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
Denne historien er fra June 28, 2020-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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Denne historien er fra June 28, 2020-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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Unbeaten Lymm put the Tykes on a leash
LYMM maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign, taking the major scalp of Leeds Tykes and ending the visitors' unblemished start.
Dramatic late win boosts leaders
A LAST-minute converted try saw Tonbridge Juddians snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at Barnes.
England need to be more consistent
I WAS at last week's game against the All Blacks and as much as I enjoyed my first visit to the stadium since the Six Nations, I couldn't help noticing a different attitude of those in control of the stadium's notification system which puts out messages to the crowd.
Cuthbert: Wales have to deliver
ALEX Cuthbert says the pressure on Wales is huge ahead of their opening Autumn Nations Series game against Fiji today.
Anyanwu heads the list of star attractions
TOP 14 transfer speculation is always thoroughly entertaining, and this season has so far been no exception.
Goldthorp can challenge Kildunne for No.15 spot
LOUGHBOROUGH Lightning head coach Nathan Smith is backing Fran Goldthorp to compete with Ellie Kildunne, right, for England's No.15 jersey.
Four-try David calls the shots for Bears
MILLIE David helped Bristol blow Leicester away after scoring four of their 10 tries at Welford Road.
Scott-Young keen to follow his father
TYPICAL of most Australians, Scott-Young Angus has fairly sunny disposition and the loose forward is confident that Saints can soon start to turn things around on the road.
When value for money is not part of the deal
ENGLAND'S bench strategy against New Zealand - goodbye \"bomb squad\", hello \"squib squad\"-has been investigated, psychoanalysed, convicted on all charges and mercilessly sentenced by the entire rugby world and its maiden aunt, so there is no earthly point in returning to the scene of the crime.
'I want to prove my worth to Bath'
OUT-OF-FAVOUR winger RuBath aridh McConnochie is hoping to use the Premiership Cup to lay down a challenge to Johann van Graan and make his selection claims impossible to ignore.
