The Richard Spooner Column: Life with the Lions - shhhhh�

The British and Irish Lions rugby team play the first Test of the current tour against South Africa in Cape Town tomorrow - and I should have been there.

When I started the process of booking the trip in the autumn of 2019 our only concern was what the weather would be like, with the matches taking place during what is the South African winter.

In fact August is their coldest month but we comforted ourselves with the thought that the weather wouldn 't be much better here in the British summer. How wrong we were.

However, history will show that the three Tests were played without spectators because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. That was not only a great shame for me (if you 'll pardon the self-indulgence) but also for thousands of other British Lions fans planning to take the trip.

But it goes even deeper than that. Of all sporting institutions, the Lions tours are founded on a camaraderie unmatched in any other sport.

We have a team put together from the whole of Great Britain and Ireland and most of those selected regard it as the highest honour of their rugby careers.

The tours only happen every four years so you can understand the pride felt in pulling on the red shirt with its iconic badge.

It depicts the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the shamrock of Ireland and the three feathers of Wales. This piece of cloth puts aside all of the troubles and independence campaigns that currently blight any conversations about “Britain ”.

And once these guys have been together on a Lions tour, there is little that can break a bond that lasts for a lifetime. If only that were the case in the British Isles.

Of course, they say that what goes on during tours stays on tour. That is true but I have been lucky enough to have known some of the great Midlands rugby players who represented the Lions. So a few whispers have reached my ears.

With the notable exception of former London club Wasps, who have now set up their home in Coventry, it 's been a long time since we had a player from our long-established clubs represent the Lions.

This has largely been caused by the sad decline of the game in the region since the age of professionalism dawned. But that 's another story.

I shall be in front of my television at 3pm tomorrow to watch the game being beamed from a city I know well but which is today looks a shadow of its former self, crippled by the impact of Covid-19.

I can repeat one tale from the tours which maybe apocryphal but is nevertheless worth telling.

It apparently involves David Duckham, the legendary Coventry, Warwickshire, England and British Lions winger/centre. He played on the wing during the successful Lions tour of New Zealand in 1971.

He was given a freedom to attack by coach Carwyn James that he was not allowed by England and scored 11 tries in his 16 games on the tour.

In one, against the legendary All Blacks, he scored a try early on. As he strode back to the centre of the pitch with his teammates, one is reported to have said: “What did you do that for, David, you 've really upset them now! ”

JL