Nick Cain’s tour overview: Do not underestimate this wonderful triumph

The 2013 Lions roared in Sydney, mauling the Wallabies by a record score, but there are some embittered souls for whom the Lions stand in the way of narrow national interest, and to them a 41-16 win to clinch the three Test series was no great achievement. Their argument is that it was the pick of four nations against only one, Australia, and that each of the home unions – bar Wales – have beaten the Aussies on their own since the 2009 Lions tour.
There was, however, no mention that Scotland‘s win in Newcastle (NSW) last summer was played in a monsoon against a virtual Wallaby second team, or that Ireland‘s victory over them in the pool stage of the 2011 World Cup still saw Australia finish ahead in the tournament.  The fact is that none of the home unions individually boast a strong record against Australia.
England have won four of their last 10 Tests against Australia, but only one of those wins was Down Under. Ireland have won three times and drawn one of their last 10 encounters, but have yet to win on Australian soil in the pro era. Scotland have won only two of their 10 – including one on Aussie soil – while Wales have won just one in 10.
Anyone trying to assess the achievement of the 2013 Lions should make that record their starting point. The detractors should also factor in just how much the Southern Hemisphere host nations step up to meet the challenge posed by the Lions when their chance comes every 12 years.
As Stephen Moore, the Wallaby hooker, put it, “The Southern Hemisphere sides always raise it for these games”. On top of that there is the massive handicap of the Lions being a scratch side while taking on Southern Hemisphere teams which have been playing together for years.
The Wallabies are a case in point. The professional playing base in Australia is sufficiently small and academy-based that most of their Test players have been in teams together since age-group level.
As a result, in terms of key combinations, teamwork, set moves and tactical deployment, they have a huge advantage. Add to that the fact that the SANZAR nations who play the Lions are usually in camp together a full month before the Test series, and the deck is heavily stacked against the tourists.
If those millstones weren’t heavy enough, the Lions have to contend with virtually no preparation time of their own, with the four Home Unions and their main club bodies, like the Premiership and Rabodirect Pro12, selfishly refusing to bring finals and play-off stages forward. This, despite the benefits they get from the shop-window success the Lions generate.
It is the amalgamation of these handicaps that leave any Lions tour fraught with more crevasses than the descent from Everest.
It is also why winning Lions tours are to be cherished – and 2013 is a case in point.
The Lions were in a precarious position in every sense going into this Australia tour. Preparation time on the field was minimal, and three losing tours since 1997 had left the Lions wounded.
Their bargaining position had been undermined by the defeats in Australia (2001), New Zealand (2005) and South Africa (2009), even though two of them were knife edge series.
As a result, rugby‘s biggest international brand was looking threadbare. Off the pitch they had been totally outmanoeuvred by the SANZAR suits over their share of the revenue stream they generate. Where Australia stood to make a £40m profit from the 2013 tour, the Lions share – to be paid across to the Home Unions for supplying the players – was a mere £6m (£1.5m each).
In short, the Lions credibility was on the line. What Warren Gatland and his crew have done is to restore that on the field.
Now it is up to the Lions administrators, and the chief executives in the English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish Unions, to ensure that they travel to New Zealand in 2017 as equal partners financially, and in terms of preparation.
Andy Irvine, the 2013 manager, suggested at the end of the tour in Sydney that the only way the Lions would get any concessions from the Premiership or Pro12 is “at a price”.
In which case the Lions suits should get busy clawing some money back from SANZAR’s coffers.