Lions Tour, week 1

One of the most often repeated contentions in sport is that players should be removed from their 'comfort zones' on a regular basis. I've always understood the theory but not necessarily the reasoning. If a player is consistently successful and comfortable at the same time, why can't they be left in their 'zone'? Perhaps the difference is the 'forced' removal from the comfort zone rather than one which is forced by circumstance.

I have recently been torn from my comfort zone and, I must say, there is something to be said for it. Especially when the new 'zone' is exhilarating - and not unknown, although a distant memory.

The 1997 British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa was a memorable slog, hard work on minimalist budget but for lifelong memories. Not just of Jeremy Guscott's drop-goal with four minutes to go in the second Test to win the series, but of driving from Cape Town to East London to cover one of the many Lions tour matches in what was still a 'full', traditional tour which traversed the country.

It was with cautious excitement that I accepted rights-holder talkSPORT Radio's request to help out with the first 12 days of the current tour. Not as a commentator, but as 'news and interviews' man on-the-ground while their commentary team warmed up off-screen from London while South Africa assessed it's Covid situation. It took three days to digest, but the bosses in London had no choice: Nobody was being sent to the country. The broadcaster's insurers would not permit it. So that was it. I’m on my second full Lions tour, 24 years after the first.

The last week has been spent researching late into every night. It's one thing 'keeping an enthusiastic eye' on European rugby for the last decade but quite another suddenly faced with the prospect of spending six weeks with the cream of them. Except, we're not 'together', of course. We are in adjacent hotels, 500 metres apart but they might well be 10 kilometres apart. It was only when I was snarled at by a security guard for jogging too close to the two Lions buses that I was reminded of our proximity.

It is weird. The Lions tour party numbers in excess of 80 but their 400-bed hotel still looks and feels ghostly-empty without any other guests or visitors. The casino, dozens of restaurants and movie theatre and other attractions which normally see tens of thousands of people in the leisure and residential complex housing the Lions, were all closed. It was eerie.

My interview with Scotland captain, Stuart Hogg, who will captain the Lions in their warm-up match on Saturday, was up-beat but even he acknowledged it was unusual: "It's still early in the tour so I'm in rugby heaven, it's all about the pride and honour of being a Lion and the fantastic anticipation of facing the Springboks. Hopefully it stays that way, but we'll see," said Hogg, fully cognisant of the Covid-19 disaster in the region.

I eaves-dropped on England prop Kyle Sinckler's interview with Sky TV: "It's the greatest tour of my life, I dreamed of being a Lion from a kid. It's awful, the situation here and around the world, but if we can put on a show and put smiles on people's faces, perhaps we can make a positive difference. What can I say? I'm playing rugby, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and we all have a small chance of bringing some joy to people who are suffering."

From the comfort of my hotel room I joined a Zoom media conference with Georgia head coach, Levan Maisavvili. For all the distractions of his relationship with his interpreter, it was hard not to be most distracted by the presence of what appeared to be a wild cat amongst the audience.

I have been writing cricket tour diaries for over 25 years, as many of you will know. I used to cover rugby regularly back when there used to be 'seasons' for sport, but this feels like a journey not-so-much into the unknown, but the largely forgotten.

I am now heading to Loftus Versfeld for the first time in almost 20 years for the Springboks vs Georgia.

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