Roberts fighting fit for his encore thanks to doctor and the medics

LAST Friday night, Jamie Roberts enjoyed the thrill of playing guitar on stage with the Manic Street Preachers, his favourite band and fellow Welshmen, in Melbourne.

Jamie Roberts

LAST Friday night, Jamie Roberts enjoyed the thrill of playing guitar on stage with the Manic Street Preachers, his favourite band and fellow Welshmen, in Melbourne.

The five-minute cameo on the song You Love Us was almost as brief as his Lions tour had threatened to be.

Had the Lions medical team, to whom Roberts pays tribute, not performed wonders in helping to ease his hamstring strain, the concert would have been the highlight of his tour.

Nineteen days ago, Roberts limped off the field in Sydney towards the end of the game against the Waratahs firmly believing that his time in Australia was over. His slumped shoulders as he trudged up the tunnel conveyed his inner turmoil; the possibility of an encore seemed impossible.

Now, perhaps the best is yet to come. The 26-year-old finds himself as one of the fulcrums of a Lions side designed to batter Australia into submission, the man who can make the difference in the series decider.

Within two days of the injury, after the scan results came through, his mood had lifted. "They (the doctors) said they would keep me on tour, stay positive and do everything in their power to get me fit," he said. "It's worked in my favour. The gods have smiled on me."

In the powerful physique of Roberts, Warren Gatland, the head coach, sees salvation, the answer to how the Lions are to breach the gain-line. He will provide forward momentum and a focal point for the loose forwards - or fellow three-quarters - running off his shoulder. He will also marshal the defence. As a big man in every way, Roberts is not cowed by the prospect.

"I see it as a responsibility, but I don't see it as pressure," Roberts, who qualified as a doctor in March, said. "I've been picked to do a job and it is important I deliver. I've always thought that I thrive under pressure in big games, it's where I like to play.

"I think any player who is on their second or third tour, who has played quite a bit of international rugby, you have to take responsibility. That is something I enjoy and thrive on. I see myself as one of those guys who has to lead the way."

Roberts is reluctant to be drawn into the debate over Brian O'Driscoll's omission. Theirs was a partnership that prospered in South Africa four years ago, and was supposed to do so again in Australia, but the injury to the Welshman and Gatland's decision to axe O'Driscoll has put paid to that prospect. Instead, Roberts and Jonathan Davies, Wales's most-capped centre pairing, will seek to take the initiative to the Wallabies.

"The coach picks the team. Warren has picked the team he thinks will go out there and beat Australia on Saturday," Roberts said.

"Brian is one of the most incredible players I have played with, or against, in rugby union. He will be remembered as a Lions legend. Brian is a leader, I've tasted that playing alongside him. He's a force, but it is up to me and Jon now to lead the way in midfield.

"We've got experience, we've played together a lot. He has been one of the stand-out players of this tour. His all-round game is pretty special, he's a great athlete, he can kick a ball, he is a good distributor and he has got an eye for space. Hopefully, the dimension I bring in attack and defence can help him unleash his attributes."

Roberts does not see this weekend's international as a distilled version of Wales against Australia, who have beaten Gatland's national team in their past eight meetings and on four occasions in the past 13 months, most recently in the last minute at the Millennium Stadium in December.

"We can take out some frustration after that emotional low," he said. "But look, this isn't a Wales team, it is a Lions team. It just happens that Warren has picked quite a lot of Welsh players."

So what of the Manics gig? "That was a good experience. I adored them, growing up," Roberts said. "I am that sort of guy who takes every opportunity that comes their way. That was thrown in front of me, and I couldn't say no."

Now there is an even bigger stage. "Bar maybe a World Cup final, I doubt there is a bigger game in rugby for us boys," he said. "It's just pure excitement, go out and express yourself, keep your concentration and deliver. It will be a big mind game on Saturday, a huge mental challenge as well as a physical one." In that, he is preaching to the converted.

The Times