British and Irish Lions call on Martin Johnson for pep talk ahead of second Test against Wallabies
The British and Irish Lions have called in one of the stars who shattered the Wallabies at the 2003 World Cup as they plan to end Australia’s hopes of a series win at the MCG.
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The man who played the leading role in inflicting the most gut wrenching loss in Australian rugby history has given the British & Irish Lions a motivational pep talk on how to crush the Wallabies.
One of the most revered Lions of all time, Martin Johnson is best known in Australia for two contrasting results on the rugby field.
He’s the only Lions captain to lose a series in Australia after the side he led in 2001 went down 2-1.
But he was also the skipper of the England team that broke Australia’s hearts by beating the Wallabies in the 2003 World Cup final in Sydney.
It was the ultimate act of revenge on Australian rugby but Johnson isn’t finished dishing it out yet.
Back in Australia to watch the current tour, the giant English lock was invited to present the jerseys to the Lions’ team that will play the Wallabies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
His presence alone was enough to inspire the young cubs but he went further than that, delivering a rousing speech about what they can never take the Australians for granted as well as what they need to do beat them.
“He spoke nice and calmly and it was so cool to have him there. It was a privilege really,” the Lions scrum coach John Fogarty said.
“He talked a little bit about the Lions series that he won (against South Africa in 1997) and he talked a little bit about the Lions here, they lost.
“He talked about how in the biggest of games, the fundamentals are incredibly important.
“There’s going to be errors, but not compounding errors on error is a huge part of winning big games. It was really cool. The room was completely quiet for the whole time he was there.”
A legend of the game, no-one commands more respect in northern hemisphere rugby than Johnson.
While he achieved the ultimate success by captaining England to win the World Cup, sealed by Jonny Wilkinson’s extra-time field goal, what set Johnson apart was the way he rolled his sleeves up and worked even harder to get better after losing the 2001 Lions series.
That was a crushing blow for Johnson after the Lions had won the opening Test in Brisbane and looked to have the second match in Melbourne under control before a Joe Roff intercept try swung the game Australia’s way.
The third Test was a nailbiter but the calm manner in which the Wallabies left a big impression on Johnson.
At the same time he was addressing the Lions, the Wallabies were at dinner with two of their own legends, George Gregan and Nathan Sharpe, with players from both teams hearing the same message that keeping a cool head is critical when the pressure ramps up.
“He (Johnson) said it’s the smallest of margins in the biggest of games. He talked about being in the moment and all that stuff is difficult,” Fogarty said.
“When you’re playing in front of 95,000 people in a stadium as iconic as this and you’re under pressure or you’re applying pressure, your emotions can go up and down and be able to get back to neutral or find a way to get clarity back in your mind in the shortest of times is difficult at times for players.
“We’re not going to get everything our own way. We understand what type of game or how big a game it’s going to be for both teams and we know it’s going to be a game of small margins. So I think that’s good advice.”
The Lions are short-priced favourites to clinch the series in Melbourne after winning the first test in Brisbane 27-19, but none of the tourists are counting their chickens just yet.
Expecting a Wallabies backlash, they have shut down earlier talk of a 3-0 series sweep in anticipation of a brutal encounter after the Australians finished strongly in Brisbane.
“We understand the task at hand. We don’t see this game as being in any way one sided,” Fogarty said.
“We understand the proud tradition of Australian rugby. We understand they’re not going to go away at all.
“They’re in this iconic stadium as well. It means a lot to them so we’re preparing for an absolute battle. We can’t take this game for granted.
“It’d be disrespectful for us to roll in here not prepared properly. It’d be disrespectful for us not to have the right mindset. We’re preparing for an absolute battle against Australia.”
LIONS HERO’S ‘CHAINSAW MASSACRE’ EARS LEAD TO WHITE SHEETS BAN
For professional rugby players, one of the prices they pay for playing in the forwards is that their ears sometimes get so mashed and bent out of shape that they become permanently deformed.
An irreversible condition known as cauliflower ears, it’s considered a badge of honour for front rowers and locks who spend their lives packing down in scrums but it has its drawbacks.
The British & Irish Lions prop Andrew Porter’s ears are forever bloodied from all the damage he’s done to them over the years, which has led him to rethink his colour choices when he goes shopping for manchester.
“I can’t have white pillowcases at home anymore,” Porter said.
“Because it looks like the Texas chainsaw massacre after I wake up in the morning, so I’ve been banned from the white linens.”
His response to the obvious question that followed was met with an obvious answer.
“Black, black, black. Can’t see anything on them. Probably disgusting though.”
Another occupational hazard of playing in the forwards is having to grapple with big men.
The Lions have got plenty of super-sized blokes in their forward pack but none as gigantic as Australia’s Will Skelton, who has been cleared to return from injury to face the tourists at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Standing at over two metres tall and tipping the scales at 135 kilograms, Skelton is a rugby colossus in every sense, and his reappearance has got the Lions’ pack in a tizz.
If the Lions can reduce Skelton’s impact on the contest, it will go a long way to them winning the match and clinching the series with a game to spare.
But if they can’t cope with his power and strength, the Wallabies could well draw level and set up a winner takes all decider in Sydney.
“I’ve obviously played a few games against him and some have gone our way and some of them have gone his way now,” Porter said.
“He’s an incredibly experienced player, he’s I suppose a talisman for them. He is not just a big bloke, he’s obviously incredibly skilful, physical as well.”
Recalled to start at loosehead prop, the Irishman is not the only Lions forward wary about Skelton.
English lock Ollie Chessum, another new addition to the Lions’ team that won last week’s opening Test in Brisbane 27-19, says Skelton is a handful to deal with.
“He’s an unusually large human being. He brings a completely different challenge around the set piece and then in general phase play,” Chessum said.
“You try stopping at 150 kilos or whatever it is. I might be doing a bit of a disservice there, but he’s just a huge, huge human being and it takes a lot to stop him.”
To combat the physical threats posed by Skelton, Chessum has taken his lead from an unlikely adviser, the former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.
The pair spent last season together at Leicester and Chessum said he found the Aussie to be a master motivator.
“Mindset is one of Cheika’s huge, unique selling points. His real point of difference is how he can get a group or individuals to buy into a group’s belief,” Chessum said.
“He taught that Leicester squad that we had last year that if you don’t believe you generally won’t go anywhere, and if you do believe, then you can do things that you never imagined.”
Chessum said he applied the same logic when he was picked for the Lions tour.
“We’ve got to do things that you right now think are impossible. And in six weeks time you’ll realise they’re very much possible,” he said.
“That’s sort of something that Cheika taught me over this last year, is to just properly believe in what you’re doing. The whole being here, the whole impostor syndrome can be very much a thing. You know, how on earth did I get here?
“But you genuinely just have to believe that, why you’re here and why Faz (Lions coach Andy Farrell) has put the trust in you to play in a Test match. I’d have to credit Cheika a lot for that.”
Originally published as British and Irish Lions call on Martin Johnson for pep talk ahead of second Test against Wallabies
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