McGeechan to test himself again

RUGBY/LIONS TOUR TO SOUTH AFRICA:THE CORONATION of the new Lion king, Ian McGeechan, may have been predictable but there is no doubt the Lions executive have made the correct decision in terms of the man to lead them on their tour to South Africa next summer.

The concept of the Lions has been threatened initially by the advent of professional rugby and latterly compromised by the most recent tours - to Australia (2001) and New Zealand (2005) - both of which were tarnished by acrimony on and off the pitch.

In Australia the Lions opted for Graham Henry as head coach but the New Zealander was openly criticised by several senior players as the tourists narrowly lost the series 2-1.

England's World Cup-winning supremo Clive Woodward took over for the 2005 tour to New Zealand, which boasted a cast of thousands but suffered a 3-0 shellacking in the Test series.

Once McGeechan informed the Lions executive he would be willing to lead a fourth tour, his approval for the role was assured.

He has become synonymous with the illustrious red-shirted touring side, first as a player and then from 1989 to 1997 as head coach on three successive tours, to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

He played all four Tests against the Springboks in 1974 as the Lions went through the tour unbeaten and then started three Tests in New Zealand (1977) in what was to be a losing series.

McGeechan drew on those playing experiences on what constituted very long tours when he took charge of the Lions for their clash with Australia in 1989.

The Scot understood the value of squad unity, rather than early separation of "dirk-trackers" from Test teams. A classic example is the role played by the former Ireland secondrow Donal Lenihan in leading the unbeaten 1989 midweek side that went under the sobriquet "Donal's Doughnuts".

It's instructive to note that the Lions' 2-1 series wins over Australia (1989) and South Africa (1997) were underpinned by excellent performances from the midweek teams, while in New Zealand in 1993 the second string degenerated into a shambles and the Lions lost 2-1 to the All Blacks.

The 61-year-old McGeechan has also been an advocate of selecting players on form rather than reputation, something to which many, including Ireland's Paul Wallace, Eric Miller and Jeremy Davidson, would attest.

This will be the Scot's seventh Lions tour - he coached the midweek side in New Zealand three years ago - and he had no hesitation in accepting the honour.

Andy Irvine, chairman of the Lions board, admitted: "We are honoured to have Ian as the 2009 head coach. His wealth of experience at national and club levels is an incredible asset and his Lions pedigree is unrivalled.

"My colleagues on the board and I are delighted that he made himself available for selection and were unanimous in his appointment. We are very confident that he can lead the 2009 Lions to a truly memorable series win against the world champions.

"Some years ago there was doubts they would even continue but I'm delighted to say they're as popular as ever.

"Many players have said playing for the Lions is the highlight of their career. And we expect 50,000 fans to travel to South Africa. The 2005 tour was very disappointing as we lost the Test series 3-0 so it's vital we have the best leadership to achieve success in South Africa.

"From day one McGeechan was in our thoughts. We wanted someone with a special bond with the Lions."

McGeechan for his part will remain in his current role as director of rugby at Wasps, a commitment he sees as entailing no conflict. Indeed he's likely to ask Shaun Edwards to join his Lions coaching team and could also opt for a Wasps old boy, the current Wales coach, Warren Gatland.

The Scot enthused: "It's an honour and privilege to get the opportunity to coach the Lions again. The Lions have always been so important to me. The Lions are special and unique. You can't compare them to anything else you do as a player or coach. Because they're so unique the preparation has to be unique."

LIONS 2009 TEST SCHEDULE: Saturday, June 20th: (First Test) South Africa v Lions, Absa Park, Durban. Saturday, June 27th: (Second Test) South Africa v Lions, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria. Saturday, July 4th: (Third test) South Africa v Lions, Ellis Park, Johannesburg.

IAN McGEECHAN FACTFILE

1946:Born Leeds, October 30th

1972:The centre makes Scotland debut against New Zealand, the first of 32 caps

1974:Starts all four Tests on the Lions' unbeaten tour to South Africa. The Lions win the series 3-0 with the last Test drawn

1977: Appears in all four Tests, starting three times on the Lions tour to New Zealand. All Blacks win the series 3-1

1986:Appointed assistant Scotland coach

1988:Promoted to Scotland head coach

1989:Lions coach for the victorious tour to Australia. Lions lose the opening Test but come back to win the series 2-1

1990:Scotland win the Grand Slam

1993:Lions coach for tour of New Zealand, which the visiting side lose 2-1 in the Test series

1994: Appointed Northampton director of rugby

1997: First man to coach the Lions three times when he masterminds a 2-1 series victory in South Africa

1999:Quits Northampton to work alongside Scotland coach Jim Telfer during the World Cup before taking on the job himself

2000:Guides Scotland to Calcutta Cup win to prevent England winning the Grand Slam and Scotland the wooden spoon

2002:Announces decision to stand down as Scotland coach to replace Jim Telfer as SRU director of rugby

2005:Assistant coach under Clive Woodward on the Lions tour to New Zealand and takes charge of the unbeaten midweek team

2005: Takes over as Wasps director of rugby

2007: Wasps beat Leicester in the Heineken Cup final at Twickenham

2008: Appointed Lions head coach for the fourth time ahead of the 2009 tour to South Africa