IN THE LIONS DEN: MATT’S BLOG
It is a huge honour for the Foundation to be named as an Official Charity Partner of the British & Irish Lions and an amazing experience to be able to join the Dublin leg of the tour, writes Matt Hampson.
The Foundation has already had a massive start to the summer with events including the Throwdown, Corporate Games and Summer Ball, as well as our Lions Long Lunch in Birmingham with rugby heroes including Dean Richards, Peter Wheeler, Dusty Hare, Graham Rowntree, Harry Ellis, Tom Croft and ex-Lions captain Finlay Calder.
They all added so much to the event and had amazing support in the room. Thank you to everyone who was able to support us on the day.
I was among thousands of fans who travelled to Dublin for the tour’s opening game against Argentina and it was great to catch up again with Paul Kimmage, who wrote my book Engage, and then with Brian O’Driscoll over a Guinness or two. Geordan Murphy is still gutted that the free round at Doheny & Nesbitt’s bar came on my shout!
Rugby legends
We were so grateful to the Lions and their CEO Ben Calveley for hosting us in a room full of Lions legends at the stadium.
Alun Wyn Jones, a Lions captain on the last tour, actually played for Wales in my last game for England Under-21s, though he didn’t want to hear that it was 20 years ago! Jason Leonard, Gavin Hastings, Owen Farrell, Sir Ian McGeechan and Ieuan Evans are Lions legends as well as good men who have been big supporters of the Foundation over the years and were all very happy to sign a shirt we will put into our online auction soon.
Michael Cheika, who took Tigers to the Premiership Final in his last game as head coach, was there as a former Argentina coach and no doubt he will follow the tour closely when he gets back to Oz.
The Pumas party were sat just in front of us and you could see clearly what a tight bunch of people they are, a ‘family’ of rugby people.
Members of the Lions non-playing squad, including Foundation ambassadors Ollie Chessum and Jack van Poortvliet, had been coaching local kids during the day but were all back in time for the game and we had a good chat.
Just a week earlier, Ollie and JVP had started the Premiership Final for Leicester Tigers and I was so proud to see them both join the Lions squad after Jack was called up as injury cover for the Irish trip.
Unbelievable occasion
The hospitality of the people in Dublin was as impressive as the atmosphere around the game and you could tell they were so proud to have the Lions play in their city.
It was an unbelievable occasion and Argentina enjoyed victory in a tight game. They are ranked number five in the world so it was not a total shock. I had actually thought they would win against a Lions squad that had only just come together and they played some great rugby to go with their physicality. No one likes to lose but it is not necessarily a bad thing in terms of the whole tour – all coaches and players need things to work on.
On such a big rugby weekend, it was brilliant to see Foundation beneficiary Taylor Gough collect a bronze medal on his debut at the European Para-Canoe Championships in front of family and friends in the Czech Republic. He’d told me he was aiming for top four against competitors with a lot more experience and will be over the moon with a medal. What a great way to start a weekend of celebrations for his stag-do too!
The Lions arrived in Australia last week and I was so pleased to see Ollie Chessum make his debut and contribute to a win over Western Force. The game looked a bit more structured than in Dublin but there is still more to come as they spend more time training together.
I thought the critics were quite harsh. Force are not the strongest team on the tour but they had a lot of experienced players out there. You hear people say the Lions are favourites for the Test series too, but Australia are no mugs and they like to play expansive rugby. The Lions definitely have a game-plan and I think it is important they stick to their own game, looking to get some width on the ball when they can but also pinning teams back in the corner from their kicking game.
