Jamie George exclusive interview: It’s been an agonising wait but I’m so glad to be a Lion again

Getty Images
Will Macpherson13 May 2021

Last week’s Lions squad announcement left one thing in no doubt: how much the tour means to rugby players across Britain and Ireland. The joy of those selected and pain of those overlooked was laid bare with every interview and Instagram post.

Speaking to Jamie George reinforces this point. The England hooker accepts he is “quite anxious at the best of times” when learning if he has been selected for the teams he so proudly represents. The agonising wait for Lions selection, it is fair to say, is not “the best of times”.

For George, it has lasted almost four years, from the moment the last tour — which he describes as “one of the best things that’s ever happened to me” — ended, ramping up with intensity over the last six months, coinciding with a period that has seen England’s form dip and his Saracens side plugging away in Championship backwaters.

For this tour, avoiding the punditocracy and Twitterati’s wild selection debates has been even more difficult, as players have been intrigued to learn what is being reported about where the tour would take place and other details left so uncertain by the pandemic.

Many interactions with media, and many more conversations in camp, have been devoted to the Lions, too.

The sleepless nights ended seven days ago when, tucked away on the south coast with his wife Katie’s family, George learnt that he had been selected in exactly the same way the rest of us did: when Jason Leonard read his name out. Even then, the emotions were complicated by disappointment for team-mates such as Billy Vunipola.

“The initial feeling was relief,” he tells Standard Sport. “Relief that I was in the squad, but mainly that the anxiety was over. As a player who plays for the home nations, in a Lions year, it’s hard to keep it out of your mind. Being named in that squad is one of the best moments of my career… I am so excited.

“It is just such an honour. This one will be different without the sea of red and travelling fans. But if any country can put on a spectacle, it’s South Africa. I have friends there and they talk about what a boost it’ll bring the country.

England RFU Training Session - The Lensbury Hotel
PA

“To be going as a tourist and knowing you’re facing the whole country is awesome. It seems like everyone in the rugby community needs a big series to follow, and it comes at the perfect time.”

George was one of the great stories of the 2017 tour, starting all three Tests — and, indeed, staying on the field until deep into the final quarter — before he had started for England. He says he made friends for life, such as the Irish prop Jack McGrath.

Then, he was a wide-eyed rookie. Now, he recognises the need to play a role in bringing the squad together — especially given the biosecure bubble they will be living in. He is already putting his hand up to be part of the social committee on tour.

“The biggest lesson from the Six Nations for me, which I took a while to learn, with the restrictions, is the importance of togetherness and team cohesion, enjoyment, within camp,” he says.

“That is something I am going to take into the Lions bubble. The restrictions are there for a reason and protect us. We need to find ways of gelling, which is particularly important on a Lions tour. It probably took us a couple of weeks to crack it with England, which probably showed in the Scotland game.

“I think I’m at my best as a player when confident in the group. I’m always playing a part of the social committee with England, it’s the sort of thing I’d love to take on with the Lions. It is about gelling, getting to know people quickly, getting up to speed with players.

“We’re talking about people you’ve never spoken to in your life, yet you’re going to be playing with them in a week’s time, you need to get up to speed quickly. I loved that on the last tour, made friends for life. Whenever you play rugby you form opinions of people, but they’re never as they seem on the TV. I’m sure some of my new team-mates have opinions about me, but I’d like to change those!”

George says he is like a kid at Christmas. But before he can fully turn his mind to cracking selection for the Lions matchday 23, George has a job on his hands with Saracens.

Getty Images

He has enjoyed “being away from the hype and speculation” of massive European ties in recent weeks, but says the pressure Sarries are placing on themselves and the intensity of training is like nothing he can remember. Their five Lions will be working closely with Phil Morrow, the club’s performance director (who was on the last tour’s staff), and John Clark, the England strength and conditioning coach, who is travelling to South Africa.

“The next six weeks are some of the biggest we have ever had as a club,” he says. “We can’t afford to slip up. If we don’t, hopefully we get into a two-legged play off. That could  be daunting but it’s exciting — an incredibly enticing time.”

And that is just the build up.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in