Inspirational Bentos puts Lions on road to glory

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful

What’s happening here?

It’s June 28, 1997 at sultry King’s Park Durban as the sun sets on yet another blisteringly hot day on the Lions tour. It’s the second Test and the turbo-charged Boks look ready to cause some serious damage. They are on a mission. The Lions are in for a long night but suddenly John Bentley – Bentos to one and all – lifts the mood a little as he chases a high kick and lands a thunderous tackle on Pieter Rossouw that left the Boks wing and the South African supporters reeling.

What’s the story behind the picture?

As ever the odds were stacked against the visitors as they took on the world champions but that is the big challenge for the Lions on tour and under Fran Cotton, Ian McGeehan and Jim Telfer they had acquitted themselves well in the opening games and selected their squad cleverly.

Included among the tour party were four recent returnees from Rugby League of whom John Bentley was he least heralded. He had won two England caps before turning professional and, although a very decent League pro with Leeds and Halifax and an England representative at the 1995 World Cup, he was not a huge star. He was though a ferociously hard-working, fit, focussed professional with a great line in banter who added to the team’s camaraderie wherever he went.

What happened next?

The tour started very promisingly but a defeat in the fifth game against Northern Transvaal did not augur well. Even without their Boks contingent the Blue Bulls eight scrummaged the Lions off the park and put plenty of stick about up front. The dye looked cast for the Test series and if not despondency, there was a fraught, worried mood in the camp when they took on Gauteng at Ellis Park a few days later.

This was a must win game but for a long time the Lions rather huffed and puffed until Bentley fielded a ball deep in his own half and set off on a speculative run. Or so it looked. In fact he sensed a try-scoring opportunity and chance to redeem himself after what he felt was a very below par performance against the Bulls.

On and on he went on an arcing run beating six or was it seven opponents before he touched down triumphantly by the posts. The tour was well and truly back on track.

Why is the picture iconic?

There are some decent pictures of that try against Gauteng although none that remotely do the score justice – it came from nowhere and frankly caught most by surprise – so for me this is the picture which conveys what Bentley, for a brief period of time, meant to the 1997 Lions. Their historic 18-15 victory in the second Test in Durban was the greatest backs-to-the-wall effort I’ve ever witnessed. They had no right to win that match.

“This thunderous, perfectly-timed, wholly-legal hit, lifted his side and the Lions fans”

The Boks scored three unanswered tries, and should have scored three or four others but for their profligacy and over -confidence. Reporting live at King’s Park there was an ominous feeling for large chunks of the game that it might get very messy and embarrassing. Watching the game back in full it still feels like the Lions are getting a complete drubbing most of the time.

Only one thing was going to give the Lions even a sniff and that was remorseless, unrelenting 80 minute tackling and courage. Frustrate the dominant Boks, somehow make them lose focus and concentration. Get them to cough up some penalties and let Neil Jenkins go to work off the tee. Even then it was a 40-1 long shot.

And that’s what this picture is all about. Bentos was not one of the stellar talents in the Lions squad – he was a journeyman Test player if there is such a beast – but he quickly emerged as the heart and soul of the 1997 Lions, the emotional epicentre of the trip.

Fran Cotton and Ian McGeechan had taken a punt on his upbeat personality and professionalism, on his dedication to fitness and how he would raise the intensity of the squad with his manifest pride in just being there. Intangible stuff that is difficult to measure but very evident when you witness it on the training ground, on the pitch and in the bar after the game.

He suffered huge ups and downs on tour – good games, poor games – but turned everything round with that wonder try against Gauteng and when Bentos was called up for the second Test it was his audacious attacking play that we looked forward too.

Yet there would be no chance for that in Durban. The Lions had no pill to work with. It was all hands to the pumps in defence and Bentos would have to contribute in other ways. Did he ever.

Early in the game with the Lions under the cosh he had his chance to make an impact and poor Pieter Rossouw was on the receiving end. This thunderous, perfectly-timed and wholly legal hit, inspired his side and lifted the Lions fans. The Lions would not go down without a fight. In fact they wouldn’t go down at all.

Footnote: 1997 was Bentley’s 15 minutes of fame. On his return he won only two more England caps to add to those he had won ten years earlier. He quickly fell out of favour nationally and at Newcastle, moving onto Rotherham at the end of the season. By 1999 he was playing for Huddersfield RL where he finished his career.