LOL

By Anonymous, at June 15, 2007 11:44 pm
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By Anonymous, at June 16, 2007 12:56 am
man ive been looking for this video for ages.

By Anonymous, at June 16, 2007 3:56 am
Look who the instigator is in each scene...Lion.

By Anonymous, at June 16, 2007 6:57 am
ahh beaut rugby and brawling, fukn beauty. Should be more of it these days.

By Anonymous, at June 16, 2007 7:53 am
Haha,old fashion rugby rules :)

By Anonymous, at June 16, 2007 10:55 am
That's not a punch at the end, more of a swinging arm.

By Anonymous, at June 18, 2007 1:19 pm
I love it in the second clip when JPR is squaring up to 5 SA's, mind you not much of a 99 call, all the others just watch!!

By Anonymous, at June 19, 2007 10:41 am
Ouch.

By Anonymous, at June 19, 2007 6:42 pm
it's quite easy to knock someone over with a punch when they're not looking. Typical south africa.

By Anonymous, at June 21, 2007 12:10 pm
a few sly 1ns goin in there

By Anonymous, at June 21, 2007 5:50 pm
Nothing much changes with the South Africans does it? Well know for cheap shots and cheating at the best of times. Could be one of the greatest teams at this coming World Cup if they decided to play rugby rather than dirty play of which so many teams now know them for. Shame - bloody good vid thou , everyone loves a good fight every now and then.

By Anonymous, at June 25, 2007 6:47 pm
JPR williams was one tough guy

By Anonymous, at July 29, 2007 3:17 pm
That was not disgusting but payback the boks trampled and physically dominate every other team. it was only fair that they got a taste of their own medicine!!!

By Anonymous, at August 07, 2007 11:17 pm
Springbok thuggery died at the end of the Rudolph Strauli error... people should stop saying springboks are thugs. They play clean rugby nowadays... physical but clean rugby. Dont mistake superior physicality for dirty play.

By Anonymous, at August 12, 2007 3:53 pm
iv never met a south african person iv liked! they dont no how to play rugby any other way even up to this day!!

By Anonymous, at August 14, 2007 2:00 am
to the guy that said hes never met a south african person he liked.. thats a bloody harsh comment i live in NZ and i know a few guys that have moved here from SA and they are good cunts so stop having a go at them. Admittedly the south africans conduct on the field is often suspect but theres no need to judge their entire people for it

By Anonymous, at August 14, 2007 3:00 am
Guys, the point of this site is not to bash other nations, but to enjoy rugby clips both past and present.

Any more comments like that will be deleted.

By GMC, at August 14, 2007 9:05 am
"Look who the instigator is in each scene...Lion"
Yeah, whatever. Are you looking at the same video clip as the rest of us?

By Anonymous, at August 20, 2007 4:21 pm
You've got to love seeing the little bastard coming around the maul and kicking into it, only to be leveled by a flying punch from a big forward. Poetic justice. I'm not a big fan of the punch to the man who was going for the poach, however. Don't see how that was called for.

By Unknown, at August 27, 2007 7:20 pm
been trying to get dvd copy of programme for years. got grainy video but hard work viewing! anyone help?

By Anonymous, at September 09, 2007 5:39 pm
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 2:06 pm
Hi there! I am looking for the 74 Lions against Boland in South Africa. My dad played for the boland at that time. Any info would be nice. Thanx

By Anonymous, at October 22, 2007 4:17 pm
i love how the guy who runs this website fails to actually mention the bullying tactics of the springboks back then...but don't get me wrong you've got a fantastic team now, all credit to you.
love to see JPR get stuck in.

By Anonymous, at October 29, 2007 5:30 pm
ah yes and i think (JPR) ran the length of the field and knocked out an opposing player, he later remarked that it was the best punch he'd ever received.

By Anonymous, at October 29, 2007 5:31 pm
im wiv rugbydump admin, stop slaggin each nation of nd enjoy da rugby!!! im a fan of da 99 call. yer its dirty nd yer its cheap but it works nd rugbys a rough game, i dnt think it needs to be used in todays game but bk then!? SA arnt dirty ther physical, the same as england are. england are becoming an increasingly physical side using are forwards to beat and batter are way through the opposition, its not pretty but it works.....i wonder how long b4 som1 accuses us (eng) of bein dirty?

p.s JPR u legend!!!

By Anonymous, at November 30, 2007 11:49 am
Mahn wat r game

By Anonymous, at January 10, 2008 4:42 am
fergus slattey is a ledgend he did score in the final test altough it wasnt counted it would have meant that the lions had on 4-0

By Anonymous, at March 01, 2008 6:39 pm
beauuuuuutiful rugby!

By Anonymous, at March 10, 2008 4:09 pm
In response to:
"Look who the instigator is in each scene...Lion.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 16, 2007 6:57 AM"

I think you need to realise the reason for the '99 call. It was so that the Lions in a united front took on SA cheap shots, gouging and other sporadic acts of illegal rugby. The end result of this was they SA thought twice, maybe even three times before hitting a Lion again.

By EddyD, at May 24, 2008 6:37 pm