In the age where referees were from the home nation, substitutions only occurred on a doctor's order and there were no ways to watch off-the-ball incidents, the Springboks were infamous for their aggression.
The tour was the birthplace of the '99 call' that the Lions had created for the in-match confrontations.
The plan was that the referee would be reluctant to send off every Lions player so if one player retaliated then all the players would either pile into the confrontation, or attack the nearest Springbok player. The plan was successful as no Lions player was sent off during the tour.
The Lions enjoyed their best-ever tour as they returned from South Africa unbeaten.

Squad:
Manager Alun Thomas (Wales)
Coach Syd Millar (Ireland)

Backline:

Fullbacks:
JPR Williams (London Welsh and Wales)
Andy Irvine (Heriot's FP and Scotland)

Wings:
Tom Grace (St Mary's College RFC and Ireland)
J.J. Williams (Llanelli and Wales)
William Steele (Bedford and R.A.F. and Scotland)
Clive Rees (London Welsh and Wales)
Alan Morley (Bristol and England) as replacement

Centres:
Richard Milliken (Bangor and Ireland)
Ian McGeechan (Headingley and Scotland)
Roy Bergiers (Llanelli and Wales)
Geoff Evans (Coventry and England)

Flyhalves:
Phil Bennett (Llanelli and Wales)
Alan Old (Leicester and England)
Mike Gibson (North of Ireland FC and Ireland) as replacement

Scrumhalves:
Gareth Edwards (Cardiff and Wales)
John Moloney (St. Mary's College and Ireland)

Forwards:

Hookers:
Bobby Windsor (Pontypool and Wales)
Ken Kennedy (London Irish and Ireland)

Props:
Ian McLauchlan (Jordanhill College RFC and Scotland)
Sandy Carmichael (West of Scotland and Scotland)
Fran Cotton (Coventry and England)
Mike Burton (Gloucester and England)

Locks:
Willie John McBride (capt) (Ballymena and Ireland)
Chris Ralston (Richmond and England)
Gordon Brown (West of Scotland and Scotland)
Roger Uttley (Gosforth and England)

Loose Forwards:
Fergus Slattery (Blackrock College and Ireland)
Stewart McKinney (Dungannon and Ireland)
Tom David (Llanelli and Wales)
Tony Neary (Broughton Park and England)
Andy Ripley (Rosslyn Park and England)
Mervyn Davies (Swansea and Wales)