There’s nothing like being a Lion... even if I did get a late, late call!

IT was just settling down to sleep when I took the call.

By the time the conversation had finished I had no chance whatsoever of getting any kip, at least not for a good few hours because my mind was whirring.

I’d been speaking to Rob Howley, backs coach with the Lions at the time, who had rung me out of the blue while I was at a hotel near Tokyo airport.

I was playing in Japan but was on my way over to Australia to follow the Lions tour by doing some work for the media and a tour company.

But the trip was to take a sudden and, to put it mildly, unexpected twist.

“I need a favour,” was Rob’s opening line. “Go on,” I replied, with a slight feeling of anxiety.

He added: “Can you get over here in the next 48 hours and play for the Lions against the Brumbies?”

Without stopping to think about it, I immediately blurted out “YES!”

The Lions has that kind of effect, it is completely irresistible. All I could think was that I would never get the opportunity again.

“Hang on a minute though Rob,” I said, “I haven’t got any boots, I’ve got no gumshield no kit of any sort .... ”

“Don’t worry,” he replied, “all that will be sorted.”

And so began a completely bizarre adventure for me. I reorganised my flights, juggled around a few other commitments and boarded a flight the next morning to Brisbane.

By the following afternoon I was involved in a team run with the Lions, having not played Test rugby since my retirement game for Wales almost two years earlier. You couldn’t have made it up.

Injuries and the need to protect players during the week of the first Test against the Wallabies had prompted Warren Gatland to give me the nod, with the fact that I was relatively close by in Japan the obvious clincher.

And Rob was as good as his word, all the essentials were provided. I got a great welcome from the squad and before I knew it there I was, on the pitch at Canberra Stadium warming up to face the strongest Australian province.

It turned out to be a tough evening. Not only was it the only match the Lions lost other than the second Test on the entire tour, but it was played at a pace and intensity I certainly hadn’t been used to in Japan.

We went down 14-12 in the end to a Brumbies outfit that was inspired by a brilliant display from their full-back Jesse Mogg.

But even though we lost, even though I didn’t run in a hat-trick of tries or anything like that, I enjoyed it hugely.

I came off quite pleased with the way I had played, I hadn’t made any mistakes, I had done the basics well and felt as though I hadn’t let anyone down.

Afterwards, it wasn’t a case of back to the hotel bar for a few beers because with that first Test looming the squad had their serious heads on, and rightly so.

I also sensed the frustration they felt at losing what they hoped would be an unbeaten tour record, even though by the end of the trip it scarcely mattered.

The next morning I was on a plane to Brisbane to finally start the work I had originally been heading to Australia to do, but what an experience, what a whirlwind.

There really is nothing like the Lions, nothing like walking into a dressing room and seeing that shirt on a peg and knowing it is for you.

The Lions has been good to me, and last week, when the squad for this year was announced, a few memories – like that extraordinary little cameo in 2013 – came flooding back.

I would have liked more success with the Lions, obviously. Being part of the 2009 side that won the final Test against South Africa was about as good as it got for me in the jersey.

But I’ve no regrets, and I am looking forward to this New Zealand tour, as a spectator, enormously.

I think it will be different from 2005 in that I believe the Lions have a good chance of winning the Test series, as tough as it will obviously be.

I’ve always said that when I went on the 2005 tour it was the toughest rugby I ever played.

It was tough off the field as well with the squad split into two. I was very much part of the midweek team and I felt as though I was just there to make up the numbers.

I remember when we were not involved in the final Test me, Gavin Henson and Gareth Cooper went down to Queenstown, a lively town surrounded by mountains and on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Let’s just say we let our hair down and enjoyed being away from the rugby environment at the end of a very long tour!