Nick Cain column: Lions tour schedule devised by donkeys

A year from now the 2017 Lions will be travelling to the other end of the world with the aim of cracking the hardest nut in Rugby Union, which is winning a series in New Zealand. It is an unpalatable fact that only one Lions side has won a series on All Black soil, and that landmark, achieved by the 1971 tourists, stands like a lone sentinel almost half a century later.
There have been a number of close calls since then, the most recent in 1993, but with the Lions touring New Zealand only every 12 years, the opportunities to put the record to rights are limited. However, if the Lions are to secure their place in the professional landscape they need success – and British and Irish rugby needs new heroes to stand alongside the likes of Gareth Edwards, Willie John McBride, John Pullin and Gordon Brown.
However, there is a long-standing problem when it comes to Lions tours, and especially those to New Zealand. It is that the tourists are invariably handicapped before they leave our shores by itineraries that are heavily stacked against them.
Even a cursory glance at the 2017 itinerary tells you that the Lions are heading into one of the toughest tours ever devised. They play ten matches, including three Tests against the world champions, within the space of six weeks. Outside the Tests they play the five New Zealand Super franchises – most of whom will be allowed to accentuate home advantage by resting their All Blacks – as well as the Maoris. Their only ‘preparatory’ match will be the opening one against an NZ Provincial Unions XV, which will no doubt be loaded with the best young talent in the country.
You would have thought that in the professional era those responsible for negotiating the tour schedule would move heaven and earth to ensure that the Lions arrived to play on a level playing field, rather than one slanted even more heavily in favour of the All Blacks, who as hosts already enjoy a significant advantage. Dream on. With a few notable exceptions the Lions administrators have had rings run round them by their New Zealand counterparts, accepting tour schedules that are tantamount to suicide – with 2017 top of the list.
This week two great Lions openside flankers have spoken out to say that enough is enough. On the eve of participating in a two-week charity bike marathon – the ‘Clock to the Rock’ Ride of the Lions, from Big Ben to Gibraltar – Rodger Arneil (1968 and 1971) and Peter Winterbottom (1983 and 1993) have attacked the 2017 Lions itinerary.
Arneil, a nuggety Scot who played in four Tests in South Africa in 1968 and five provincial matches for the Lions in NZ after being called up as a replacement on the 1971 tour, said the 2017 squad had been given a millstone to lug around.
“It’s hard enough to play New Zealand, but is that formula, with so many games in such a short period, giving them a fair chance? If not, it’s not fair on the players.”
He added: “The physical aspect of rugby today is massive. When I played it was tough, and in wet New Zealand conditions you really had to slog it out, but it was a different sort of game. It wasn’t as intense, and what would worry me is the physical knocks and whether the Lions can stand up to playing fresh bodies all the time. It’s not a good recipe for success. You have to manage these tours  carefully, and this one is a tough call.”
The rugged Winterbottom, who played in seven Tests on the New Zealand tours of 1983 and 1993, was even more scathing. “From a playing point of view it’s ridiculous, and it’s wrong that the Lions have accepted the itinerary. At the end of a tough domestic season they are setting themselves up to be beaten.”
Winterbottom highlighted the folly of agreeing to play two of the three Test series at Eden Park in Auckland. “New Zealand have an incredible record at Eden Park, where they have not been beaten since 1994, and yet the Lions have accepted to play two Tests there in the space of two weeks. It has to be purely for financial reasons, and you can’t really see the Lions being successful.”
The former England flanker argues that every Lions tour counts if the touring side is to survive in the professional era. “The Lions need success. They haven’t won in New Zealand since 1971, and South Africa since 1997. If the Lions lose this tour three nil, and also drop a couple of provincial games too, the brand is going to suffer – and if the players start to not want to play for the Lions it could be disastrous.”
Winterbottom added: “The management need to be hard-nosed, and to help the coaches and players to have every chance of success.”
However, neither Winterbottom nor Arneil will concede that, despite the Lions being hobbled by their own administration, the tour is a lost cause. Winterbottom says that although in principle he does not like an overseas coach in charge of the Lions, he believes that the front-runner, Warren Gatland, could give the Lions a head-start because he is a New Zealander.
“I see the benefit of it being a Kiwi because he knows what he is up against. He is hard-nosed, and when he dropped Brian O’Driscoll in Australia in 2013 he showed he’d do what it takes to get a win.”
Not only is there no room for sentiment, there is also no room for mis-management — and with Lions schedules like this being agreed to there is no other word for it.
Peter Winterbottom and Rodger Arneil are part of a peleton of former Lions, which also includes Roger Uttley, Rob Henderson, Steve Bainbridge, Craig Chalmers and Roger Baird, who over the next fortnight will cycle from Big Ben to Gibraltar. The ‘Clock to the Rock’ Ride of the Lions is supported by Quilter Cheviot.