Final whistle

Brown just the latest in long line of Lions outcasts

All the way back to 19th century, worthy players have missed out on famous red shirt, writes James Corrigan

One opponent said playing against Gould was like ‘trying to catch a butterfly with a hat-pin’

In the depths of his latest Lions rejection, Mike Brown should console himself that he is far from alone. Indeed, the England full-back is part of an ever-expanding list of outcasts, of British and Irish nearly men.

Brown must now be resigned to a Lionsless fate and, when he comes to reflect, he might even consider himself to be one of the best eligible players never to pull on that famous red shirt. Supporting his case is the fact that the 31-year-old is the only Six Nations Player of the Year who has been overlooked.

So much of sport is about timing and it is Brown’s misfortune that he peaked in 2014, the year following the successful Lions tour to Australia. And that his form began to tail off with the 2017 tour to New Zealand approaching.

But then, that is part of the tradition of the Lions, and Brown should know that it was a damn sight less fair when it all began back in 1888. It is ironic when people now criticise the Lions for being essentially a money-making venture, as that is exactly what it was at the outset.

Arranged by three English cricketers (one of whom, Alfred Shaw, bowled the first ball in Test cricket), the ninemonth trip to Australia and New Zealand was not sanctioned by any official body and featured only four players who had played or would play for their country.

It was an unashamed financial exercise and, although it established the concept of northern hemisphere rugby and, indeed, sports sides touring the southern hemisphere, it did not begin to represent the finest of the British Isles.

Neither did the 1891 tour to South Africa. That was made up solely of England players, as the Rugby Football Union – even more arrogant back then than it is now – grasped control.

It was only two tours

Overlooked: Welshman Arthur ‘Monkey’ Gould was rugby’s first superstar later when there were players of the four home unions. It took more than a decade for the British and Irish Lions squad to be truly from Britain and Ireland. But that is the way rugby and society at large was in those days, and the prejudice skews a proper discussion of who is the best player never to appear for the Lions.

There can be no doubt that the legend of Arthur ‘Monkey’ Gould has suffered the most from these generations of bias. Regarded by historians as one of the greatest players from any shore, the centre from Newport, who won 27 caps for Wales from 1885-97, was the sport’s first superstar.

One opponent described the experience of playing against Gould as “like trying to catch a butterfly with a hat-pin”. But his fame did not go global with the Lions: the RFU believed that a testimonial match had made him a professional.

Fast-forward a century and professionalism was also to blame for the man who should be classed as the greatest modern player not to turn out for the Lions. In 1989, Jonathan Davies, another Welsh genius, moved to Widnes so he could provide for his family.

It was only six months until the Lions tour to Australia but, fearing he was on the brink of bizarrely being dropped by the ever-bizarre Welsh Rugby Union, he believed his Lions candidature was weakening. Later, he was to discover that Ian Mcgeechan was planning to build his Lions team around Davies.

Ultimately, it was Davies’s choice, and at least he knows that he would have played. Feel for the likes of Brown and team-mates such as Chris Robshaw, who also must be enduring crushing disappointment.

Mike Tindall suffered this same agony a decade ago, but, to my mind, the player to be most overlooked in recent times was Chris Paterson.

The Scottish full-back won 106 caps, the most of any Lions reject. Paterson deserves pride of place on that wall of pity, which is anything but shameful.