Who’ll call 99 first?

It’s been on the cards ever since the British (and Irish) Press started talking about Paul O’Connell intimidating John Smit and now the Southern Kings have lit the fuse.

The current tour of the British Lions had been cruising along at a surprisingly genteel pace. Even though some of the games were close there was no real edge but the nervous tension of the week ahead of the first test has raised the temperature.

And trust Peter de Villiers to have started it by protesting that the tourists apply illegal tactics at the breakdown and when they run the ball.

Never mind that ‘ole whiskers’ was right (the Lions do blatantly go off their feet to kill the ball on the ground and they do send up blockers in front of the backline) the visitors were affronted; bringing back memories of the 1980 tour when Butch Lochner, convenor of the Bok selectors, inflamed relationships by stating that the “difference between the sides is that they cheat and we don’t”.

There is nothing that gets the British Press as hot under the collar as to suggest that their players might be guilty of a dastardly deed or two and the Kings compounded the issue by, as coach Alan Solomons bluntly admitted, “climbing into” the Lions.

Ronan O’Gara, who conveniently forgot his sneaky little elbow into the face of Mzwandile Stick, whinged about cheap shots and suddenly the fat was in the fire and we had a real tour!

British (and Irish) teams have long been obsessed with the view that South African teams are peopled by thugs and louts who are out to get them and you get the impression that the tourists and their attendant media don’t become really focused until there’s been a bit of how’s your father.

I never cease to be amused at how the mediamen can sit for weeks listening to a succession of coaches, McGeechan, Gatland, Edwards, Howley, talking about the need to be physical and then crying foul when it happens!

Still, now we have it and I wonder whether all the talk will metamorphose into deeds come kick-off in the test.

Willie John McBride, when I interviewed him for the “Lions on Safari” programmes, unabashedly told the tale of his coming up with the infamous “99” call in 1974.

McBride had been to South Africa on two previous tours, 1962 and 1968, (and also to New Zealand in 1966 and 1971) and was of the opinion, which he stated candidly, that local sides, including the Springboks, had deliberately targeted the Lions with a view to roughing them up, intimidating them or even putting them out of the tour.

He resolved that in 1974 this would not happen and devised the “99” call to arms whereby every one of the Lions, from fullback to prop, would set about his nearest opponent – the aim being to let South African sides know that the Lions would not be pushed around while providing the referee with the headache of whom to send off.

It worked a charm then and ever since Lions sides have incorporated a mean streak when playing the Boks. In 1980 Derek Quinnell punched Morné du Plessis the first time the forwards met in the first test at Newlands – a piece of provocation brilliantly re-channeled by the Springbok skipper – and in 1997 even hardened rugby men were appalled by what went on in the dressing room of Martin Johnson’s Lions when the tour DVD was released – foul language, dire threats and players sicking up in the corner.

These thoughts were again evoked with all the talk of McGeechan wanting a captain in the mould of McBride and Johnson to take it to the Boks.

McGeechan is the ultimate diplomat in press conferences and during TV interviews but his friendly persona masks a heart of steel.

He has been in charge of two tours in which the Lions were as cynical as can come – Australia 1989 and South African 1997 – while his assistant Warren Gatland brought an Ireland side here in 1999 that lived up to the name of the “Fighting Irish”.

It all adds up to a pretty combustible concoction for referee Bryce Lawrence to deal with in the Absa Stadium come 3 pm on Saturday and victory may well go to the team with the greatest discipline when the collisions come in, the clean-outs hit home and the verbals start to fly.

I’m lucky enough to have a ticket and I relish the prospect!