Overpowering music totally drowning out the commentary for the test matches. Very clever touch. Absolutely inspired genius.

David Dai Duckham passed a few days ago.We suspected that if given the ball, which sadly he never got in poor England sides he would shine.AND, alongside the Welsh wizardry of Edwards,JPR,Barry John, the genius of Mike Gibson, who the All Black's revered as the key man,he duly did. Culminating in his dazzling, dashing sidestepping brilliance as Man of the match for the Ba Bas/all blacks classic in 1973. That 1971 back line was majestic.Real genuine pace throughout too.They could, every one of them sidestep, great balance. Barry John left the big all black forwards chasing shadows+ floundering in his wake. Every member of that backline has their own particular brand of magic and gifts. I still love watching old footage of them over and over again.

Wonderful side, and coached by Carwyn James, a coaching genius, unappreciated in his own country. Very few players leave New Zealand with an enhanced reputation, but many of them did. Barry John ( rip) left with the nickname of the King, there can be no greater compliment from a rugby mad nation

Magnificent rugby football.Surely there has never been a more brilliant and gifted set of three-quarters ever to take a rugby field!

How can rugby make a grown man come to tears! Incredible! Met Barry john yesterday in a pub in Cardiff...Sat with him for two pints, had a great chat, a quick photo taken by the barman then I left. What a day....one of the best to ever do it...if not "THE BEST" I hope my son follows in his footsteps!

Greatest back line ever. James a genius of coach that made players think not how most today create robots. John and Edwards what a pairing

I remember the lions visited our high school in nz back in the 70s they were a phenomenal team!!!!!

7:53 JPR (15) makes a beautiful pass, I read his autobiography and he talks about passing in two steps at full pace, nice to see that in action. Beautiful stuff from all involved

When i was a kid watching with my dad 5 Nations games i loved firstly Andy Irvine, Serge Blanco, John Rutherford, Didier Camberabero,Jonathan Davies and Olly Campbell any Fly Half or Full back who was magic in the early 1980s, but he always just said "son youve never seen anything like Barry John. He said it was like the difference between watching Pele and Maradona, one was great when i was young but the other would always be the best.

Good to see Bert Peel again (when Carwyn James is talking - Bert's the physio you see). He never saw his grandson but would have been thrilled to know he played for Llanelli, Wales and indeed the British Lions.

Barry John .....The King .!! ,,Really I cannot say anymore ..

Greatest Lions team - coached by the incomparable Carwyn James. Edwards, Duckham, Gibson, Williams, Davies, Dawes and - they did not call him the King for nothing - the unapproachable Barry John. I have seen just two ball players in my life who are beyond criticism, who have brought their respective games as near to perfection as humans can achieve - Pele and Barry John.

Barry John was awesome in that series.

It wasn't just the scores and tour result. The '71 Lions had a big impact in NZ based on the way they played and the talent of the players. Yes, it was a different time, no internet, b&w tv etc, but as a 7 yr old, rugby-mad kiwi kid those Lions transformed the way me and my mates wanted to play. Every kid i knew practiced kicking 'round the corner' like Barry John. He was such a star. The magical running and passing of the backline - Edwards, Bevan, Gibson, Williams, Duckham - we just hadn't seen that before...and they beat us. My heroes were wearing black, but they were outclassed by the supermen in red. At least that's the way my memory recalls it.

I was about 16 years old when the '71 Lions toured. What a great team they were. I remember a short TV clip of Carwyn James at one of their training sessions yelling out, "Think, think, think." At the time, all NZ teams were coached one dimensionally and this approach was a revelation to me. I also remember thinking how physically fast they were and how the ball was flicked all over the place whereupon spaces were opened up for wonderful tries. The 1974 team was at least their equal if not better. The 1977 team only just lost the series but was another fantastic team that has been largely forgotten.

Happy days, I was nine me and my older brother Tim listened to thye tests on the radio in the early hours. It was great!

as a 20 year old I came out from England to visit both Australia and NZ , I saw the test match at Lancaster park which was lost by the Lions ,however the NZ girls treated me as if they had won , a fond memory never to be forgotten

Gibson never gets the recognition he deserves - he was the complete rugby player

The one true commentator, loved his Scottish lilt

perhaps the greatest team perhaps ever a team of superb individual talents molded brilliantly into one

Gareth Edwards: The greatest Barry John: Simply the best

The Lions had an outstanding back line in those days.

“The clue to an understanding of his achieved style lies in what he could make others do to themselves. The kicking wether spinning trajectories that rolled away or precise chips or scudding grubbers, was a long-range control, but his running, deft, poised, a fragile illusion that one wrong instant could crack, yet rarely did, was the art of the fly-half at its most testing. He was the dragonfly on the anvil of destruction. John ran in another dimension of time and space. His opponents ran into the glass walls which covered his escape routes from their bewildered clutches. He left mouths, and back rows agape”

Have a brilliant day, wherever you are. Take care and stay safe xxxxx JFox. Xxxxxxxx

Great rugby Willie john..met him once what a gent

It's a good read. How they kept going for 26 games...Crazy.

