NZ shapes (and soaks) McGeechan

Considering one of his earliest experiences of New Zealand rugby was seeing his shoes floating out of the Eden Park dressing room, Ian McGeechan's affection for this country is a minor miracle.

McGeechan, on the first of many trips to New Zealand in 1975, was in the Scottish team for the celebrated water polo test of 1975. The result, 24-0, is submerged in the memory of a match played on a ground with large chunks unseen beneath giant pools of water as Auckland was deluged.

"I remember the referee saying before the game if there was a collapsed scrum or maul he'd blow it straight away in case somebody drowned," McGeechan remembered. "It was a bizarre game."

Despite that odd introduction to rugby in New Zealand it had a positive influence on McGeechan, who is back as Lions assistant coach under Sir Clive Woodward.

It is his fourth coaching assignment with the Lions, to go with two tours as a classy back. He led them to series wins in Australia and South Africa, plus played all four tests in both the 1974 series win in the Republic and in New Zealand three years later, giving a body of work to put him among the greats of Lions rugby.

Get McGeechan talking about those early experiences of New Zealand and there's an almost reverential tone.

Scottish and New Zealand rugby was deeply amateur in the early 1970s, but in other respects they were worlds apart. For a young player mad on the game, New Zealand must have seemed like sporting mecca.

"What hit me most when I came out was how important rugby was," McGeechan said. "It was part of people's lives and to be recognised by people was so different to back home.

"It gave me a good insight, and made me understand just where New Zealand rugby sat, and why.

"The game I was so in love with was so important here. I liked the way people talked about it. It left a mark with me. Back home it was part of your life, but not necessarily part of the culture."

It also showed McGeechan how much work was needed to match the then southern supremacy. In his mind the bar had been set.

"When I brought Scotland back, and ultimately the Lions, as coach, you became part of New Zealand rugby. And if you understand it, you have a chance of succeeding."

When rugby went professional, it gave the game in the Northern Hemisphere a giant leg up. It had more to gain, McGeechan believes, than the south, where professional philosophies, if not the chequebooks, had already been in place for years.

"It became a lifestyle, whereas it was already a lifestyle out here. It started to get corporate support in a huge way and took major strides forward very quickly.

"There's no doubt the game is far more intense now, and it's a huge impact sport, so the preparation and recovery of players is much more important because they're playing more now."

McGeechan is aware of the dangers of professional players becoming 24-hour rugby automatons.

"That's the worst thing. They still need a freshness, they still need something else and we've been quite keen to say, 'Find out a bit about New Zealand, you'll understand the rugby better but actually you'll enjoy yourself better'."

It's no surprise McGeechan is a passionate advocate for the Lions and the unique nature of their tours. He shudders at the notion of time running out on the Lions, given the jam-packed international calendar.

"People were talking about 1993 being the last tour because the game was shaping up to go professional even then.

"The danger was the Lions wouldn't have a place ... 1993 to 1997 was the big step.

"There were 12,000 supporters in 1997, 18,000-20,000 in 2001 and probably in excess of that now.

"That's commercial interest as well as support interest. To have that involvement 12,000 miles away is a uniqueness we can't afford to lose."

Warming to the theme, McGeechan moves from off-field elements to on-field realism. He describes a Lions tour as three World Cup finals plus non-tests resembling a series of Six Nations championship games.

"You have to keep yourself at that level. Clive understands it, having been on a Lions tour as a player. I certainly do."

McGeechan can look back on three successful Lions tours, one as a player in 1974, two as a victorious coach, to Australia and South Africa.

Key ingredient

So what's the key ingredient? If Woodward and co are to emulate Carwyn James' 1971 triumphant tour of New Zealand, what above all else must be achieved?

Put simply, it's clarity of purpose.

"If we all see the same picture, all talk the same language tactically, then talent will have the opportunity to show. It's very important we've got all the arrows pointing in the same direction.

"That remains the biggest challenge of a Lions tour. We haven't the luxury of years of buildup and preparation. We have to mature as a group in days and weeks."

McGeechan, who replaces former All Black Warren Gatland as Wasps director of rugby when he returns to Britain, has a specific responsibility this time for the midweek team. The players who don't make the test side have a critical role and must contribute to the complete package.

"If I look back, some of the outstanding people on those successful tours were not the test players.

"I said to the players in 1997, 'If you win the test series you'll look at each other differently for the rest of your lives, whether you're in the test team or not, because everybody's added to the pot.'

"It's the environment you create for players which ultimately determines whether you'll be successful.

"If we get it right on this tour the players will enjoy and understand their rugby and its intensity for all the right reasons."

Ian McGeechan

Born: Leeds, October 30, 1946.

Position: Centre or first five-eighths.

Test career: Scotland debut v All Blacks, 1972, won 32 caps 1972-79. Captain 9 times.

Lions career: Toured South Africa 1974, New Zealand 1977, 8 tests.

Coaching career: Scotland assistant 1987, head coach 1988-93 and 1999-2003, director of coaching 2004-05. Won Grand Slam 1990, reached semifinals of World Cup 1991, won Five Nations title 1999.

Lions: Head coach 1989 to Australia (won 2-1), to New Zealand 1993 (lost 2-1) to South Africa 1997 (won 2-1).

Northampton 1994-99. Appointed Wasps director of rugby 2005.