Jenkins spells it out for Lions

PERHAPS it needed someone who had never been a Lion to put them straight.

If the 2005 tourists had not been aware of the honour and responsibility that comes with pulling on that red shirt, they were left in no doubt once Gareth Jenkins had finished with them.

Jenkins, one of Clive Woodward's midweek coaching team alongside Ian McGeechan and Mike Ford, was last Saturday given the honour of presenting the first jerseys of the tour to the players involved in the Bay Of Plenty match in Rotorua. The Llanelli coach grabbed the opportunity, considered a great privilege in its own right on Lions tours, and is said to have delivered such a stirring speech behind closed doors that he ensured the young cubs he addressed went onto the field as fully-grown Lions.