What's happening here?
Its July 8, 1989 and in a quiet corner of the changing rooms at Ballymore Brisbane a slightly shell-shocked and disbelieving Jerry Guscott is taking in the enormity of the Lions 19-12 win over Australia in the second Test. It was his Lions Test debut and after getting thumped 30-12 in the first Test in Sydney the series had been on the line. The Lions needed to respond. And they did.
What’s the story behind the picture?
There are a couple of narratives going on here, one personal, one collective. Bath supporters had been beating the drum about Guscott for some time both as a wing – where he started out – and as a centre of exquisite promise. England, though, had been a little slow on the uptake but in May 1989 they had finally given him a debut against Romania in Bucharest, and he obliged with a hat-trick as the England backs ran riot.
Guscott had been spoken about as a Lions bolter but had missed out in the initial selection only for England skipper Will Carling to drop out with a shin splints injury. Guscott was on the plane after all.
Mike Hall and Brendan Mullin were preferred at centre for the first Test and the Lions got taken to the cleaners, losing 30-12, outscored four tries to nil. The ‘failure’ was collective – the forwards lost out physically to a psyched up Aussie pack and the backs were anonymous behind a struggling pack.
Esta historia es de la edición February 21, 2021 de The Rugby Paper.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición February 21, 2021 de The Rugby Paper.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
England show who's No.1
ENGLAND women’s head coach John Mitchell says his side will take valuable lessons from the 24-12 win over world champions New Zealand as they build towards their WXV1 title defence.
Skivington: We're going to roll dice and go for it
THE Cherry and Whites are the enigmas of the Premiership.
Looking to go one step beyond this time around
NE small step is what it will take for Bath to go one better than last season and secure the Premiership for the first time, but it would be one of the biggest taken by the club in the professional era.
Four-try England make it 17 wins on the spin
ENGLAND women opened the Allianz Stadium era at HQ with a victory over New Zealand to make it 17 wins on the bounce before their WXV title defence.
Time for Borthwick to prove his worth
HONEYMOON periods are not set in stone and in my estimation Steve Borthwick’s ends this summer. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still in good shape.
Barrington ready to power up the Mob
RICHARD Barrington has signed up to the Ampthill “Mob” reassured that he’ll still have a target on his back most weeks.
Skivington keen to build identity
GLOUCESTER won their first trophy for nine years last season and reached the Challenge Cup final, but when George Skivington went on holiday the day after the campaign ended the words in his head were never again.
Roebuck targets England success
WINNING a maiden England Test cap to top the best season of his career will not be enough for Sale winger Tom Roebuck.
Booth: Tough telling players I was leaving
TOBY Booth admits telling his Ospreys players that he would be leaving at the end of the season was one of the hardest things he has had to do in his career.
Stephens' debut try sees off old rivals
DORKING had to dig deep in another tight game between two old rivals, with the lead changing hands twice and result in doubt right up to the final whistle.