Lions Legends - Jim Telfer

Shortly before lunchtime on the 21^st of June 1997, the burly frame of a grey-haired, bespectacled man stalked the halls of the British and Irish Lions’ hotel in Cape Town, just hours before the first test against the World Champion Springboks.

He chose a conference room and packed nine chairs tightly together in a small circle, muttering steely words under his breath all the while.

Not long thereafter, the Lions starting pack sat huddled and grim-faced in the area he had prepared, and absorbed the old man’s words:

The Lions won the first test 25-16...and later the series.

The name Jim Telfer stands among Lions’ proudest. As much as he gave of himself on the field of play, he gave back as a coach.

Telfer was born on St. Patrick’s Day 1940 in Melrose, Scotland – the son of a local shepherd. From a young age he developed a taste for the game of rugby, of which he never grew tired.

Born into the amateur era, Telfer worked as a chemistry teacher to earn a living while rugby remained a passion on the side.

“I would’ve loved to have been a professional rugby player because I’ve always been an advocate of; you cannot be the best you can be unless you’re doing it full time.” Telfer said in an interview. Although he missed the professional era by a proverbial mile, his contribution on the field to his native Scotland and the Lions was immense.

Telfer turned out for Scotland on 22 occasions and also bagged a massive 32 caps for the Lions (including 6 tests) on their 1966 and 1968 tours of Australasia and South Africa respectively.

“The first game I played for Scotland was the first time I’d played in the back row! I played in the second row for Melrose [his club, to which he showed loyalty throughout his playing days]...I’d never played on the side of the scrum before, so it was a bit of a step up.”

Despite being thrown in at the deep end in his first test, the back row agreed with Telfer’s hard, aggressive style and the move became permanent. He forged for himself a great reputation on the field but, unfortunately, suffered more than his fair share of injury.

Coaching:

After three years at the helm for Scotland, Telfer was given the chance to coach the Lions on their tour to New Zealand in 1983. The series, however, was not a success with the Lions losing 4-0. ‘The land of the long white cloud’ had, since his playing days, always intrigued him with the wealth of rugby knowledge that it offered and the tour was chalked up as a learning curve for the young coach for whom an opportunity would come again in ’97.

“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs...more ups and downs as a coach than as a player, for Scotland and the Lions. To me, the most satisfying [achievement as a coach] was when I helped Ian McGeechan and the team win the Lions series in 1997 in South Africa... followed by the 1984 Grand Slam, because it had never been done for 59 years.” he recalls.

Telfer was involved in the coaching of Scotland of almost twenty years. Now retired, he still remains a keen student of the game and has left a lasting legacy which is keenly honoured by all those who have felt his influence.

Scottish scribe Allan Massie wrote of him:

"Telfer is a man of innate authority. There's a wealth of quiet reserve and self-knowledge, touched by that form of self-mockery which appears as under-statement, in the way he will describe himself as being a 'dominant personality.' "