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Martin Johnson's advice to Andy Farrell over Lions captaincy choice
With Andy Farrell taking charge of the British and Irish Lions next year, the chances of the side being captained by an Irishman are high, and understandably so.
Not only are Ireland the dominant force in northern hemisphere rugby currently, but their players will have a closer relationship with their head coach Farrell.
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But former Lions captain Martin Johnson has recalled the 1993 tour as an example of how Farrell may want to look further afield when choosing his skipper next year who will lead a team that will likely be laden with Ireland internationals.
Joining Dan Cole and Ben Youngs on the For the Love of Rugby podcast recently, the Lions and England legend explained how the team that ran out for the first Test against the All Blacks in Christchurch in 1993 had eleven Englishmen, seven of which were in the pack, but were led by Scotland’s Gavin Hastings.
England had won back-to-back Grand Slams in 1991 and 1992 and were in a similar position that Ireland find themselves in now, but Johnson described how Hastings was a “fantastic Lions captain”.
“I always think Will Carling was a little bit unlucky not to be a Lions captain,” Johnson said.
“He won two consecutive Grand Slams and wasn’t a Lions captain. Gavin Hastings was and he was a fantastic Lions captain and totally worthy. But to do that and not be a Lions captain is a bit unfortunate.
“I think at that time England were a little bit in the ascendency. In my [Lions] debut, there were seven English forwards in that team, the halfbacks were English, there were maybe eleven Englishmen in that team, but it was a Lions team so having a Scottish captain worked. So maybe not having an Irish captain works.
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“You’ve just got to pick the right guy- if you go on a Lions tour and you’re a bit ‘he’s not…’ don’t go on a Lions tour. You’ve got to go and say ‘I’m a British Lion, I’ve got a chance to make history, do something very special, have a time I should always remember, hopefully for the right reasons.'”
The main difference between the tour in 1993 and the upcoming tour is that Johnson’s side were coached by Sir Ian McGeechan, who had been Scotland coach up until the end of the 1993 Five Nations, which may have been decisive in picking a Scottish captain much in the same way Warren Gatland chose Welsh captains for this three tours.
Farrell, on the other hand, is the coach of the dominant force of British and Irish rugby currently, which may be critical when making his choice.
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Irish fans like me tend to look at Johnson’s “I’m a British Lion” and wonder why some British players and pundits find it so necessary to ignore the “and Irish” part. If they feel the need to abbreviate it why don’t they just say “Lions”? Even Stephen Jones has managed to master the correct title, and if he can manage it how hard can it be.
Because the team are the British Lions. Why should another nation be part of it? Ans: Well it’s an anachronism from times when Irish nationalism wasn’t on the verge of gaining a united ireland.
When the time comes, and it may be soon, when a united ireland happens, why on earth would they even want to be part of it???
Why would a nation long for their independence as a whole politically but simultaneously yearn to be under the auspices of a combined sporting structure?