Scrapping the British & Irish Lions so we can win the next World Cup? This may divide opinion.
No sooner was the World Cup over than the Lions talk began – who will coach, who will captain, how many Irishmen, etc.
We were not alone. For a seven-week tour to the Southern Hemisphere, which takes place every four years, the B&I Lions makes a lot of noise.
Down in New Zealand, where the Lions tour next, debate has begun about the best possible squad to defeat the tourists… again. It has been 44 years since Willie John McBride and the Lions won a Test Series in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
Amid the din, one Irish journalist has presented the argument of scrapping the Lions.
Gerry Thornley, writing in The Irish Times, believes Ireland, and the other Northern Hemisphere countries, would stand a better chance of winning World Cups if they cut out the increasingly improbable tours.
In 2017, for example, the Lions will take part in a 10-match tour over 35 days – June 3 to July 8. They have three Tests against the world champion All Blacks, one against a representative side, a date with New Zealand Maori and five matches with Super Rugby franchises.
The week before they set off, there is the 2017 PRO12 and Aviva Premiership finals.
Thornley notes the toll Lions tours have taken on Brian O’Driscoll [2005], Paul O’Connell [2009 & 2013] and the Welsh players [2013]. He writes:
‘The Tri Nations love the Lions too, for they are ideal tourists. Four years ago, it’s reckoned that 40,000-plus British and Irish fans flooded into Australia to support the Lions.
‘So they give a huge financial injection to the local economy and host union and, of course, generally lose. What’s not to love about them?’
There is no stopping the Lions juggernaut for 2017 but another 3-0 whitewash to New Zealand – and injuries to leading European players – may bring this debate right into the open.
Sponsorship money at a cost of Northern Hemisphere success – it’s a high price to pay.
