Ian McGeechan will always be inextricably linked with the Lions and considering he has been involved in seven tours, his place in history is assured.
By Declan Whooley
Sir Ian McGeechan to some, Geech to many more, the 66 year-old Scot won’t be directly involved on the trip to Australia this time round, but you’d be hard pushed to find anyone watching on with more passion for the British and Irish Lions and what it stands for than the former out-half.
First capped by Scotland in 1972, Geechan was called up for his first Lions tour when he was selected to travel on the successful tour to South Africa. That team was captained by Willie John McBride, but four years later he was part of the team that suffered defeat in New Zealand.
Those that played with McGeechan said he was always destined to coach and in 1988 he got his first big break when he took over as Scotland head coach after two years as assistant. The following year he was named Lions head coach when the tourists last won on Australian soil, winning the series 2-1 with a strong Scottish backbone, with Finley Calder captaining the side while Gavin Hastings ended up as top points scorer.
After that success, plus Scotland’s Grand Slam in 1990, he was the obvious choice to lead the charges again in New Zealand in 1993, the final tour of the amateur era. Defeat was their lot, but it was the 1997 tour in South Africa that really captured the imagination.
Since the turn of the century the Lions had won once in South Africa in ten visits, the hosts were the World Cup champions and many believed that the players would struggle to gel. Nothing could be further from the truth, and the ‘Living with the Lions’ documentary has been the benchmark by which sporting documentaries are set.
It showed not only behind-the-scenes footage that was rare at the time, it also demonstrated what the Lions meant to McGeechan. His passion rubbed off on the players who would go on to claim a famous win courtesy of a late Jeremy Guscott drop-goal.
McGeechan was not on the coaching ticket on the last trip to Australia in 2001, but he returned to coach the mid-week team in New Zealand in 2005. That tour, of course, was best known for the size of the squad and the management chosen by Clive Woodward, with many players suggesting it created splits in the camp.
McGeechan had similar feelings, so when he was chosen to manage the 2009 vintage to South Africa, he reduced the size of the squad and restored belief in the squad. And he said that naming Paul O’Connell was crucial to any success they might have.
An emotional coach and captain after the victorious third Test
With critics of the Lions concept suggesting the death knell was sounding for the Tour in the professional era, the performance against the hosts – just like in 1997 against the World champions – was of the highest order after a shaky defeat in the opening Test. An agonising defeat in the second game before steam rolling the Boks in the final encounter meant the Lions picked up only their second Test match win since 1997. Here was another inspirational speech prior to that final Test.
While he is not involved in an official capacity this time round, the 66-year old’s passion for the red jersey shows no sign of abating. Speaking last month about what the Lions Tour means to rugby, he left reporters in no doubt to his stance on the tradition.
“If you’ve got a team that go halfway around the world and take 35,000 people with it to support it, then in the year it exists it’s the biggest team in world rugby,” he said.
“It’s bigger than the All Blacks, it’s an absolute phenomenon,” he added.
New Zealanders might not agree with that statement, but there is no doubting that few have shaped the history of the Lions quite as much as McGeechan.
If ever they needed reminding about what the jersey means, a quick YouTube search of some of his pre-match speeches should have the hairs standing on the back of their necks.
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