The extraordinary day Martin Johnson missed the bus to a Twickenham cup final
Martin Johnson, the 2003 World Cup-winning England captain, has always been depicted as the ultimate professional, someone who never tolerated sloppy standards in pursuit of rugby greatness whether at Leicester, his club, or higher up the ladder in representative rugby.
His penchant for high standards was epitomised when he skippered the Lions to their epic 1997 Test series success in South Africa just two years after the Springboks had memorably won the 1995 World Cup.
However, Johnson didn’t always fully lead by example judging by the story surrounding the 1993 English Pilkington Cup win by Leicester over Harlequins which took place three weeks before the Lions opened that year’s tour to New Zealand, a trip that Johnson was called up for as a replacement for Wade Dooley.
The now 50-year-old, who went on to play in two of that three-Test Lions series versus the All Blacks, very nearly missed out on his opportunity to impress on English cup final day which at the time was the pinnacle of the club calendar.
Recalling the showpiece decider that Leicester won 23-16 versus Harlequins in front of 54,000 at Twickenham, Ian Smith, the then Tigers coach and father of ex-player Matt, revealed how Johnson had missed the team bus departure from Leicester that Saturday morning and only just made it to the hotel in London as the squad were about to depart for Twickenham.
Tigers bite back in the Burgess versus the Fords row https://t.co/dXLd7zvkbP
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“They boys really, really did rise to the challenge although it didn’t get off too well,” said Smith in an interview with Leicester Tigers TV about the final. “We never used to travel down the night before. We used to travel on the coach on matchday, go to a hotel near to Twickenham and Heathrow and then get a police escort in.
“We got on the coach, we left the ground and then I’m informed by the team secretary, Tudor Thomas, that we had left a player behind, Martin Johnson. (There were) No mobile phones and thank God for Mr Johnson Snr, David Johnson, who drove his son down. I’m sat at the hotel and said: ‘We can’t wait any longer.’
“But luckily they arrived just as we are leaving to get to the ground. It was particularly important that he was there because he made an even bigger contribution than usual, managing to roll over for a try in the second half which effectively sealed the result.”
Current Leicester director of rugby Geordan Murphy also reflected on that final from 27 years ago which he watched on TV in Ireland, adding that travel to a match as a player in the old amateur era was often a problem.
“Martin Johnson recently recanted his story on how the famous try that took place from the tap penalty happened. Just to hear him talking about it with passion, that was one of the things that stuck with me.
“Actually, he got a little glass tankard on the back of winning the ’93 Pilkington Cup which his son broke about for weeks ago, so he wasn’t very happy about that. That’s why he started telling this story.
“It’s amazing what happened in those days. There is stories of other players: Jamie Hamilton, who went on to play a lot of rugby as a nine for Leicester, got his debut on the wing at Bath when one of the Underwood boys got stuck in traffic and couldn’t get out.
“Obviously we didn’t have an extensive squad (at the time), so he ended up playing on the wing and went on to play a lot for Tigers. Slightly different these days, but in the 90s it was very much just make your own way there and the amateur era was still in full swing.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
28 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
5 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
28 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
28 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
22 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to comments