While his job with the British & Irish Lions could scarcely be further removed from what he envisaged upon his appointment, Jason Leonard says he remains happy to roll with the Covid-related punches despite the uncertainty surrounding this summer’s scheduled tour to South Africa.
Three times a tourist as a player, the former England prop was announced as chairman of the party to visit the home of the world champions 20 months ago, long before coronavirus had unleashed itself on an unsuspecting world.
Instead of unveiling the latest exciting pre-tour developments at a press conference in a plush hotel, Leonard and the journalists he was briefing spoke on conference call. Through no fault of his own, he faced a barrage of questions to which he could provide few definitive answers, instead reiterating that while he is as confident as he can be that the tour will go ahead as planned in June, most details remain “fluid” and “up in the air”.
Asked if he was still enjoying the job in the face of uncontrollable factors he could not have foreseen when he accepted it, he insisted he still considered it a pleasure to be involved. “I did laugh when you said about 20 months ago [since his appointment] because it feels like about 20 years,” he said. “I think anyone would ask: ‘Would you have liked to be chairman without all this?’ and, of course, I would, but life is full of adversity. It’s typical rugby – you get knocked down but you’ve got to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and get back into the match.
“It’s not perfect but we don’t live in a perfect world. I’m still enjoying it, even if I would have probably enjoyed it a bit more if life was all hunky dory, but it’s not. Nor should we expect it to be because you’re always going to get speed bumps along the way. I’m honoured to be chairman of the British & Irish Lions and for me it’s a pinnacle within our game as a player and as an administrator.”
With Warren Gatland set to announce his squad for South Africa in less than five weeks, Leonard said the Lions coach would reveal his backroom team on the second Tuesday or Wednesday of this month. He is also cautiously optimistic a training camp in Jersey and a pre-tour Test against Japan at Murrayfield will go ahead as planned.
