Lions Tour 1968

Tom Kiernan: Proved the Lions' star in 1968

Another injury-ravaged Lions team were easily brushed aside by South Africa, but installed the fighting spirit that had gone missing against New Zealand two years before.

The squad that failed in the Tests managed to record the best-ever provincial record in South Africa as they lost only one of their 16 matches.

They couldn't keep this up in the Tests, though, and went down 25-20 in the first encounter, despite a 17-point haul from Tom Kiernan who scored five penalties and one conversion.

However, the Springboks ran in three tries, two conversions and four penalties to take the first Test.

A better performance from the Lions came in the second Test as they held South Africa to a 6-6 draw with Kiernan scoring all the points again with his perfect kicking.

Another five-point victory was secured by South Africa in the third Test as they won 11-6, with Kiernan again The Lions only scorer.

The fourth Test ended in a 19-6 defeat for The Lions who scored six points via Kiernan's boot for the second successive game.

However, over the course of the four Tests, the tourists only managed to score one try compared to the Springboks' eight.

Kiernan was undoubtedly the man of the series for the visitors as he scored 35 points over the four Tests.