IRISH LIONS PAST AND PRESENT: Gavin Cummiskytalks to former Irish internationals Eric Millar, Jeremy Davidson, and Paul Wallace who were on the successful British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa in 1997.
THE RELEVANCE of hitting form during the Six Nations is naturally heightened during a Lions year. Just like in 1997, the tourists must overcome world champions South Africa on their rock-hard surfaces and, at altitude, on the high veldt.
Twelve years ago most prospective Irish Lions, then under new coach Brian Ashton, blew their last chance of making the 35-man squad after getting hammered 38-10 by Scotland in the last game of the championship.
Keith Wood and Eric Miller were blessed to miss the Murrayfield loss through injury, with the 21-year-old Miller predominantly selected because of his remarkable season with Leicester, where coach Ian McGeechan was a regular visitor to view his eventual captain Martin Johnston. The uncapped Will Greenwood was also recognised on the back of Welford Road performances, having a fine tour before injury denied a run at the Test team.
A young London Irish lock named Jeremy Davidson was picked alongside Wood, Miller and Peter Clohessy, who had just returned from a Super 12 season with the Queensland Reds after being exorcised from the Northern Hemisphere following the Olivier Roumat affair.
Clohessy, a versatile loosehead prop, was a late withdrawal with a back injury, allowing Saracens tighthead Paul Wallace to become the fourth Irish representative on tour. Notably, all four Irish picks were based in England.
All four Irishmen became heroes in the unlikely 2-1 series victory, with Miller only denied a start due to a bout of influenza days before the first Test.
“I got the note under the door Wednesday morning,” Miller remembers. “I had gone to the A game the evening before and I wasn’t feeling great. Four or five hours later I was feeling terrible and they ruled me out that evening because it was something that other guys had and it didn’t clear up in a day or two. I’ll never forget that day, but Ian McGeechan made me go for a run on the Thursday or Friday but I still felt it. The timing was awful but I look back on the positives now [he featured in the second Test].”
Paul Wallace was a revelation in South Africa, perhaps handed the greatest compliment of being branded a cheat by the Springbok camp for his unique scrummaging technique, which largely nullified the impact of gargantuan loosehead Os du Randt.
“I didn’t get much of a chance early on,” said Wallace, due to the presence of Jason Leonard and Dai Young. “My first full outing was against Mpumalanga [game four of 13]. At that stage they were looking more or less at an English front five with a tight call between Mark Regan and Keith Wood.
“But Jeremy, Doddie Weir, Tom Smith and myself came through in the Mpumalanga game, which we won quite convincingly (64-14) but I think the real turnaround came the next week against the Gauteng Lions on a Wednesday night after the Saturday team had lost to Northern Transvaal (30-35). That was a mixture of the Test side with the likes of Jeremy Guscott playing. We played very well to beat them (20-14) and a few fellas put there hand up.”
Davidson was eventually voted player of the tour by fellow team-mates, carrying on a fine tradition of Ulster secondrows making a serious impact in South Africa, wearing the red Lions jersey. “To be honest Ireland weren’t really the force to be reckoned with that they have been over the past few years,” said the current Castres coach. “Right up until the last moments I was an outsider. I can’t really say that I was very confident of getting picked. I felt that I had played pretty well in the Six Nations prior to the Lions.
“However, we had an abysmal performance against Scotland at Murrayfield and I think there were a lot of guys who felt they had blown their chances. I think it is very important that Ireland start playing to their potential again in the Six Nations because it is important that we get our good players on the Lions tour. You know, really start getting Irish rugby back up to where it should be.”
Davidson is right; the Six Nations provides the ideal opportunity to cement a place on the plane next June. Once they arrive, as the 1997 group can readily attest, the ways of McGeechan [back in harness as head coach on his sixth Lions tour] will allow form players to feature in the big games, unlike Clive Woodward in 2005, who clearly relied on his World Cup winners to remain fit and in form. When they didn’t, he picked them regardless.
“Ian McGeechan has vast experience and a track record that is second to none,” Davidson continues. “If it is the right call, he will go for outsiders like Will Greenwood, Eric Miller, Wally, myself. We weren’t really going out to South Africa with much of a hope of getting in the Test team. You got to take your hat off to Ian McGeechan whose been on numerous Lions tours and understands the intricate fabric of a Lions team; how to gel a team and get the best out of players from all the different nations.”
Wallace echoes the high praise for McGeechan, while noting the difficulties of recent tours.
“I wasn’t involved with the last two tours, but with professionalism there has been enlarged coaching staffs, that puts pressure on players for training. Every coach wants to get their extra half hour and players just get burnt out. You see it with the All Blacks when they are travelling. If they are enjoying themselves they play better. You do all your training during the season so it is important to be able to enjoy yourself on tour, whether that is shark cage diving or a few beers if you are not involved in the next game.
“I know on our tour it was up to the players themselves. There was no enforced regime and a lot of bonding went on with the guys during the day.”
All three men dismissed fears that an Irish player will suffer due to no representation on the coaching staff.
“Ian McGeechan has never been pro Scottish on Lions tours before,” said Wallace. “He has been at Northampton and now Wasps. It won’t be about club or country with him. His track record proves that he will be quite open minded.”
Of course, from an Irish perspective, matters have improved dramatically since the paltry four selections and a greater contingent will certainly travel but it’s the Test spots that will be pencilled in over the coming weeks, when the fringe element will be provided an opportunity to – firstly, avoid touring North America with Ireland – experience the last vestiges of the amateur era; a British and Irish Lions Tour.
Paul O’Connell is a certainty with Brian O’Driscoll and David Wallace needing to remind McGeechan, Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards of their world-class ability. Rob Kearney and Geordan Murphy are currently challenging Lee Byrne for the fullback slot, but one of these Irish players may be hindered by selection or positional changes during the Six Nations.
As Davidson, Wallace and Miller proved, a player can make a late dash for inclusion be it in the Six Nations or good form on a successful club team. Luke Fitzgerald and Keith Earls have been outstanding all season for Munster and Leinster but they need to replicate this on the international stage. Again, they need to be selected consistently in their best positions.
Perhaps the best chance of a late runner is Ulster’s Stephen Ferris; a young man who has surpassed the levels expected of him this year with a devastating brand of physicality, especially in defence, that is drawing comparisons with O’Connell. The Six Nations should prove a fertile hunting ground for the blindside flanker. Once selected it becomes about ceasing the opportunity.
“I knew I was playing well,” Davidson remembers. “I was fortunate enough to play in a lot of games [Martin Johnson was rested early in the tour] so that gave me the opportunity to show what I was capable of on the field. But after that I was very surprised because there were so many good players and I was a really young Irish international at that stage. I hoped I would get the nod but it’s like any Lions team, there are a lot of permutations you could go for in the Test team.
The only thing that matters is whether it works on the day and in South Africa in 1997 it did work and it gave myself, Wally and Eric some great memories to look back on. “Rugby wasn’t that long a professional sport. I think there were less egos in the sport then. There was less coverage.
“You didn’t know your opposition as these guys do now, so maybe it was easier to gel as a team.”
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