Gatland Has Hastened The Death Of The Lions

SINCE the first tour back in the 1880s, Scots have played a major role in Lions history. That inaugural tour, which lasted seemingly for ever included among the players one of the great unsung heroes of Scottish sport, Dr John Smith. The good doctor scored ten goals in ten football international appearances for Scotland, including a hat-trick against England; he was then declared a professional, for playing for the English Corinthians against Bolton Wanderers, whereupon he returned to rugby.

In his first spell in the oval ball game, as an Edinburgh University student, he had missed-out on a Calcutta Cup appearance on the casting vote of the SRU selection committee chairman - and, on returning to the game after his suspension by the SFA, he was invited to tour with the first Lions, along with three good Hawick Teris and another Edinburgh University man in fellow "medic" Dr Henry Brooks.

From that start, many eminent Scots have toured: skipper Mark Morrison and "Darkie" Bedel-Sivright in 1903, Herbert Waddell, Iain Smith and Dan Drysdale in 1924, Hawick's Willie Welsh in 1930, DJ Macrae of St Andrew's University and the Glasgow Accie, Laurie Duff in 1938.

Post-World War II such Lions legends as Dr Douglas Smith, player in 1950, manager of the great 1971 party, Peter Kininmonth in 1950; Arthur Smith - another Lions captain, Jimmy Greenwood, Hughie McLeod, Ken Scotland, Gordon Waddell, Mike Campbell-Lammerton, Jim Telfer, Derek Grant, "Mighty Mouse" McLauchlan, Gordon "Broon from Troon", Andy Irvine, Ian McGeechan - "the Greatest Lion of all", John Beattie Senr, the Hastings brothers, Fin Calder, David Sole, Tom Smith, "Toony" Townsend all added lustre to the Lions name.

Now, while Richie Gray will be on the bench, Stuart Hogg - the latest Teri to travel, Sean Maitland and most-shockingly over-looked of all, Ryan Grant, will put on their Number Ones and sit in the stand to watch a game which, on the evidence of the tour thus far, they deserve to play in.

Scottish pride has been sacrificed on the altar of a Kiwi's ego and inability to accept that, if Plan A isn't working, hasn't worked in the previous two tests, it might be a good idea to change it.

That is the draw-back to giving ultimate power to a single man, or to a team of coaches; their word is law, there is no over-view, no more-experienced head able to say: "Hang-on there old boy, maybe you've got it wrong."

Clearly Gatland and Co don't rate Scottish players. You have to ask, given he is an employee of the WRU and therefore sees a lot of Celtic League rugby, has he had his eyes closed when watching Glasgow beat the four Welsh regions?

Or has he so-entrenched himself in Wales that he has adopted the English/Welsh rugby stance of: "The Jocks and the Paddies cannot possibly be as good as us, so, if they beat us either individually or collectively, our guy/guys must have had an off-night.

I fear Gatland has, like SCW before him, stuck another knife in the Lions' collective ethos and hastened the death of a unique concept.

I could almost wish for an Australian win -but, somehow, I cannot go that far.