RUGBY UNION
'WE'VE STILL GOT EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR'
ANDY JONES: Shoulder blow
By Phil Vickery, only in the Daily Express
WHEN I lost my place for the second Test against South Africa, it did cross my mind that I might have pulled on the Lions jersey for the last time.
But it turns out I have one more chance in today’s final Test, and I can honestly say I am looking forward to this match more than any I have ever played in.
We have lost the series, but the honour and privilege involved in being part of this magnificent institution is no less than if we had everything still to play for. And anyway, for those of us playing today, we do have everything to play for.
What’s more, I give us an outstanding chance of getting the victory that only just eluded us in each of the first two matches, which amply demonstrated how, at this exalted level, you need more of the marginal things to go your way.
It is a wonderful thing for me to be involved again, though I would like to stress that after I had been omitted last week I did everything in my power to help ensure the guys who were selected were as well prepared as they could possibly be.
I realise, too, that there was a vacancy left by Adam Jones’ injury and no one feels more sympathy for Adam than I do. He was having a fine match in Pretoria and his dislocated shoulder was a distressing way for his Lions tour to end.
People will wonder how I feel now after the difficult time I had in the first Test. I wouldn’t quite describe it as unfinished business but I know I played poorly and it hardly came as a surprise when Adam was called in.
But I have since had the chance to analyse exactly what went wrong and I have been around long enough to know that every setback in your career in fact gives you the opportunity to learn and improve.
Put it this way: no way was I, or am I, scarred by that experience no matter how bad it looked.
All it did was spur me on to work even harder on my game, not just on the scrummaging where there was so much bother, but on everything and every aspect of play.
So I would venture to hope that my problems in Durban will not recur in Johannesburg. This is my Lions finale – I badly want to go out in winning style, and then people might have something positive to say about me.
It is pointless pretending a third Test with two defeats already behind us will be anything other than tough, and not merely in the strictly rugby sense. We somehow have to rouse ourselves out of the utter disappointment which we all felt so deeply in Pretoria a week ago.
On the other hand, there are so many changes in both sides it is almost as if this is an entirely new start. I dare say the Springboks would say exactly the same, but we know the quality in our side. We know we are in with a shout.
A win would be neither compensation nor consolation for losing this series but I believe we have put a vast amount of pride back in that hallowed jersey.
It has been one of the great experiences of my rugby life.
