MY LIFE IN RUGBY
Irish Lion Jeremy Davidson recalls the highs of beating the Boks in 97
ILISTENED to Martin Johnson speak recently and he said if he could go back to any time in his rugby career, he’d go back to the 1997 Lions tour because it was so, so special – and that is coming from someone who has won the World Cup. For me, it was also the pinnacle of my career, a very special moment, although I didn’t realise quite how special back then because you are caught in the moment.
Going up against the Springboks then was even more daunting than it is now because the game hadn’t been professional for that long so we were maybe a wee bit behind in terms of physical stature but we made up for it in terms of solidarity and work ethic.
It was a special group of people who played for each other, who played for the management and played for the players who weren’t involved, in the stand in their blazers. Everyone was incredibly tight and that’s to the credit of Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer, that everybody felt important. All the countries became one.
Having made my debut for Ireland against Fiji in November 1995, I’d only played a year and a half or so of international rugby, so I was still reasonably young, certainly for a front-five player, at 23. That I went on to start in all three Tests was not good luck because I worked bloody hard to get in the team but circumstances certainly fell in my favour.
I think Doddie Weir had maybe been pencilled in, in the minds of the coaches, and he suffered a tour-ending knee injury very early on. So that left everyone else fighting for the one spot alongside Martin Johnson. The pack, which was pretty much the English pack, got badly beaten up by the Blue Bulls not long before the Test series so that helped my cause too, plus I had played a lot and had hit some good form at the right time. I think my precision at lineout time definitely helped me put my hat in the ring for selection because the Boks had some very, very tall players there.
The star of that tour was the team itself, it wasn’t any one individual. They could have voted for anybody – Keith Wood, for Lawrence Dallaglio … anybody in that team, but obviously it was a huge honour to be named Players’ Player of the Tour by my teammates. What made it even more special was that my Mum and Dad, who hadn’t planned to travel, flew out for the Second Test and I managed to sneak them into the after-match function and they saw me receive a big painting of a Lion, with ‘King of the Lions’ written on it, from tour manager Donal Lenihan.
Obviously, a few drinks were had that night, so it was quite fortunate my parents were there to get hold of the painting and take it back to their room for safekeeping.
I got the shock of my life the next morning through, when I rolled over in bed, hungover, to see my dad standing over me with the painting in his hands.
It turns out the cleaners had let him in. I don’t think security was what it is now back then!
The 2001 Lions weren’t known for having the same sort of team cohesion but let’s not forget, we were only a few minutes from winning the series. Graham Henry’s one focus was on one team to win the Saturday games and the Tests, and anybody that has been on a Lions tour knows you need to have everybody on board.
Because of the intensity of the games, there’s a good chance you’ll need to count on all of the players. Danny Grewcock came from nowhere and was in the form of his life and was possibly one of the best players on tour, so I ended up in the midweek team.
As for Ireland, I made my debut – at number six. I’d never played six in my life, for Dungannon or Ulster, at that point. Back in those days, I think everyone was trying to emulate the English pack who were humungous. That must have been the tallest Ireland back row in history. David Corkery was 6ft 5ins, I was 6ft 6ins and Paddy Johns was 6ft 6ins. It wasn’t long, however, before I was moved back into the second row where, it is fair to say, I felt much more at home.
Unfortunately the 1999 World Cup wasn’t a tournament I remembered particularly fondly. In fact, I’d say our quarter-final play-off defeat to an up-and-coming Argentina ranks as probably my lowest point on a rugby field. They were very physical and we lost a lot of players through injury but no excuses, we didn’t deserve to win on the day. We hadn’t had the best of years in
the Six Nations that year, either, but beating Wales at Wembley, when we were very much the underdogs, was a standout memory. We played phenomenally well that day.
Prior to the ’97 Lions tour, I joined
London Irish. Sir Clive Woodward was coaching them
and wanted to strengthen the club’s Irish connections. I think I was one of about 14 or 15 internationals or future Ireland internationals who moved across to the Premiership. Clive was a forward-thinker and a great motivator but, unfortunately, we didn’t do that well and I did my cruciate ligament not long after the season started in a game against Gloucester at Kingsholm. The whole London Irish experience was a real eye-opener because everyone was so new to professionalism.
Then, I spent three years at Castres. I spoke reasonably good French having studied for a time in the city of Tours, as part of my European Business Studies degree course at the University of Ulster, but even so, French rugby was a huge shock to the system at the time. Once I settled in, I never looked back. I was the first overseas captain of Castres, in my second season, before returning to play for Ulster. Unfortunately, recurring problems with my knee meant I could barely walk let along run and I had to retire at just 28.
I had a lot of really good coaches who pushed me on and allowed me to achieve what I did in the game. Coaching was not something I thought about doing at first but I loved it at Dungannon, where my career has started. Then, out of the blue I got a call from PierreYves Revol, the president of Castres, and he gave me a legup into the professional game. I am really glad I took the opportunity because now I am coaching in France and have done for the last 13 years. I coached Castres for two years and then Aurillac for six years after returning from two years with Ulster. To be able to be part of the Ulster coaching setup was fantastic. I managed to play, captain and coach my province, which is something I am really chuffed about.
Then I was at Bordeaux for a year, and this is my fourth year at Brive. When you are in a different country and different culture, I think you have to adapt your style so you get buyin from everybody. I’d like to think I’ve done that quite well and I have changed the outlook of possibly one of the teams without the biggest budgets so that they set their standards and ambitions a bit higher. I love being in France and, hopefully, we can put some smiles on faces this season after what has been a difficult year for everybody.
“The star of that tour was the tour itself, it wasn’t one individual”