Lions coach Ian McGeechan feels that this summer's trip to South Africa will be the toughest test the elite tourists have ever faced. He spoke to Mick Cleary in the Daily Telegraph.
"McGeechan will put a lot of emphasis on personal relationships. Players will share rooms, travel as a group, even if not required for midweek matches, and have one common coaching set-up in charge.
"The Lions is such a short, sharp, intense experience that you've all got to be in it together,'' said McGeechan, who insisted on this reversion to old customs when interviewed for the post. The 2005 trip to New Zealand was seen as bloated. McGeechan, though, has adopted some of Sir Clive Woodward's organisational approach, which he said was "superb".
"You had to try out the two-team concept, with different coaches, to see if it worked,'' McGeechan said. "I wanted it more compact. We've got to be able to react to each other as well as to circumstances to have a fighting chance. We're all in this together.""
RSS feed
