LIONS TO KEEP ON ROARING
Tourists’ schedule is all part of life on tour @kËj k`d\ kf i\jZl\ k_\ K`^\i
from PETE SAMSON in Whangarei
Paint
Head coach Gatland had suggested long car journeys to community visits on Friday could have contributed to back spasms suffered by Ross Moriarty and Kyle Sinckler.
But tour boss John Spencer and captain Sam Warburton said the Lions must stick to their guns and engage with their hosts.
Asked if he would stick by the Lions’ off-field plans, Warburton said: “That’s really important.
“You want to come over here and paint a good picture of the Lions and that is as important as what you do on the field.
“From a players’ perspective, you want to focus on performance but you realise, when you go on Lions tours, it’s greater than that. It’s the legacy you leave behind.”
Spencer said: “On a Lions tour we have our traditions that other tours don’t have and part of that is engaging with the community.
“That is really important to us and we did it a couple of days ago with schools and hospitals and some retirement villages.
“It’s acknowledging the culture and then the rugby will come back into full view.
“Being a Lion does not finish on the final whistle. This is part of expanding our game, to use the moral aspect of our players to show friendship and respect.”
And Spencer reiterated that their sole frustration about the touring plan remained the lack of preparation time before flying out to New Zealand, not their punishing 10-match schedule, nor playing their first match just three days after arriving.
“There is a long way to go on agreeing a new global calendar,” said Spencer.
“World Rugby want to reduce matches and they have decided they want a different length to the season, but they’ve decided other things too.
“Now we want to be part of those negotiations, but there’s no anger – it’s purely trying to get people to understand how great the Lions tour is.
“I don’t like the word brand, but what a creed, what a concept. There is no way that the Lions tour can be lost.”