Just under six months on from coming so close to masterminding another series win in South Africa, Ian McGeechan reveals in an interview with the Daily Telegraph that he still considers a British & Irish Lions Tour the greatest experience in rugby.
"Seven tours he has been on, as player and coach, making him easily the Lions' most senior practitioner.
"Indeed, the Lions are so huge a part of his life – the shirts he wore on tour in 1974 and 1977 take pride of place in his house – that it comes as a surprise when he opens the door a couple of days before Christmas not wearing his kit. After all, his relationship with the distinctive red shirt could be described as a lifelong love affair.
"'Paul O'Connell [McGeechan's Lions captain] said it best,' McGeechan says. 'He said, referring to the Lions shirt, this is the biggest jersey a player can put on. The shirt is the symbol of what it is to be a Lion.
"'I introduced this idea on the tour of a plaque placed on the wall of the dressing room alongside each shirt as it hung in the dressing room, which listed the men who had worn that number in the past and been successful. That continuity, that history, is what motivates. For me, it doesn't get any higher than the level required to be a successful Lion.'"
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