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'Sean Holley announced the boys who made it and also announced the boys who hadn't which was a bit weird and awkward'
Ex-Wales tighthead Adam Jones has recalled the contrasting moments when he learned he had been selected to tour with the Lions in 2009 and 2013. The current Harlequins assistant coach is hopeful his club will hear some good news this Thursday when Warren Gatland announces his 2021 Lions squad to tour South Africa.
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Twelve years ago, when the Lions last toured the home of the Springboks, Jones was chosen by Ian McGeechan but he didn’t immediately hear the good news as he was training when the live announcement took place and he recalls things then got awkward when he eventually learned he had been selected.
“In ’09 we were training in the Vale with the Ospreys in the indoor arena,” said Jones, reflecting back on his first Lions tour call-up. “Training was cut-off about halfway through and Sean Holley announced the boys who made it and also announced the boys who hadn’t made it which was a bit weird and a bit awkward.
“So Ryan Jones didn’t make the squad, Hooky [James Hook] didn’t make the squad, Gav (Henson) didn’t make it. It was amazing to get the nod but it also was awkward when you are in a huddle in the middle of a training session and three boys who expected to go, I thought they might go, didn’t go.
“But the next one (in 2013) was just on Sky in the morning. I was pleased to go myself to Australia but to have two good mates like Hibs [Richard Hibbard] and Ian Evans to go as well, who I played a lot of rugby… just the elation to have two good mates go on tour with you and both were actually really good tourists.”
"We were training in the gym and someone came up and said, 'Unlucky mate'"
– @heagneyl hears how James Haskell coped with his Lions rejection four years ago before receiving a Gatland bolt from the blue #Lions ? https://t.co/wm2Qej6GdI
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 5, 2021
Getting selected was only the start for Jones, though, not the end as he set about working his way into Lions team selection, going on to make five Test appearances across the two series he was involved in. “If you grow up certainly where I’m from you are made aware of the Welsh teams of the 70s and made aware of Lions early doors.
“Then you get the Living with the Lions video which was massive for understanding the passion and what it means to players and coaches, your McGeechans, Telfers, these guys who drove it so well. We used to recite the speeches from that video.
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“For me it’s the biggest thing for a British and Irish rugby player. There are World Cups with your country and I’m sure the English guys will have thoughts on that, but for me you get picked for the Lions and it’s the biggest thing you can do but then you want to play Test matches and then you want to win series. That for me was the biggest driver.
“I didn’t want to go on tour and just be a bit-part player, I wanted to go on tour and play in the Tests but also impact the Tests. That was my big driving force. As soon as you get that jersey as a rugby player it’s the best feeling. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
With Harlequins’ players on a day off on Thursday, they won’t be together as a squad to hear the 2021 Lions announced. They didn’t have players starring in the recent Guinness Six Nations with England but the club form of the likes of Danny Care, Marcus Smith and Joe Marler has them in the selection conversation ahead of Gatland’s big reveal.
Jones can’t wait to learn what unfolds. “The boys have been brilliant,” he said about the rich vein of form that has Harlequins challenging for a Gallagher Premiership playoff place and in Gatland’s thoughts. “The senior boys like Danny, Joe, Mike Brown, these guys have been excellent. They have bought into the plans we put forward to them.
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“We kick more than anyone but it is the quality of kicks that someone like Danny Care is putting in. He is playing so well, that is what is getting him into the mix with the Lions talk. Marcus Smith’s kicking. We don’t just run it up our arse from our own line, we play in the right areas, we kick well, chase well and the boys are playing for each other now which is fantastic to see.
“The London Irish game was testament to that. If we get a player, if we get a couple of players in (the Lions), it’s nothing more than those guys deserve because the last ten weeks have been a total shift really.”
This will be special?? ? https://t.co/pofXFObBej
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 4, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Jake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
34 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
34 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
9 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
34 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
9 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
9 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
11 Go to comments