History and tradition is what makes the Lions special

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

Irish and Munster rugby legend Paul O’Connell believes people would laugh at the idea of a British & Irish Lions team if it was proposed to establish the entity today, the former lock adding that the notion of the Lions mightn’t even make sense due to the time required to run off a tour of this magnitude in the professional era.

With the British & Irish Lions currently on their tour to New Zealand – they have already faced the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians and Blues in the past week – O’Connell, who made seven test appearances with the combined four-nations outfit between 2005, ’09 and ‘13, says due to the demands of the modern game, there may not be the same appetite for the Lions if it were mooted today.

Consequently, he maintains the appeal of the Lions lies in its history. The concept of the Lions can be traced back to 1888 when the first ‘unofficial’ tour visited New Zealand and Australia, but it was not until the 1970s that the Lions truly began to capture the sporting public’s imagination.

During this decade, the British Lions – the tour did not officially become the British & Irish Lions until 2001 – travelled to New Zealand (1971) and South Africa (1974) and came away from both victorious. It is here O’Connell – who was in Ardeevin NS (located between Glenamaddy and Williamstown) as part of the Aldi Play Rugby recently – comes in.

“It is the tradition of the Lions really that makes it special. The people who have gone before you – the Willie John McBrides, the Phil Bennetts, the Gareth Edwards and the Martin Johnsons of this world. That is what makes it special really.

“So, you kind of have this tradition to live up to. The guys who were on that tour in 1971, captained by John Dawes, who went down to New Zealand and won in New Zealand, they are the immortals in Northern Hemisphere rugby or certainly in Home Nations rugby. That is probably what it is. It is the tradition, and it is the challenge, because it is really difficult.”

Indeed, despite the Lions boasting of the very best players between Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland, 37-year-old O’Connell maintains that is simply not enough. That is not what makes a team. He expands further.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.