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 Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments