Jeff Connor - Once Were Lions: The Players? Stories: Inside the World?s Most Famous Rugby Team

ONCE WERE

LIONS

Jeff Connor & Martin Hannan

On 15 July 2006, I sat in the Caledonian Club in London, surrounded by friends from the British and Irish Lions who had toured Australia with me some seventeen years previously.

Rory Underwood apart, the rest of us had long given up on our youthful looks, and much water had passed beneath the bridge since those wonderful days back then. It was a night of great warmth, more than a few drams: an evening of mutual respect, trust and friendship. Before we said Grace, I suggested that in the intervening years, probably not one of us has escaped the passing of time. In truth, most of us at some stage must have trod a pretty uncomfortable path, whether that had been in terms of health, wealth or indeed happiness.

But why should a British Lion be different from anyone else? The truth is of course, he is not, and just like everyone else, they are burdened with the trials that come along in this life of ours.

To quote Max Ehrmann:

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born out of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

A night like that in London reminded us all just how privileged we had been in our lives to have come in contact with this wonderful pastime.

This book, Once were Lions by Jeff Connor and Martin Hannan, perhaps underlines that although some may have suffered at times, all Lions, Im sure, will have felt privileged to at least have been given the chance to have worn the famous red jersey in their rugby lives.

Finlay Calder ,

January 2009

There is no such thing as a former British and Irish Lion. Like the kings and queens of Britain, once you are a Lion you always stay a Lion, except that you can never abdicate Lionship. That is entirely fitting, for to be a Lion means to be a king, if only of the wonderful, glorious, many-hued jungle that is rugby union.

In this book you will find no references to former or ex-Lions. To us, the men who once were Lions on the field have stayed Lions in name and status ever since. Since the day they pulled on the Lions jersey, through the many vicissitudes of lifein this book you will read of some who have sufferedthey have carried the title of Lion. It is an honoured name, revered indeed. It marks out every one of those who once were Lions as a breed apart, special men, and no one can ever take the name away from them.

Let us say at the outset that this is not a definitive history of the British and Irish Lions, nor is it meant to be. Works such as The History of the British Lions by Clem Thomas and his son Greg, and British Lions by John Griffiths, are the standard Lions histories and we are not trying to compete with them. Indeed we are indebted to Clem, Greg, John and all the many, many writers, journalists, biographers and memorialists who have chronicled the Lions in the past 120 years.

This book is a history of a kind, though. It is the story of extraordinary men in circumstances which for many of them happened just once. It is tale of happy and sad experiences, all of them life-changing in a way, because once a man becomes a Lion, he is altered and exalted, and joins a roll of honour bedecked by comparatively few in rugby. There is no going back to being ordinary once you are a Lion.

For that reason we have ignored an old convention that a person only really becomes a Lion when he plays in an international Test Match. For us, to be named a Lion it is enough that a player pulled on the jersey no matter the oppositionW.S. Gainsford was injured in the very first training session of the 1924 tour to South Africa, and never played for the Lions, but he was deemed worthy of selection for the tour so his name is on the Roll of Honour at the end of this book. Gerald Davies, who will manage the Lions on their forthcoming tour to South Africa, put it succinctly: The Lions are the best of the best, and those who are selected for the Tests are the best of the best of the best.

This account is in great part the players own history of the Lions. It is very much their first-hand story, told by the Lions themselves in a series of interviews given over the past few years to Jeff Connor and in 2008/09 to Martin Hannan. We conceived of this book as a written record of history provided by the Lions themselves, and that is why we mention the views of administrators, coaches and commentators, such as rugby correspondents, only when they are relevant to what happened to the players.

It stands to reason that we have been unable to interview any Lion from before the Second World War. Where necessaryfor instance in the first and second chapterswe have augmented their recorded views with contemporaneous reports. We have also taken on board the views and thoughts of some relatives of the Lions, on the entirely justifiable grounds that the men themselves are sadly no longer with us.

For some of the Lions, assisting the authors of this book has been the first chance they have taken to talk about their experiences. Whether or not their words are controversial, let no one doubt the sincerity of their views.

We are greatly indebted to Finlay Calder OBE for his support for this project from the outset. He has been a great friend over the years to Jeff Connor in particular, and you simply could not meet a more honest, modest and loyal a man. Almost twenty years on from his magnificent captaincy of the Lions in Australia, he remains one of the few men to bring back a winning series from the Antipodes.

We are also indebted to all those Lions who agreed to be interviewed for this book. We know it brought back happy memories for the majority, and less happy thoughts for others. To them all, we extend our sincere thanks.

We should say that no Lion has been paid for their contribution to this book. Instead, we are making a donation from the royalties to the Lions Trust, the excellent charity which works to look after the interests of all the British and Irish Lions. The more books that are sold, the bigger the donation, so please recommend this book to your friends.

We trust that the players give some insight into the importance of the British and Irish Lions in world rugby. At first sight, the efforts of teams drawn from five nations in the islands of Great Britain and Ireland against the representatives of three English-speaking lands in the southern hemisphere might seem unimportant in the great sporting scheme of things. And more than a few misguided people have described the Lions in terms of an outmoded concept in this era of professionalism, the World Cup and annual tours by individual nations. If that is so, why do the Lions still matter to so many people?

Touring to other countries is still very much a practice of rugby clubs everywhere, and perhaps the best experience an ordinary club member will enjoy. The Lions are the ultimate tourists, and as the players say, it is their great tradition and history which has made the Lions tours something of massive importance to millions of people, not least the thousands who follow them on their travels. There is also the small matter of bragging rights in world rugby, and as anyone who has ever played the glorious game will tell you, such rights count for much more than Mammon or trophies.