Guscott becomes pride of the Lions in Brisbane

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful

What's happening here?

Its July 8, 1989 and in a quiet corner of the changing rooms at Ballymore Brisbane a slightly shell-shocked and disbelieving Jerry Guscott is taking in the enormity of the Lions 19-12 win over Australia in the second Test. It was his Lions Test debut and after getting thumped 30-12 in the first Test in Sydney the series had been on the line. The Lions needed to respond. And they did.

What’s the story behind the picture?

There are a couple of narratives going on here, one personal, one collective. Bath supporters had been beating the drum about Guscott for some time both as a wing – where he started out – and as a centre of exquisite promise. England, though, had been a little slow on the uptake but in May 1989 they had finally given him a debut against Romania in Bucharest, and he obliged with a hat-trick as the England backs ran riot.

Guscott had been spoken about as a Lions bolter but had missed out in the initial selection only for England skipper Will Carling to drop out with a shin splints injury. Guscott was on the plane after all.

Mike Hall and Brendan Mullin were preferred at centre for the first Test and the Lions got taken to the cleaners, losing 30-12, outscored four tries to nil. The ‘failure’ was collective – the forwards lost out physically to a psyched up Aussie pack and the backs were anonymous behind a struggling pack.

The Lions had never come back from losing the first Test so there was a mountain to climb at Ballymore seven days later. But first came a testing midweek match against ACT in Canberra. The tour had to somehow get back on track and ‘Donal’s Doughnuts’ – Donal Lenihan was the dirt-trackers’ skipper – duly obliged with a thumping 41-25 win.

What happened next?

That midweek win put a spring back in Lions steps and a much-changed Test team were spoiling for a fight in Brisbane. It all got very heated at times but despite winning the arm wrestle the Lions were still trailing 12-9 with five minutes left. They needed to close the game out. First skipper Gavin Hastings strolled over in the corner and then Guscott sealed the deal. Looking back now it seems obvious he would provide the spark but he was still relatively unknown then, his selection had been a punt by Ian McGeechan. But what a punt. Taking the ball virtually standing still about 25-30 yards out he threaded a delicate right footed grubber through the advancing Aussie defence and then hit the turbos to win the race for the ball.

Guscott was always praised for his effortless pace, his languid ground eating stride and there is much to that, his athletic ability was to a degree inherent, but he was also a ferocious trainer, sometimes on the QT.

He would go through the drills with Bath and England assiduously enough but when the rugby world wasn’t watching there were those extra sessions with the elite athletes up at Bath University. Guscott liked to arrive at Rugby training in peak condition having already banked the fitness work so the focus could be on skills rather than fitness per se. That all seems bog standard these days but back in the depths of amateurism it was not the norm.

Why is the picture iconic?

It’s the intimacy. Guscott is in a postmatch daze, just like the rest back home reaching for a celebratory breakfast tinnie. Did that really just happen? Just seven days before Australia were on another planet and yet, here, the Lions have turned them over at their fortress stadium. It’s rare that a photographer gets the access to witness such a reflective moment, in fact it’s virtually impossible these days, but during the Lions tours of the 1980s and 1990s the media enjoyed unlimited access.

Journalists and snappers were virtually part of the tour party, we stayed in the same hotels, ate and drank at the same pubs and restaurants – there was no them and us – and when you are that close the result was pictures like this. Mike Leach certainly took full advantage with a very candid shot which perfectly sums up the mood of the day.

Footnote: Seven days later the Lions clinched the series with a 19-18 win back at Sydney, the only time in history they have lost the first Test and gone on to win the series.

And Guscott? He instantly became a must-pick for England and starred in all three Grand Slam campaigns under the captaincy of fellow centre Carling. There was a World Cup final in 1991 and, of course, the Lions story was far from over. Strangely the second Test of a series was when he always shone brightest.

In 1993 he again took a leading role, after the Lions lost in the opening Test, with a sharp break and nicely timed pass to help Rory Underwood score his memorable try in their 20-7 victory over the All Blacks in Wellington although on this occasion they lost the series. Four years later he was on hand again to apply the coup de grace in yet another epic second Test, this time kicking the winning dropped goal in the Lions remarkable series winning 18-17 victory over the Boks at Durban.