There are some games a rugby player will not forget as long he’s walking this earth.
For me, one of those was my debut for Abercrave against Cwmavon a lifetime or so ago. I came on for the last 20 minutes and the first scrum went well enough. My opponent, an old fella compared to the young pup facing him, moved his neck around a bit after it, but we all just got on with the game.
The next scrum was an education.
I went to engage, only for him to move back and cause me to hit the floor. A split-second later he dropped a knee into my face.
I thought to myself ‘what the flip?’ or something like that.
Talk about learning on the job.
Fair play to him, though.
He came into our dressing room after the game carrying two cans of beer and wanting to talk. He said he thought I’d cracked his neck at the first scrum.
I’ve never forgotten that day.
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But even clearer in my memory are the events that unfolded at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on June 27, 2009.
The whole experience is seared into my mind.
It was the second Lions Test against South Africa and we needed to win after failing narrowly in the first.
What unfolded was a game as ferocious as any I played in.
Five of us ended up in hospital, with me and Gethin Jenkins having to undergo surgery.
Bakkies Botha was later cited for the challenge that did for me and Schalk Burger was in the dock for his infamous eye-gouge on Luke Fitzgerald.
Brian O’Driscoll suffered concussion, Jamie Roberts strained a wrist and Tommy Bowe damaged an elbow.
A crazy, crazy day.
Adam Jones on Lions duty
(Image: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
We knew it was going to be different on the bus ride to the stadium.
Fans were by their parked cars leading up to the ground, enjoying their braais, the South African equivalent of a barbecue. From a distance some of them appeared to be waving at us, which seemed surprisingly civil of them, but as we drew closer we could see they were all giving us the w****r sign.
The bus was being spat at and stuff thrown at it.
At that point you kind of guessed that it wasn’t going to be an altogether fun day out.
And yet I do have memories that I treasure.
We played some great rugby as a team in the match itself and I remember the first scrum of the game clearly.
In the first Test Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira had given us all kinds of grief and forced a number of penalties out of Phil Vickery, in my eyes with tactics that weren’t altogether legal. I’d come on and helped settle things a bit and as a result got a start for the second game.
Then came that set-piece, five metres from our line, midway through the first half.
A hush of anticipation seemed to fill the ground.
Home supporters were sniffing blood.
But straightway I knew we’d won the hit. Then a couple of their front-row boys popped up as their set-piece first creaked before going back. We drove through them as an eight.
It was an incredible moment, and, like I say, we seemed to be on top in the game.
There were verbals from both sides and some of the hits were huge.
But you don’t have fear in a situation like that.
The reality is that it’s a match being watched by millions on TV, with citing commissioners and all the rest, so there’s a limit to any skullduggery.
It’s not like you are playing for Abercrave and you know there’s a fair chance you are going to get a punch in the chops or a kick.
At the top level there’s pushing and shoving but few real scraps nowadays because the consequences are too great.
Besides, that Lions team had some big old boys and a scrum-half in Mike Phillips who feared nothing and no-one. He had total belief in himself and was the ultimate competitor. I loved playing in the same side as him. He was big, physical, aggressive and didn’t respect reputations. Undoubtedly, he was the scrum-half I enjoyed playing alongside the most.
That day in South Africa he didn’t even think of taking a backward step.
But things went wrong for us as a team as about four of us left the field injured within the space of 20-odd minutes.
I suffered a dislocated shoulder after being cleaned out by Botha at a ruck. My tour was over. Obviously.
Phil Vickery came in to the medics’ room and asked if he could help. He helped pull my boots off and gathered my things together as I went through all kind of agonies trying to have my shoulder popped back in. He also phoned my wife to let her know I was OK. A great guy, Vicks, and a great player as well.
Botha was banned for two weeks, a move I still don’t agree with because I thought it had been a rugby injury. I should have been a bit more urgent around that ruck but I wasn’t and got cleaned out.
Bakkies Botha (left) shares a difference of opinion with Lions flanker Tom Croft in 2009
But I faced six months on the sidelines when I returned home.
I moved on, but my late, great mother didn’t.
Five years later we were training at the Vale of Glamorgan with Wales and Toulon were there as well, preparing for the Heineken Cup final. Botha came onto me, shook my hand and we had a brief chat. He actually seemed quite a nice bloke.
Read more : ‘I was born to hurt others!’ South Africa enforcer revels in hard-man legend
My mother later asked if he’d had the brass neck to talk to me.
I told her he had; it didn’t please her one bit.
Somebody had hurt me and she wasn’t having it.
That was my mother.
I guess all mothers are the same. They look out for their own. Good job Bakkies didn’t bump into her, I wouldn’t have fancied his chances.
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I THINK the Lions have a decent chance of taking the verdict in the first Test against South Africa on Saturday.
Much will depend on how they cope with the Boks’ replacement front row of Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx and Frans Malherbe when they come on in the second half.
Fortunately for the Lions, they have good back-up themselves in Rory Sutherland, Ken Owens and Kyle Sinckler.
Warren Gatland has picked on form, which doesn’t surprise me.
It means there’s a place for Luke Cowan-Dickie, who’s been brilliant on this tour, with the likes of Wyn Jones, Ali Price and Jack Conan starting as well.
That sends out the right message. Picking on reputation not only isn’t fair but it’s also risky because few players can click their fingers and command form to return if its eluding them.
I’m hoping from a Lions perspective that Wyn Jones can get some change out of Trevor Nyakane in the scrums and Tadhg Furlong can get to grips with Ox Nche.
It’s going to be tight and the Lions need the likes of Alun Wyn Jones and Maro Itoje to have big games.
In fact, they need everyone to play well.
It’s the only way to get a result in these games.
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