Lions tour captures Aussie imagination

We Australians are fully aware that many New Zealanders consider us a touch slow on the uptake. In the broader sense, we might like to take issue with such a notion, but when it comes to us cottoning on to this whole Lions thing, even the most competitive of us have to admit guilt.

While South Africans and Kiwis have long enthused about the revered place a Lions tour holds in the rugby calendar, we Aussies have only just recently come to understand the significance.

This is partly because of the relatively limited hold rugby had on the Australian sporting populace and partly as a result of the Wallabies' irregular international success in the few decades leading up to the 1980s.

Understandably, British officials were rarely bothered to send their finest out to confront any team without the stature of the Springboks or All Blacks.

Everything changed in 2001. Australia's World Cup win in 1991 increased the game's profile in this country, the move to professionalism in 1995 further helped its growth and a second World Cup success in 1999 was perfectly timed, but it was the Lions tour of four years ago that truly captured the imagination of Australians, rugby follower or otherwise.

However, it was not the Jeremy Guscotts, Brian O'Driscolls or indeed John Eales who were mostly responsible for the spectacular interest.

Rather, it was the hordes of red-shirted followers who descended from all parts Britain and Ireland to demonstrate to the comparatively sedate Australian sports watcher, what a combination of passion, lack of inhibition and exuberant, but controlled behaviour, could do for a sporting occasion.

We've had our Barmy Armies at the cricket, and South American supporters at the 2000 Olympics soccer games, but that human sea of red that flowed down the East Coast for the best part of a month, four years ago left Australians impatient for the next Lions tour to our shores.

Oh, and the footy wasn't bad either. The good guys bounced back from losing the first test at the Gabba to win the series 2-1 and sent packing not only the Brits, but for good measure, a Kiwi as well, in coach Graham Henry. Can't really ask for much more than that!

That is, unless you like a bit of controversy thrown into the mix, and between the likes of Austin Healey and Matt Dawson the tourists themselves provided no shortage of it.

The local media had no need to sniff hard to try to uncover any dirt when you had players themselves writing newspaper columns that broke the old golden rule of what happens on tour stays on tour.

Before the first test, Dawson, the English halfback, wrote in his newspaper column a less than glowing report of the early weeks of the trip.

"Every day consists of mindless training," Dawson explained to the world. "The coaching staff are taking it too far. Boys are not enjoying themselves.

"We get a talk from Andy Robertson, Phil Larder wants to say and do his bit, then Graham Henry does his pre-match speech which doesn't inspire me at all. Too much shouting and screaming. Picks out individuals to wind them up, but it's all very childish.

"To compound it all, we are expected to train like maniacs and recover for the next day, but there are no recovery supplements or specific nutrition to help. It's shoddy."

Whether Dawson had any basis to his gripes, he was made to look a complete goose when the Lions destroyed the Wallabies in the first match.

One imagines though that the ever thorough knight/coach Clive Woodward will ensure the 2005 team are not afflicted by such distractions. His main problem might be getting to meet all members of his team before the last match on July 9. With more than 40 players and enough staff to run Microsoft, one can only hope he's good with names.

I once remember a Wallaby manager forgetting the name of flanker Chris Roche when he was introducing the 1984 side to the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Mind you, any levity at the size of the touring party should be tempered by the knowledge that, come the end of the 2001 tour of Australia, injuries and subsequent reinforcements meant that, you guessed it, 45 players wore the Lions jersey in battle on that 10-match exercise.

There will undoubtedly be the odd Wallaby fanatic who will disagree with me, but after a year-in, year-out diet of Tri-Nations contests between pretty similar old faces, many Australian rugby followers will be feeling greater anticipation about what the All Blacks-Lions series holds than the other tests later in the season.

There is an abundance of quality in the potential first XVs of both sides, but my guess is that Graham Henry is riding the right horse this time around. 

* Andrew Slack is a former Wallaby captain.