Two of the temporary British & Irish Lions replacements in New Zealand say they will forever cherish their brief encounter with the squad which has now ended. Finn Russell and Allan Dell, who have become bona fide Lions after fleetingly making it on to the field, called it a “good experience” as the debate over their call-ups and subsequent lack of participation continues to rage.
None of the other four members of the so-called Geography Six – Kristian Dacey, Tomas Francis, Cory Hill and Gareth Davies – ultimately made it on to the pitch, with the head coach Warren Gatland revealing after his team’s 31-31 draw with the Hurricanes that he had not sent the Welsh quartet on because of the widespread disquiet which greeted their original location-driven selection.
“It’s been a great experience, meeting all the boys and becoming part of it,” said Russell, who featured as a temporary replacement against the Hurricanes only because Dan Biggar required a head injury assessment. “It’s awesome to get a cap and get out there. It would have been good if it could have been a bit longer but it is what it is. The Lions is the highest level of rugby for us and you always want to play at the highest level possible. You’ve always got to take the opportunity when it’s there.”
His Scotland colleague Dell, who featured briefly in the Lions’ midweek front-row when Joe Marler was sin-binned against the Chiefs in Hamilton, felt similarly: “You’d be crazy to say no to the Lions. We’ve been privileged enough to receive that opportunity and fortunate enough to get games. Obviously it’s frustrating not to have had more game time and we haven’t been able to show what we’re fully capable of but it’s still fantastic.”
While Dell did concede all the extra players called up would have liked to be more involved – “That’s the bit of frustration but we understand we came in with a role and a job to play and we’re more than happy to fill that job” – he and Russell dismissed rumours that another Scottish player had declined the offer of joining the Lions tour. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and no one would turn it down,” said Dell. “A career’s too short to turn down opportunities like this. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinions, but we knew the truth of that all along. Reading things like that doesn’t really bother you. It’s a free world.”
The issue was further highlighted by the Lions’ failure to protect a 31-17 lead in the final 15 minutes of the Hurricanes game with five unused replacements on the bench. Gatland, who originally called up the six players to protect his Test 23 from midweek injury, later confirmed that complaints about the Lions jersey being devalued had persuaded him that originally-selected players should only be replaced in the event of injury. “We made a decision we would try to get through the game with as many of the starting XV as we could,” he said. The former Lions and England lock Martin Bayfield, writing on Twitter, described Gatland’s decision as “insane”.
