Lions' image gets a mauling

IF MENDING fences was Clive Woodward's plan, he used the wrong hammer.

The Lions are not the most appreciated visitors to Dunedin and the Otago region this weekend, following the cancellation of their long-planned community visits to various country rugby clubs, hospitals, a Sisters of the Poor Rest Home and a hospice.

To compound the problem, Woodward yesterday attempted to soothe local feeling and at the same time attack local reporting on the matter for inaccuracy, although he didn't explain what specifically had been misreported.

"All we've done is rearrange the community stuff down here, we're on a rugby tour, not a community tour. I think the Lions have done a fantastic job with the community, I'm not here to justify that. I just ask for some fair reporting of what we're doing."

Trouble was, he then went on to undo it all by finishing with what was intended to be a humorous throwaway line: "Where we come from, community service is a sentence."

Well, you can only imagine how that will play with the locals. Not only will it have upset them but it also denigrated the hundreds of people who have already been treated to a visit from the Lions. If Scrooge had thrown Tiny Tim onto the streets of Dunedin with a tangerine and an invoice for provisions rendered he would still have been held in higher esteem than the Lions coach this morning.

The Lions charm offensive, so carefully nurtured by Woodward and implemented by media advisor Alistair Campbell, was cut off at the knees this week by reports that the Lions had cancelled several public appearances across Otago today and instead scheduled a one-size-fits-all public autograph session back at the Carisbrook Stadium in Dunedin tomorrow. Similar events in Southland on the day of the game in Invercargill next Tuesday have also been curtailed.

"Lions Snub Attacked" was the headline in the Christchurch Press yesterday, as Otago's chief executive Russell Gray and coach Wayne Graham seized on the story to lay into the touring party, while another story quoted Southland Rugby chief executive Roger Clark as calling the "cull of community appearances 'a shocker'."

The visits had been put in place several months ago only to be cancelled on Wednesday, the press reported. When Lions tour manager Bill Beaumont called Gray to explain, the paper said the former Lions captain received short shrift.

"I told him in no uncertain terms that we were disappointed and I was more disappointed for the volunteers and kids who are going to miss out," Gray said. "A lot of volunteer man-hours have gone into putting that together logistically. A lot of kids' hopes will be dashed."

Not missing a chance to pile on the criticism of the Lions a week ahead of the first Test against the All Blacks, Gray added: "It strikes me as a group that it is a little bit nervous about their progression and I think they have decided, well, let's pull things a little bit tighter."

The Otago chief executive said his province wouldn't be the only one to be snubbed by the Lions, adding: "They are expected to continue their policy of ignoring the regions for the remainder of the tour."

Graham, who sent his side into Carisbrook to take on the Lions this morning, was equally angered by the perceived snub.

"In this part of the world it's not how we like to do things and it seems a long way from real life in Otago and especially in Otago country.

"I guess in the year 2005 professional rugby might have changed to such an extent where you lock yourself away in a hotel and prepare yourself for your next game. I think it's a shame. There must be a lot of people in that camp who are thinking 'what are we here for'."

Of course, what the Lions are in New Zealand for is to win matches and for all the problems the tourists have brought on themselves in this episode and last week's over-the-top security precautions in Wellington, it must go down as the first time a professional rugby coach has been accused of planning properly for a major Test series.

It took New Zealand Rugby Union deputy chief executive Steve Tew to bring some reason to the argument.

"It's a rugby tour, and these guys want to win games," he said.