Always had the feeling you'd follow Willie John into any situation.

JPR Williams. How blessed are we to have witnessed his like grace the field of the greatest game ever. Carwyn James, sheer genius and in my opinion the greatest coach ever. Willie John a captain who you'd lay down your life for. As mentioned before probably the greatest back line up of all time. The forwards, real men of steel in an era when men were really men. As my dear old Dad would say they don't make um like that anymore. We all have our opinions on who is the greatest player ever,,McCaw,Edwards,Barry John,Jonah too many to mention. Just embrace this era, how fortunate are we to have experienced this.

Truly the most magical era for rugby, the names, the skills and Bill McLaren. I was born too late

Criminal how Duckham was so under used hardly gotvabtouch playing for England. What a great and inspirational coach James was

Blown away. Carwyn James...genius

I am lucky to have seen those days

Barry John was something wasn't he?! There's a saying here in NZ..."what's the best team to ever leave NZ?" "The 71 Lions cos they went home"

Carwyn James really needs to have his own movie. I bet Michael Sheen could play him

Why has.nt Barry John been given a knighthood ? Words don't describe how brilliant he was ..

thanks for this.. hope the present tour is as good.. GO LIONS!!

I think the opening remarks of Carwyn James need to be noted by the modern coaches; 'Skill, Style and Flair', much of which is missing these days!

Just read the book. Absolutely brilliant!!!

I was out in the Far East in 71 with HMS Albion. Took great delight in showing the results to Kiwi matelots in the China fleet club!!!

I was surprised at how many line-out were turned over.

As Willie John said,"if it's better than that today,it must be very good,"what a back lineup

Brilliant video!

10:26 Kirkpatrick try, 60 meters run, what a player!!!!!!!!!!!!.......

I can still hear the roar now!

The greatest sporting team of the 70s

ive got dozens of vhs of my old mans recordings of loins tours and old all black games of 70s etc.. dear passed away old man,need to get a vhs player to play them

Carwyn James was a very smart man and a great coach, coached Llanelli, Barbarians and Lions to victory over New Zealand, but was rejected by the powers that be in the Welsh Rugby Union, and never coached his beloved Wales.

Apart from this historical series win against the All Blacks they went on done the same against South Africa in 1974. From a very ardent and proud British Lions and Scottish rugby supporter.

I love that understatement: "I had the privilege of playing with a backline that consisted of (lists icon after icon) so if this team is better than that they're probably going to be quite good."

If the Lions coach, was in this era I’d love to play for him

Best team i have ever seen .Saw the 4th test and the Auckland game at Eden Park . No tv games back then

Let's not forget Carwyn James the Brian Clough of rugby.

I still sit and listen in awe to Barry John retelling this tour whilst some current pro players are oblivious to his achievements

Barry John was awsome

Rugby had never been played this way before. It changed everything.

to think "THE KING", barry john scored 30 out of the 48 points the lions scored.it's no wonder nz fans called him the best player they've ever seen.he was like a ghost and had a rugby brain few have ever had.a genius and he changed the way the game was played.

Barry john a true legend

Never forget in 1969 or 1970 as a child in a village called Resolven in the Neath valley the day Gareth Edwards came to play our local football team called Cam Gears whilst he himself I think was playing for a team called The Metal Box based in Neath. I was only about ten or eleven and me and a few friends were sat on the steps of a wooden cricket hut they used to change in, as they ran out on to the pitch. There must have been at the most about 20 or 30 local people there watching, to me and my friends at the time it was like watching a superstar close up playing a sport he was not famous for, dont remember the score or anything just remember us trying to chat to him all through the game on the touchline, it must have drove him mad!

Now so many years later through our history we understand the the treat....

Thanks to the Lions, the Wallabies, South Africa, France, Ireland, Scotland.... heck, you name it. Bigger countries with bigger choices. The humble tiny country of NZ and its even smaller Pacific Island nations will still continue to dominate. So well done All Blacks - Kia Toa, Kia Kaha. We are all so very proud. Looking forward to this weekend's epic with 2017 Lions... so will they roar again? Ka Mate Ka Mate, kare e Ka Ora

The early seventies for me is the greatest period of UK rugby. Two winning lions tours to SA and NZ says it all. The Baabaas win in 1972/73 was the crowning moment with the Gareth Edwards try still rated as one of the finest tries ever scored in an international. It was the the rugby of my childhood . NZ its has to be said recovered pretty well and went on to dominate UK teams for many years after that. Although NZ wished to emulate the Lions backplay it would take years before the expensive play NZ is renowned for would develop. NZ back play was pretty static in the seventies but that changed due to the emergence of the Pacific Island players and example of the early eighties Wallabies with backs like the Ella brothers ,Roger Gould and Michael Lynagh were influential

I could sleep easily with Willie John McBride reading me a good bed- time story or something from the book of Psalms.

Barry John what a player he and Edwards destroyed NZ and made them look ordinary under the captain of the great John Dawes one of the greatest centres ever .

I have always thought that this team was the greatest who ever left these shore,s in any sport.

