The Lions tour is a sporting event like no other. The home nations standing together, putting aside hundreds of years of sporting, political and military rivalry as the best players from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are selected to take on the best of the southern hemisphere on their own patch.
Being selected as the best these isles have to offer, plus the gap in years between each tour, make a Lions tour a unique opportunity for the players: the chance to line up and play alongside those who they usually only get to see as opponents.
As clubs seek to sign the best players they can get regardless of passport considerations, the Lions tour could have suffered a diminishing of its lure, but not a bit of it. The tradition, the folklore, and the honour of being picked
still hold sway.
As it is for players, so too for fans. As much as we love the rivalry between nations, and despite the history – some of it all too recent, which would appear to divide us – this is the only sporting event in which we unite to put together a
collective team, to cheer as one. For World Cups we divide; for the Olympics Ireland stands alone, for the Lions it’s all for one, and one for all. And the excitement we feel, feeds into the opposition.
The Lions only come together every four years; they only turn up in Australia every 12 years. Constraints of time and of the body mean most Aussies will only get to face the Lions once in their rugby careers, and that is if they are
lucky. You can have a 10 year career at the top of your sport, but if you don’t time it right, you can fall entirely between tours.
Even to John Eales, Australia’s most successful captain and two times World Cup winner, the Lions stand out. “I had to wait 10 years to play against the Lions. It was the reason I played that extra year, I wasn’t going to miss a
once-in-a-career opportunity. Each Lions series has its own DNA and 2013 will be no different.”
This uniqueness, the rarity, the history, these are what make a Lions tour worth following; there are no second chances. Great players have only made one Lions tour, and great opponents have never faced one. It all feeds back to ensure one thing: high quality rugby.
Despite everything, the shackles are off. There is no building for future tours, no trophies to be won with tournament mentality and tactics, the pressures that come with playing international rugby are in some ways lifted with the onus just on going out onto the field to play the best rugby you can play. The snarky aspect that can infect international games is replaced with mutual respect. These are exhibition games of how good rugby can be, but ones both
teams desperately, want to win.
The final word goes to Lions chairman, Gerald Davies. “To me, the Lions represent the spirit, values and principles of rugby football. Four countries come together as one with a purpose to win and to me it is that comradeship, sportsmanship and bond that makes the Lions so special. It is about these players, who are the very best in their countries, embracing that enterprise, loyalty, courage and happiness of the Lions.”
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