Lion king stays with his Tigers

When the Lions proclaimed Martin Johnson's reappointment to the proverbial roll of drums at Heathrow yesterday, the man himself was otherwise engaged, working for a living.

Instead of being put on a pedestal at the unveiling ceremony of the 2001 tourists, Johnson could be found, fangs and all, in his natural habitat at Oval Park in Oadby, Leicester's training ground lair.

There the Tigers were licking a few wounds, real and imaginary, over their passage into the European Cup Final last Saturday.

An improbable clash of fixtures had presented him with the choice of being covered in glory as the Lion among Lions or covered in mud during a full- scale practice match for Saturday's Premiership play- off quarter- final against London Irish.

The former may have offered him a global profile, the latter an almost subterranean one. Johnson considered it a no - contest. Why put yourself in the limelight when you can train with your mates.

It said everything about the towering lock that he should be faintly offended at any suggestion that he might have been elsewhere.

No Lions captain had ever been put back in command of an overseas mission but that was hardly a plausible excuse for skipping training. For heaven's sake.

Johnson has never been fussed about anything which diverts him from preparing for rugby matches and winning them. He said: 'It was a case of answering questions at a Press conference or training with the club. This is my job. Wednesday's an important day for us and we have a big game on Saturday.'

Lions manager Donal Lenihan had called him on Monday after flying from Cork to preside over the decision-making process.

Johnson revealed: 'He said: "I'd like you to be captainî. I said: "I'd love to do it, thank you very muchî.

'We chatted about a few things. Donal said that if I could get down for Wednesday, fine. If not, it wouldn't be the end of the world. I had to check with the club but I knew that Wednesday morning was a key session. It's not an issue.'

At least it spared him from being publicly introduced as the 'Lion King', which made him cringe four years ago.

No, Johnson was happy to let someone else field the questions, safe in the knowledge none could be more 'ridiculous' than that on the last tour from a former Miss South Africa, masquerading as a TV inter-viewer: 'Does it help being a captain when you're also a player?' He might have been every bit as non-plussed had someone asked him this time last year whether he could lead the England squad on a wildcat strike, endure a midwinter suspension and still end up Lions captain. Having cleared every obstacle he became, in Graham Henry's words, 'the obvious choice'.

The New Zealand coach will decide how many of England's allconquering team will be surrounding their captain when the Test series begins in Brisbane in June. A closer inspection of the pack at his disposal leaves little doubt that the Lions plan to do things a little differently to England.

Lawrence Dallaglio's shifting to blindside, his original position, would clear the way for Welsh sparring partner Scott Quinnell at No.8, Richard Hill at openside - simply because he is too good to leave out - and Neil Back on the bench to raise the tempo when necessary. The plan to combine Dallaglio and Quinnell rather than pick one at the expense of the other explains why the Lions have picked another specialist No.8 in Simon Taylor.

Law student Taylor, 21, one of the few Scots to win any points during last month's Twickenham retreat, emerges as one of few surprises in the 37, increasing his country's quota to three, one more than the Irish managed for New Zealand in 1993, despite beating England in Dublin the day before the Lions finalised their selection.

Taylor, preferred to the athletic versatility of unfulfilled Englishman Joe Worsley, will have bridged the gulf between Under 21 rugby and the Lions in barely 12 months.

As the young Scot braces himself for 'an amazing experience', Henry volunteered the opinion that the youngest member of the squad could 'come back as the star'.

If Gregor Townsend feels hard done by at being passed over in favour of Ronan O'Gara, because the Irishman offers a goalkicking option, then another Scot, Gordon Bulloch, must be feeling worse.

The best throwing hooker in the British Isles, he loses out to Robin McBryde, whose promotion raises a surprisingly large Welsh contingent into double figures. While Swansea prop Darren Morris had long been a certainty, the same could hardly have been said of Wales' other prop David Young.

When push came to shove in the search for a second tighthead behind Phil Vickery, the Wales captain won the vote in a three- cornered contest against Julian White of England and the former Gaelic footballer-turned-prop from Munster, John Hayes.

Austin Healey's redeployment as one of three scrum halves rather than a specialist wing offers the Lions another option out wide as well as finding room for Ben Cohen, the only British wing with the physique to match Australian opposite numbers Joe Roff and Daniel Herbert.

If the Lions are to win a second series, they will do so by outwitting the Wallabies, as opposed to blasting through them, hence Scott Gibbs' failure to make the trip.

Swansea centre Gibbs said: 'Life goes on and there's always tomorrow but the disappointment will take a long, long time to get over. With a broken thumb and a losing cup semi-final, this has been a cruel month for me.'

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