The world rugby great will celebrate his birthday on Wednesday, 12 July, and, as a member of the only Lions team to beat the All Blacks in 1971, he says he could think of no better way to celebrate his landmark.
“It would be the best birthday gift I could have – a Lions win at Eden Park. This Lions side is a very strong unit and they proved last week in Wellington that they can ask serious questions of the All Blacks,” said Sir Gareth.
“You never bet against the All Blacks, but the Lions showed up well last week and they found a way to win. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they did it again.
“It will be interesting to see how the All Blacks react to that defeat. They have made a few chances and there are some youngster in their side who may not have been in this situation before. You never know how they are going to react.”
Sir Gareth will once again be watching the game from his home in Porthcawl, but he won’t be alone. For the past two weeks he has been joined by tens of thousands of fans on Facebook Live as part of an innovative BBC Wales production.
You can join him this weekend and all the details can be found HERE
Part of three successive Lions tours, Sir Gareth played in 10 Tests and won back-to-back series in New Zealand in 1971 and South Africa in 1974. He ended up with five wins, two draws and three defeats in his Lions Test career.
While going through the 1974 tour unbeaten was a huge high, being part of the only Lions team to win a series in New Zealand three years earlier remains one of his greatest achievements in one of the game’s greatest playing careers.
The Lions won the first and third Tests in 1971 and went into the fourth and final game at Eden Park, Auckland, needing no more than a draw to win the series ad match the pre-tour prediction of Scottish manager, Dr Doug Smith.
“We had a two week period between the third and fourth Tests in which we still had three games to play. We managed to win them all before going into the final game in Auckland,” recalled Sir Gareth.
“By that stage we were starting to think about going home after more than three months on tour. We knew what we had to do and the key thing for Sam’s side this weekend is to stay focused and to get on with the job.
“I don’t think we played all that well on the day and Barry John missed a couple of kicks that he would usually have got without any effort. It ended up 14-14 with a magnificent drop goal from JPR Williams giving us a 14-11 lead 10 minutes from time.
“They got a penalty to tie the scores and we missed with a couple of late drop goals attempts. But we drew, won the series and wondered what to do in terms of celebrations – it was a weird feeling.
“That drop goal was amazing. I turned around and just thought ‘Bloody Hell he’s kicked it’. JPR absolutely pinged it from all of 50 metres.
“It was like the perfect golf shot, coming off your club as though you had never even hit it. To do that in those circumstances, on what was a difficult pitch and with a heavier ball than we were used to, was amazing.
“It would be fantastic if Sam’s Lions could win the series and end the record of the 1971 squad of being the only team to win in New Zealand. You simply can’t compare the two teams or tours, because that was then and this is now – they are completely different eras.”
C’mon the Lions!
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