Hard work starts here, says Dallaglio

As a three-time Lion, Lawrence Dallaglio knows a thing or two about the opening game on tour but even for a man of his great experience, playing Saturday’s opener against the Barbarians in Hong Kong makes for a unique occasion.

The former England number 8 toured with the Lions in 1997, on the last successful Test campaign, in 2001 in Australia and in 2005 in New Zealand when the opening game was also his farewell, a dislocated ankle in the first 10 minutes against Bay of Plenty in Rotorua bringing his third tour to a swift and brutal end.

“I went to help Brian O’Driscoll with a tackle and got my leg caught in the wrong place and snapped my ankle, dislocated it,” Dallaglio said of his 2005 tour yesterday, having flown to Hong Kong as a Land Rover ambassador.

“A shame and a very quick end to what was looking like a pretty promising match and tour and unfortunately my captain followed me a few short weeks afterwards. That was that, really.

“I’ve got happier Lions memories, obviously, in ’97. That’s the last time the Lions won a series and it was nice to be part of something like that. But this is quite an historic fixture really, the first time the Lions have played here, first time they’ve stopped off en route here and you can understand why. It’s a nice way of breaking up a very long journey over to Australia.”

Not that the Lions, Dallaglio believes, are here on any kind of a jolly, a pre-tour break before the big games in Australia. Far from it. A Heineken Cup winner with Wasps under Warren Gatland in 2004, Dallaglio said the auditions for Test places start against the Barbarians.

“Everyone is looking at this a sort of a warm-up but I see this as the opening game of a Lions tour, forget the warm-up. Any game of rugby where you get to put on a Lions shirt is a game of rugby and it’s a Test match as far as I’m concerned and I’m sure the players will be approaching it in that way.

“I always used to regard the Lions in two stages. There’s a certain level of rugby that gets you picked and after that you’re on the plane and all bets are off. Everyone’s got their views on who’s first choice and who’s not but there’s nothing like laying down an early marker to the rest of the squad and to your coaches in terms of your own ability. It’s not about how you might play in a year’s time, that’s neither here nor there. And it doesn’t matter who you are or how many caps you’ve got, if you’re playing well you’re going to get picked in the Test side.”

One of the more interesting selection battles is likely to be in Dallaglio’s old position at number 8 where Toby Faletau of Wales will vie with Ireland captain and 2009 Lion, Jamie Heaslip.

“Over the year you’d say Faletau has been playing consistently well, and Heaslip perhaps, by his own lofty standards, had a very quiet Six Nations. But that said, in the last few weeks, he’s really stepped up.

“I went over to Dublin to watch the Amlin final and aside from Jonny Sexton who was clearly man of the match, he put in a really strong performance, did Heaslip.

“There’s no doubt he has the qualities to be the starting number 8 in a Test match, but I think he needs to get back to the ball-carrying Jamie Heaslip we saw dominating the scene a couple of years ago and if he can do that, I think he’ll cause Warren Gatland a few selection headaches. That’s what we want because at his very best he’s an absolute quality number 8 who potentially could offer something different in that Test series.”

As far as those Tests against Australia go, Dallaglio is backing a first series win for the since his 1997 Lions debut in South Africa.

“If we can get to the Test series with as many players injury free as possible, the Lions should arrive at the first test unbeaten. They’ve the potential to do that and for me, even though they can come from behind as they did in ’89, that first Test is really crucial. Australia came from behind to win in 2001. If they win that first Test, they’ve got a fantastic opportunity to go on and win the series. Lose that first Test and it becomes an uphill battle. I can see the Lions winning the Test series but it will be very close and competitive and you don’t want to write Australia off.”

n Lawrence Dallaglio was speaking on behalf of Land Rover while launching the all-new Range Rover Sport in Hong Kong, for more visit www.newrangeroversport.com