Close the book on the tour tell-tales

There were many lessons to be learned from the Lions tour to Australia last summer. They are wide embracing and the report of the manager, Donal Lenihan, to the Lions Committee, of which another Irishman Syd Millar is a member, should make for interesting reading.

The books on the tour and the autobiographies are rolling off the presses at quite a rate. Some of those will inevitably revisit the problems on the tour, real and imagined, reopen the controversies and, indeed, old wounds. The aim of a few is to be as sensational as possible - as we have already seen in one instance - thus elevating the serialisation value. The sources from which they emanate are, of course, predictable.

There is nothing wrong with honest, critical analysis of the tour; in fact it is essential, and it appears there were aspects of the tour that were far from satisfactory, not least the decision to bring 37 players for a 10-match tour.

The vast majority of the players were English, the assistant coach was English, the kicking coach and defensive coaches were English and the Test teams were dominated by English players.

Some level of responsibility lies in that arena, then, for a lost series. But it was and is English players who have been centre stage in criticising the Lions management. Much of the criticism is aimed at the coach, Graham Henry, who is a New Zealander and who coaches Wales. He has come in for immense criticism for the manner in which he prepared the team, for his coaching methods and the way he worked the players on the training ground.

Clive Woodward was the man, we are told, should have been the coach.

All those criticisms may well be justified. But there are many elements to be examined by the Lions Committee and one was the decision to allow players to write articles during the tour, which because of contractual difficulties could not be avoided. That needs to be amended for the next tour.

Granted it was a very small minority of the players who abused their positions and breached the trust that is so essential for any touring team. But it happened, it was damaging and the controversy rumbles on.

I have had the good fortune to have reported on seven Lions and 11 Irish overseas tours. On those tours there were players who were disappointed and discontented when they were not included in the Test teams and some who were disappointed because of their own performances. Everything was not sweetness and light on some of those tours. Players complained and had a good old moan on occasions but I cannot remember even one player showing any disloyalty by word or deed in public.

I remember, in particular, the huge disappointment of one English forward on the Lions tour of 1974 when he was omitted from the team for the first Test. He was furious, but despite the vigorous attempts by a few of the English journalists on that tour - there were only 12 journalists from these islands on that tour and I am including the broadcasters - to get him to commit himself in public on the issue, he refused. All he would say in public was he was very disappointed to be left out. He went to the coach, who was Syd Millar, to air his grievance. I do not know what reply he got, but that was the end of the matter.

In those days and indeed up to 1995, players made huge sacrifices to go on tour with the Lions and with their countries. There was no pay, unlike the last Lions tour where players were handsomely remunerated. I think the players in 1974 got 75 pence a day for personal expenses and that represented an increase on previous years.

Some players had to take unpaid leave from their jobs to go on tour. That was not right, but it was the position that obtained in those days and if you wanted to go on tour, that was the price paid. On that 1974 tour, they played 22 matches, had a back-up team of a manager, coach and a doctor and the amount of kit they got could be put into a small holdall. Oh, and they played 22 matches, won 21 and drew one. And the playing party consisted of 30 players.

The 1971 Lions in New Zealand and Australia played 26 matches and also had only 30 players. The Lions of 1959 played 31 matches in Australia and New Zealand and a few more en route to home. That touring party also embraced 30 players. Now contrast that, numerically and in other respects, to what obtained on the tour last summer.

Every player who goes on a Lions tour has a responsibility to the squad and to the game in these islands. The Lions tour is the business of all four rugby unions, the RFU (English), IRFU (Irish), WRU (Welsh) and SRU (Scottish). They all have a stake in it, they are all represented on it. As the ghost-written books roll off the presses, in some instances the unpardonable is "justified" by the self-righteous, selfish and uncaring, aided and abetted by the irresponsible.

Some books on tours have proved to a very useful contribution and valuable reference points in the history of the game in these islands. They bring alive the significant happenings and contributions made by so many.

The Irish have a long and honourable tradition in the history of the Lions. This Irish contribution finds expression and is given due recognition in a book published this week and written by the Irish Examiner's rugby correspondent, Barry Coughlan.

The Irish Lions 1896-2001 gives a comprehensive account of the last tour and graphically illustrates the immense Irish involvement in all of the Lions tours dating all the way back to 1896. It is a very worthy publication that reflects extremely well on the author.

It is, as is claimed, a celebration of the many great Irish players who wore the Lions jersey with such distinction over so long a period. It is a very worthy addition to the history of the Lions and the part played in that history by the Irish players, coaches and managers who have helped fashion that history.

This admirable book is well worth the purchase price of £9.95.