FOR the first time in more than 30 years the Lions are on the road without a scribe whose knowledge and understanding of the game was second to none.
Steve Bale has retired, on the reasonable basis that 23 tours and seven World Cups are enough for anyone. His decision to abide by the finest showbiz tradition and leave his readers clamouring for more makes the sport all the poorer for the loss of a sharply educated eye, as befitting a critic born and bred in the crucible of the Welsh game, Neath.
Bale’s decision severs another link to a time when reporters could talk to whomever, whene...