The day the Lions met their match

ONE might have thought that facing down the hugely physical and intimidating Springboks was enough of a challenge for any British and Irish Lion, but, for a group of brave tourists, they dared getting up close and personal with their real-life brethren.

Ian McGeechan might not have been too chuffed as he watched Tom Croft, Ugo Monye, Jamie Roberts and Ross Ford risk life and limb when jumping into a cage with a lion, but McGeechan thankfully doesn’t have any more injury worries to report this morning. All his tour needed now was a report headlined, “Lion eaten by lion”.

Desperately in need of some R&R and time to lick their wounds following a bruising Pretorian experience against the Boks, the Lions headed on safari for two days to the Entabeni Game Reserve situated in the Waterburg area of the Limpopo Province north of Johannesburg.

So, what happened when a Lion got into a cage with a lion? As these pictures show, a special bond seemed to form, much like those brilliant 15 second ads on Sky Sports that support HSBC’s sponsorship of the tour where some of the greatest ever Lions players coach the local wildlife.

Leicester’s Tom Croft lived to tell the tale and also show that ‘Tigers’ and ‘Lions’ get on famously in the jungle.

“The guy just asked us if we wanted to jump in with the Lion and we said yes. I just thought it’s like a big cat really!” said Tiger Croft. “So I got in with the lion and found out it was a bit more than a big cat, it was very strong. In England you’d never be able to do that, so it is really special that they let us go in with the lion.”

Croft quickly learnt how to live with lions. “It was a bit scary but it’s like the way you approach a horse: if you show fear it would probably try and swipe your head off but you just had to bat it away. That Lion and I have a special bond now.”

Monye said the experience helped him understand the power and ferocity of the animal that is the symbol of their rugby tour. “To be in a cage with a Lion was awesome and the guy that looked after the lion said something very memorable: he felt it was important for us to get into the cage with the lion to understand the name ‘Lion’ and what we are representing and when you see the beauty and the actual power of the lion it really does blow your mind. The lion was only 18 months old but it was enormous, it was powerful, fairly scary but an experience that I’ll remember for a long time.”

But it wasn’t all about Lions meeting their real life counterparts. “On Monday we went on an early game drive, jumped in the truck, grabbed a blanket and were driven round. We saw all sorts of animals, the hippos in the water, elephants, warthogs, zebras, a hell of lot of impala and deer and the backside of the elusive lion.”