When Lions Roared

By 1971, no Lions team had ever defeated the All Blacks in a Test series. Since 1904, six Lions sides had travelled to New Zealand, and all had returned home bruised, battered, and beaten.

But the 1971 tour party was different. It was full of young, ambitious, and outrageously talented players who would all go on to carve their names into the annals of sporting history during a golden period in British and Irish rugby. At their centre was Carwyn Jones — an intelligent, sensitive rugby mastermind who would lead his team into the game's hardest playing arena while facing a ferocious, tragic battle in his personal life, all in pursuit of a seemingly impossible dream.

Up against them was an All Blacks team filled with legends of the game, such as Colin Meads, Brian Lochore, Ian Kirkpatrick, Sid Going, and Bryan Williams. As the Lions swept through the provinces, lighting up the rugby fields of New Zealand, the pressure began to mount on the home players in a manner never seen before. As the Test series loomed, it became clear that a clash that would echo through the ages was about to unfold. At its conclusion, it was obvious to all that rugby would never be the same again.

When Lions Roared by Tom English and Peter Burns captures this historical clash and the drama surrounding it with vivid detail and compelling storytelling.