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Mcewen also confirmed that securing more preparation time for future tours was the Lions’ top priority during forthcoming negotiations over the next three trips.
The squad play their first match in New Zealand the week after the Aviva Premiership and Guinness Pro12 finals, and the Lions head coach, Warren Gatland, wants that to change from 2021.
Echoing that, Mcewen said: “The most important thing is preparation, preparation, preparation; the time the team have together in the UK and Ireland before we go to New Zealand, South Africa or Australia. No professional sports team would put themselves through that impossible task within a week.”
Legendary Lions coach Sir Ian Mcgeechan agreed. “Give them the time, because the product at the
‘Going for a beer is a great way to break down barriers. You have four cultures coming together’
end is so good for the sport that you can’t afford to get it wrong,” he said. “It’s more than just a Test series. It is the respect for the uniqueness that this team has, this jersey has.”
Despite the intense schedule, Mcewen said the Lions would not curtail the squad’s community activities while on tour, citing the importance of a visit to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where Maori chiefs first signed an accord with the British Government.
Mcgeechan said that was one area where organisers of the last tour to New Zealand went “wrong”.
“It was one of the things we got really right in ’97, 2009, I think, where we purposely went out,” he added. “And it was a joint effort between sponsor, players, management to say, ‘This is it’.”