Calmness and authority are key characteristics for would-be Lions captains

Former British & Irish Lions Fergus Slattery and Ieuan Evans identified power, authority and - perhaps surprisingly - calmness as some of the key attributes of Lions captains.

Evans, a three-time Lion, was part of the last two successful Lions tour in 1993 and 1997 under captains Finlay Calder and Martin Johnson. And he says both players belied the cliché of a verbose captain who ranted and raved in the dressing room - though they were all the more intimidating for it. "Both of them had very similar characteristics in that they were very quiet but exuded menace," he told the Rugby Club. "They frightened the living daylights out of me. Trying to gel four teams into one in a very short time to try to win a test series when the odds are stacked against you, the captain plays a critical role in that. "And that respect. Certainly Finlay had that in 1989 in a tour that could have gone off the rails. "It was the same with Johnson in 1997. He had that calmness, that authority, that power was there and really helped gel us together. He had a huge responsibility on and off the pitch to hold that tour together."