The all blacks can trace their modern style of play to the 1971 lions. I remember every kid started to kick around the corner penalties and conversions after seeing Barry John. Before him we were all toe hackers. I went to the bay of plenty game as a 13 yr old.

JPR Williams , strong as an ox . I still consider him , in MY opinion to be the best ever FB , but its an opinion ..R.I.P

I shared an apartment in Toronto with a New Zealander that summer of '71. He couldn't believe the results. New Zealand was facing the collapse of its economy with Britain joining the EEC, so his attitude to Brits was icy, but even this underwent a change over the course of five months

Can't quite believe what Neil Delahay said about the pro players of today not having knowledge of Barry John - How can that be? The greatest Fly of all time in my opinion and together with Gareth Edwards, a 9 10 combination that could destroy any defence and would surely be the first names on the team sheet for the greatest team of all time!

The Lions of 1971/4 were the GOAT Rugby team, even when they came to South Africa and gave the Springboks a lesson with their own medicine...I’ll never forget seeing them playing with awe...!!!

Saturday AM IS THE TEST go for it lads play with Power Passion and Pride Best of luck.

What would they make of Gareth Edwards and Barry John today How lucky we where to watch them for coppers

I smell victory....

Carwyn James turned a great team into near Immortals, but sadly didn't receive the full credit that he deserved.

Wondeful spirit and outcome. Just as transfixing as a kiwi school boy.

What a display...

just wonderful rugby, wonderful team and coach. some of these guys really could move. one point though - the bloody music is way too loud!!

The Legendary Lions

The Lions should have lost to Otago - the Referee Pring made a disastrous decision near full-time and rather than awarding Otago a winning try, called them back to a 5 yard scrum and gave Otago the ball - no advantage played! Pring later went to the Otago dressing room and apologized - my mate was playing for Otago that day and I was in the crowd. I was there in the crowd, almost on the touch-line for the first test in Dunedin and after a quick look into the eyes of Suthertland [NZ No8] I said to my mate, "we've lost this one - you can see it in their eyes". Sure enough we lost. The rest is history, as they say.

Willie John McBride I Could Sit All Day Long And Listen To Reminiscing And The Stories From The B&I Loins Camp.He Reminds Me Of My Grannie Telling Tales etc About Her Life and Times Travelling The World, Although She Was A Hard task Master And Strict I loved her Implicitly And Through Her I learned...Manners Maketh The Man and The Woman , Child.Ive Got This loins tour 71 brilliant behind the scenes footage and training regime...very worth the money i paid for the set on DvD.The Rugby Today Is prosaic And referees and protocol has ruined besides corruption and refs unbelievable calls deliberately interfering instead of a smooth transitional playing....These Were the days when it was thoroughly worth watching Rugby.....Now That transgenderisms are creeping into the womans game even though it was not long ago it was instituted and the debacle of Japan 2019 Japan was magnificent hosts but world rugby dekcuF It All Up Knowing full well that that around that time Japan has cyclone season around the time the tournament would commence...postponing games they should have awarded it to another country or amended the date of the RWC maybe later on etc .Here rugby at its zenith...!

I just want to know where I can get the jaunty little uniforms worn by the touch judges @ 9:12, 9:40. Blazer and white shorts.

Edwards, John, Gibson, Dawes, Duckham, Davies, JPR...Not bad

As a British Lions supporter since 1966 the 3 best British Lions sides were those from 1971, 1974 and 1989.

That's when you could weigh 11 and half stone and become the world's best rugby player. Now you need to be 16 stone and up wards to get a chance. Sad, really.

garreth davies vs sid going..... 2 of the best scrumhalves in the history of rugby

As the might Meads once said. He has just seen the best rugby player in the world. Camerin Mike Gibson. 10 or I. Centre and win a game by himself

They were a great team no arguement,however it was also one of the few times the All Blacks were in disarray,they had just returned from SA where they had been expected to win but were beaten by a 16 man team,on return retirements and aging players left big headaches for selectors,that aside I was at the wellington test to witness them live and we were lucky it was only 13 to 3,I was awestruck with Barry John,the Dan Carter of today

i wonder what happened to the running and passing game of the northern hemisphere.

When we where kings

Wow plenty of those passes looked forward! 😆

I think rugby was better to watch in those days, more entertaining, open...with coaches like Carwyn and players like Barry and Gareth.

that foot at 1:57, had it been successful would have warranted a PT try and a red card...

what a wonderful moment for British and Irish rugby. Pity about the wierd and distracting music - surely much more fascinating to hear the commentators aof the time and of course the roar of the crowds? I propose youTube ban the addition of "music" to sports' videos....

Carwyn James.... Willy John... End of..

Just one thing. SID DAWES was the Captain of the British and Irish Lions in NZ 1971 Tour. SID DAWES. Not WJMB, but Sid Dawes.

Amazing footage..but saw so many forward passes.

Can the '17 team take inspiration from the '71 team?

Wales where the team to beat. Wales were the Lions.

Barry John ..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10:54 was that how a kick off was done originally in rugby place kicked from the ground? Edit: Wtf was that 11:55 some kind of cricket throw in? Anyone help me with this stuff?

James looks like superman