Martin Johnson knows how to get the job done in the famous red jersey of the British & Irish Lions.
The former Leicester and England second row led the Lions to a 2-1 series win over South Africa in 1997 and led his country to World Cup glory six years later.
He is well known in Ireland for instigating the mind games at Lansdowne Road, in 2003, that led to Mary McAleese having to leave the red carpet and walk across the grass to greet the Irish team. Johnson had lined his team up on the Irish side of the presentation area and he was not for budging.
The fact that he was part of a no-nonsense England team and a Leicester side that did for Munster in a controversial Heineken Cup final merely added to his unpopularity on these shores.
That may all be changing if he continues to heap praise on Ireland’s players competing in the Six Nations.
Ireland have bounced back after losing their championship opener to Scotland and they will tee up a title decider by defeating Wales in Cardiff next Friday. Johnson has noted the positive performances of several Irish players in recent weeks and that is reflected in his latest Lions XV selection.
There are no fewer than eight Irish players included:
That’s an all-Irish front row of Jack McGrath, Rory Best and Tadhg Furlong with Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip in the back row. In the backline, Conor Murray is joined by Johnny Sexton while Garry Ringrose features at outside centre.
The Six Nations is the true proving ground for Lions hopefuls so it is encouraging to see so many feature. However, slip off against either England or Wales and Ireland’s cause will suffer.
Much like the championship, encouraging signs but still a long way to go.
