THERE are many miraculous aspects to the 1997 Lions tour of South Africa, not least the domestic strife from which the team was spawned. The 1996-97 season was the first season of professionalism in the British and Irish game, everybody was scrambling to find their feet and chaos reigned. The prospect, therefore, of toppling the reigning World Champions on their own soil seemed remote to some.
The omens weren’t good but one or two factors played out in the Lions’ favour. The Heineken European Cup had hit the ground running and provided an excellent high-quality battle ground in addition to the Five Nations to aid the selection process.
Above all else they had two canny operators and victors from 1974 in charge, namely manager Fran Cotton and coach Ian McGeechan. In addition assistant coach Jim Telfer was on the same hymn sheet and had his own, more painful, experiences of South Africa and was keen to set the record straight.
They picked the right squad for the job with just the one ‘bolter’ in John Bentley, more of which anon. And they made an inspired choice of captain in Martin Johnson even though the Leicester Tiger hadn’t yet captained his country.
Yes, they wanted a big beast of a man to front up their campaign in the land of giant forwards, a player in the mould of Willie John McBride, but as Cotton reveals there was another element to the decision-making process. Martin Johnson’s mum!
“It was Peter Wheeler who originally placed the thought in our minds about Martin, so I started contacting various people to educate myself a bit more on the man. We already knew he was a certain Test starter barring injury
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 28, 2020-Ausgabe von The Rugby Paper.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 28, 2020-Ausgabe von The Rugby Paper.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Morris hat-trick lifts Steelmen
HOOKER Ieuan Morris came off the bench to settle matters for Ebbw Vale at Carmarthen Quins with his stunning second half hat-trick completing a 39-11 victory in Super Rygbi Cymru.
Joe keen to follow in family footsteps
JOE Ford is leading the charge to take Doncaster Knights to the promised land but says they have a long way to go before that becomes reality.
Robson keen to make it to the top with Coventry
COVENTRY ended the first five-match block of fixtures as the Championship’s only unbeaten side and full-back Charlie Robson has his sights set on promotion, and eventually playing for England.
Hancox joins the 200 club
AFTER 10 years of donning the red, black and yellow shirt for Bournemouth, skipper Grant Hancox made his 200th appearance this month after their Regional 2 South Central clash against Winchester.
Bear keen to be a big hit Down Under
FORMER Cornish Pirates back row Bear Williams has flourished in making the difficult transition from rugby union to league and has plans to play in Australia’s NRL. `
To play in two World Cups was a dream
RUGBY started quite late for me.
Call time on this pantomime ploy
THIS 60-second shot clock twaddle. If we must continue to plough down this blind alley it needs to apply from the moment the referee awards the penalty. If the authorities are going to put some stick about at least do it properly and with conviction.
Coetzee's pulling his weight again
WHETHER he starts or comes off the bench, Jaco Coetzee is just happy to be contributing fully to Bath’s revival after an injury-hit start to his career in blue, black and white.
Murray's on a wing - and a prayer ...
BLAIR Murray began the week ‘in a state of shock’ at having gone from nowhere on one side of the world to the starting grid for the autumn Tests on the other.
We need to kick on after winning at last
Paul Rees talks to Ethan Grayson who heard from two rugby legends after he helped Newcastle end their 25-match losing run