The last place a Lion wants to be? Sitting in a corporate box

There is nothing worse for a player, having to answer questions about a game that you had visualised playing in for months and yet find yourself surplus to requirements, writes Donal Lenihan.

It’s the moment when reality dawns. You alight from the team bus but the players selected to start the first test turn right for the dressing room and you turn left for the coffee station.

Everyone arrives on tour as one, with aspirations of playing in that key opening Test but with the clear understanding that a sizeable portion of the squad will inevitably face disappointment.