The Rugby Club speaks to players on the impact Ian McGeechan has had on the Lions.
Leading the Lions
Ian McGeechan leads up the British and Irish Lions coaching team for the fourth time in what will be his seventh tour as a coach and player. The Rugby Club speaks to past Lions players on the impact Geech has had.
Ieuan Evans (1989 1993 1997) "Ian McGeechan has played on two tours and coached on four tours and he knows his Lions rugby - he knows exactly what it takes."
Gavin Hastings (1989 and 1993) "The man has all the qualities that sums up what being a Lion is all about and just tremendous enthusiasm and passion for the Lions."
Mike Teague (1989 1993) "I remember one instance before the second Tests when one or two players wanted to go out for a quiet drink and just relax. he had no problem with that because ultimately he knew you were not going to abuse that trust that he put in you."
Jim Telfer (Lions assistant coach 1997) "Ian had gone to South Africa to watch them play against the All Blacks and had lived with the All Blacks for a fortnight. By the time we went to South Africa, Ian had realised that their game revolved around Henry Honiball. Ian did a fantastic job working out how they played and he also did a very good job in working out the kind of players we needed. They dropped him after the second test and put Jannie de Beer in."
Martin Johnson (1993 1997 2001) "Honiball was maybe the best No.10 in the world at that point and we nullified him really in the two games really. we took his attacking options away. yes we were a good bunch of guys who were close and who were committed but we had a strategy that really worked and that was a big part of us winning the series and that was Geech."
