Dallaglio backs Woodward's break with tradition

Lawrence Dallaglio fully supports Clive Woodward’s decision to break with tradition and name the biggest British & Irish Lions touring party in history.

Woodward will lead a 27-strong back-room team to New Zealand which includes a chef, a lawyer, a refereeing advisor and, most famously of all, the Prime Minister’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell.

It is the largest support team ever assembled for a Lions tour – only 12 years ago the back-room staff led by Ian McGeechan totalled just four – and on Monday Woodward will announce the vast 44-man playing squad charged with beating the All Blacks this summer.

Woodward, as a former Lion himself, is aware of the side’s history but he makes no excuses for pushing the boundaries further than ever before. His goal is not to keep up old traditions, but to break them.

After all, the Lions’ series victory in 1971 is their only triumph against New Zealand in 117 years.

And Dallaglio, who harbours genuine hopes of making a third tour, believes there is no better man to lead the Lions to victory on the hardest trip of all than England’s World Cup-winning coach.

“The Lions is so unique. It has no history and no future, it’s about the seven weeks you are there. New Zealand is not for the faint-hearted. It is the hardest country for any Lions tour,” said Dallaglio.

“So before people become too critical of what the Lions do they have to realise that when you leave this country you are taking on a whole nation. You have a week together, which is not long to come together, and then you fly to the other side of the world to take on one of the most formidable rugby nations in the world.

“Every non-playing person selected has a very specific role and I am sure Clive wouldn’t be taking anyone he doesn’t feel he needs to use.

“People questioned his motives for taking a QC to the World Cup but if it hadn’t been for him we may not have lasted in the tournament.

“Clive is very meticulous and it will be a very well-prepared team.

“The management team of the Lions has a lot of experience. Andy Robinson has played on a Lions tour, Clive Woodward has played on a Lions tour and Ian McGeechan has won a Lions tour.”

Keeping 44 players inspired will be one of Woodward’s biggest challenges.

A lack of internal competition – that vital touring tool – cost the 1993 Lions in New Zealand and proved their downfall in Australia four years ago.

And there are distinct concerns from the likes of Lions veteran Keith Wood, who witnessed first hand the problems in 2001, that the squad will be too easily split between the midweek dirt-trackers and the Test side.

“On this trip two squads will always be preparing for a game that is seven days away. The players are not having to hold a tackle bag for a guy playing on a Tuesday or a guy playing on a Saturday,” he said.

Ieuan Evans, a three times Lions tourist, experienced defeat in New Zealand in 1993 and he puts that down to the “capitulation” of the midweek side.

“The Lions is all about healthy competition internally. You need that fight, that desire to make the Test team,” he said.

Which makes Monday’s selection announcement all the more important. The Lions need good tourists, not just good rugby players. Internal competition is what the experts believe will drive the ultimate success or failure of the touring squad.

“It is about taking players who will fight for the jersey right up until the last day of the tour,” said Dallaglio, emphasising some of his own qualities.

“That is the only way you have a chance of beating New Zealand – if you take 44 players who all want to wear a Test jersey come the end of the tour.”

McGeechan, as head coach of the midweek XV, will be a key figure in ensuring the squad remains integrated and motivated. And there is no more suitable character.

‘Geech’ led the Lions to victory in Australia in 1989 and South Africa in 1997 and epitomises everything they stand for.

Evans said: “It’s a very good move. I have a huge regard for him, not only in his coaching ability, but how he feels Lions rugby, he lives it. He epitomises Lions rugby and having him on board reminds everyone what it is about.”