24th September 2008
Couers de Lions?
In tomorrow’s Golwg among other things (some tongue in cheek, it is all after all my birthday week) I commit what is, in rugby circles, a cardinal sin in questioning the existence of the British (and Irish) Lions. What I actually suggest is that this touring ‘home nations’ occasional side is superseded by a standing European team which would play a series every two years, alternately home and away, against a Southern Hemisphere XV: a sort of Ryder Cup for rugby.
I have to confess that my motivation for this is half sporting, half identity-politics. For me, it’s difficult to identify fully with a Lions side which even with the name change in 2001 is something of a (crooked line-out) throw back to a by-gone imperial age: even one managed by the great Gerald Davies, and which, if the online poll on the Lions site is right, will be captained by a Welshman – maybe one of the two Lions tourists who have been nominated as IRB players of the world (Da Iawn, Shane, yn arbennig!). Sport trumps politics, of course, even for Welsh nationalists – Carwyn James coached the Lions a year after standing for Plaid in Llanelli. For many rugby internationals, being selected for the Lions is not some badge of identity but an accolade of sporting excellence.
But the world has changed – and rugby with it. The expansion of the Five Nations into Six in the last decade, the success of the Heineken Cup and the experience of the likes of Gareth Thomas and Stephen Jones in France have turned rugby from being an essentially British phenomenon to an important part of European sporting identity that deserves to be lionised through its own Continent-wide team. The idea is not a new one: as Alan Watkins - a fellow TyCroes boy like me – has pointed out ad hoc European XVs have existed from time to time, but the idea has never been given permanent expression. With Wales providing the home ground and possibly captain for the next Ryder Cup, then why not innovate further and initiate a new tradition on Welsh turf: another European team (again captained by a Welshman) taking on a team from the Southern hemisphere?
One Response so far to “Couers de Lions?”
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Windhoek.Lager says:
September 27th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Dear Mr Price,
Why must you politicians always scratch where it is not itching?
The British and Irish Lions are a part of the rich tradition and heritage of rugby union. In these days of bungee tours, once-off tests and micro wave rugby, the Lions represent everything that is good about the sport. They represent sportmanship, camaraderie and team spirit.
Please, leave it be. If you’re that hard-up for publicity, say something silly about the price of petrol, the US election or the latest financial crisis. As a Welshman you should know better than to mess with rugby union.