Why the midweek captain will be the most important

Keeping morale high among those who miss out on a Test spot is key – as I found out myself

More than the coach, captain or goal-kicker, the most important person on a Lions tour is the midweek captain. Warren Gatland’s choice will play a large part in determining this tour’s success.

At this point, everyone is still heady with being part of the tour and acclimatising to the new surroundings. That collective happiness does not last long. Once the Test team are set you will have 15 happy players and 26 who will be bitterly disappointed and a touch resentful.

This is where the midweek captain plays such a crucial role. Far more than the coaches, it is up to the leader of the dirt-trackers to keep spirits up. It is normally a senior player who is pretty close to the Test team and who has been through it before.

In 2001, Dai Young pretty much single-handedly kept that tour together. Without him it would have disintegrated. Jason Leonard filled that role in 1997, but there was a lot more experience and talent around. The midweek team were so good that you looked forward to the games – and actually stopped drinking three days before the matches.

These will be issues for further down the track, as we approach the Tests. The first week is about finding your feet, getting to know your team-mates and enjoying yourself. Relaxation is really important; these guys have come off long, brutal seasons and need to let their hair down before the real serious business of the Test matches starts.

Even though I was not overly bothered about playing for the Lions, I went with the intention of fully enjoying the tours. That can make a big difference. The 1997 tour was hugely successful, mainly because of the amount of enjoyment the whole squad had together. We enjoyed each other’s company. We loved going out, doing the go-karting, the bowling, the drinking and the singing.

Bonds start to form when you go out for dinner together, but ultimately the really strong bonds are born on the pitch. Sometimes it takes something terrible to really bring the team together. In 1997, it was after Doddie Weir, a really popular member of the group, was stamped on and forced home. In 2001, tragically, it was when Anton Toia, our liaison officer, died from a heart attack while swimming.

Those bonds will be really tested come the Test weeks, when the first-choice team are settled. If any player says they are not desperately unhappy to be left out of the Test team then they are lying. Generally, everyone in this Lions squad will be first choice for club and country. Some will never have been dropped before, and as a professional athlete you will always think you are better than the next guy. Of course you shake the hand of the person selected, but you do so with gritted teeth.

Inevitably, anyone not selected will perceive that they have not been treated fairly. Your tiredness also really kicks in. If you are enjoying yourself, then you can crack on with the games and take the long season on the chin. If you are not enjoying it then you just think, ‘What is the point, why am I doing this?’ The bitchiness quickly begins. Even with England, there is always gossiping among the players not selected, and these little cliques quickly start to form with a shared sense of grievance. I would not say we were bitching in 1997, but myself, Jason Leonard and Mike Catt were on the bench for the Tests, and all three of us thought we should have been starting. You can only imagine the contents of a few Whatsapp groups on this tour.

This is a very different dynamic to going on tour with your country. With the Lions, the next tour is four years away, under a different coach. With England, you will have another chance a few months down the line. Of course, you want to play rugby and do well, but if