That's pretty much how I see it. Adversity is what this thing is all about. All the people that are getting cynical about this tour are just missing the point. I very much doubt that in my lifetime I'll ever see a Lions team go on tour as favourites. I'm not going to waste each one of them cynical and bitter about the whole thing.TrapperChamonix wrote:The truth is that the Lions always loose. They have won 4 series in the last 100 years, NZ in 71, SA in 74 & 97 and Oz in 89. In every series in the last 50 years, the Lions have started the 1st test as massive underdogs. Almost every time the odds are right.
In 97, everyone thought the Lions would loose against the World Champions. The team were full of players who were deemed either too inexperienced or just not good enough. The Boks pointed to Wallace, Smith, Davidson, Dawson, Townsend and Jenkins (at FB) as weaknesses that the Lions could not overcome.
In the 1st test in 01 again against the World Champions, BOD, Hendo, Robinson as not being up to the task and yet they were pivotal to winning that 1st test. A series that we should have won except for Wilko imploding in the 2nd test.
In 05, the Kiwis didn't rate any of the team. Our skills were deemed to be good enough and they were right.
Predicting a loss for the Lions is about as easy as predicting Leinsters demise in the HEC on any given year. But I before the tests in 71, 73, 89 & 97, everyone was predicting the Lions to loose as well.
Ultimately the B&I Lions are a case of the triumph of hope over experience. You can point to experience, for now I cling to hope.
It's a funny feeling going into the first test now. I don't feel remotely close to the way I felt going into the Wales game or the HEC final. I don't have any nerves at all really. Maybe I'm being naive, but I have a great deal of hope going into this first test. SA are a touch over-rated in some positions. Hammering an England in wretchedly bad form last year was hardly a sign of greatness. Not only is this team worse on paper than the WC winning team, but does anyone seriously think SA were the best team in that World Cup? I personally think that France would have beaten them and NZ would have beaten them. On a good day (I know, we had 0 good days in that WC), I think Ireland could have beaten them.
Yeah, SA are rightly favourites going into this, but I've got a lot of hope.
