Being on tour with the British and Irish Lions

BBC News

3 days ago

Across thousands of miles, discovering the true nature of the Aussie sporting landscape and the tourists' unity, it has been an unforgettable six weeks following the British and Irish Lions in Australia. It wasn't the perfect ending to the tour for the British and Irish Lions but Andy Farrell and his players achieved what they set out to do and that was win the series here in Australia.Since Willie John McBride led the 'Invincibles' to victory in South Africa in 1974, this is only the fourth time the Lions have headed home victorious.For the past six weeks the tour has travelled across this vast nation starting in Perth in the west with stops in Canberra and Adelaide and then on to Brisbane, Melbourne and finishing in Sydney.The accompanying media band of brothers and sisters have spent most of the time living out of a suitcase.By the time I reach home I'll have travelled almost 26,000 miles, taken two long haul and seven internal flights and will have visited a number of Australian launderettes on the way.
The tour, and especially how Australia played in the final Test to win it, should also be a boost for the sport of rugby union in this country.I hadn't realised until I arrived here how far down the pecking order of sports rugby union has fallen.The sporting landscape is dominated by Aussie Rules and rugby league, and the latter entices players away from the union code with big pay cheques.Once regarded as one of the greatest nations in world rugby union, the vicious circle means that over the past few years Australia's reputation has slipped, and poor performances saw the Wallabies plummet to as low as eighth in the world rankings. In turn, that has taken away its exposure. However, under Joe Schmidt, they appear to have a nucleus of players that can lead the revival.While the Lions tour began with little to no media coverage, it built as the Test matches approached with sellout crowds - the highlight being over 90,000 for the epic second test at the MCG in Melbourne.With the next World Cup here in two years time, a successful Australia is extremely important.
So what did we learn about the Lions?
Losing the final Test, but winning the series, will mean they go down as a great side but certainly not among the legendary Lions squads from history.They were impeccably captained by Maro Itoje, who does rise up the list of great Lions players.You can add Tadhg Furlong to that list as well. The Irish prop has now completed three tours having played all nine Test matches.Tadhg Beirne played every minute of the three tests and was rightly voted the Lions Player of the Series.Dan Sheehan, Tom Curry, Jamison Gibson-Park, Finn Russell and Huw Jones were others who return home with their reputations enhanced.Under Farrell, the Lions tried to play an expansive game and, at times, they produced some great rugby.The first half of the opening test in Brisbane, combined with the last fifteen minutes of the second test in Melbourne, were perhaps their best moments and they were enough to win the series.However there will be disappointment that they didn't produce the full 80-minute performance that would have showcased their talents.They had hoped to do that in Sydney in the final test but the weather and a highly motivated Australia put pay to that.The Wallabies will also look back in hindsight with some regrets. They only had one warm up game, a narrow win over Fiji, and were horribly under-cooked for the first test in Brisbane.They improved dramatically as the series went on and will point to the controversial decision not to penalise Jac Morgan for his clear out on Carlo Tizzano at the end of the test in Melbourne, as the only moment standing between them and a series win.And what if Will Skelton and Bobby Valetini had been fit for all three matches?Sport is always full of if's, buts and maybes.
There are some people who believe that the Lions is an outdated concept, but that couldn't be any further from the truth. Eespecially for the thousands of Lions supporters who made their way to the other side of the world to cheer on their team.The 'sea of red' has been evident in every city.There is still something romantic about touring in the southern hemisphere, so far from home.The Australian economy is quite thankful also.There is no doubt that the Lions 'brand' travels well and could that in the future take it to Argentina or France? Maybe but any questions about whether the Lions should return to Australia or not have most likely been laid to rest after three sold-out and competitive test matches, or at least two-and-a-half.My moment of the tour - it's quite an obvious one and that was the second test at the MCG and the composure the Lions showed in the last few minutes to set up Hugo Keenan for the series winning try. It was a wonderful sporting occasion to be at and it got the game and the ending, controversy and all, that it deserved.Experiencing how a tour like this develops and evolves has been special.My final thought is that the Lions is unique and it's ideals and concepts should be protected, and Andy Farrell and the players did just that.It also brings people together from Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland, united by their love of rugby and by sport.That is a good thing.Next stop for the British and Irish Lions - New Zealand in 2029.