When the definitive history of the British & Irish Lions tour this summer is written, there may be a special place reserved for Ted’s coffee van. Taking up position in the car park of the Richmond Hill hotel, here was a focal point, a leafy suburban equivalent of a water cooler around which Andy Farrell’s men could break the ice.
Up on the hill, overlooking the Thames, with local artists tending their watercolours next to the house Ronnie Wood once owned, it was all a far cry from the cut and thrust of a Test series in Australia but, in-keeping with the Lions’ serene buildup,10 days after Farrell named a squadthat was low on controversy the tourists gathered for the first time.
Traditionally, it is called Messy Monday but these days, before the sun goes down at least, the players tend to stick to the lattes so they mingled around the coffee van. Finn Russell was approached for a selfie or two while the England flankers Tom Curry and Ben Earl arrived together. But the point of this two-day gathering is to put club and country allegiances to one side.
There is admin to tick off, head shots to be taken, content to be recorded, all as a handful of tailors fit out the players with their Charles Tyrwhitt suits. Playing kit is also dished out and there were rumours of an iPad per player. Messy Monday is effectively the first day of school for the Lions. Dreams have been realised for 38 players, shattered for a fair few more, and this is the day when everything starts to feel real.
It is a step into the unknown, all the more so because 26 have never been on a Lions tour, eight more have only experienced the 2021 Covid-hit tour, four of Farrell’s six assistants are rookies and, as such, this kind of induction is all the more important.
“I’ve chatted to a few of the boys over a coffee,” said the England second-row Ollie Chessum, who is among the first-timers. “It’s a little bit awkward, like a first day of school, but I’m sure everyone will settle in soon. I think we’ve got a team get-together tonight so that’ll be nice to get to know everyone better.”
In years gone by, this has been a day that exposed the friction between the Lions and the domestic leagues. Directors of rugby have been frustrated that their end-of-season programmes have been interrupted – hence, you suspect, why this year’s get-together can be called Messy Sunday – while Warren Gatland would often take this opportunity to bemoan how the Premiership would not move its final earlier to accommodate the Lions.
The Premiership has acquiesced, but the rugby calendar will never be perfect and, as such, this is the only time the Lions will be gathered in full until a few days before their warmup match against Argentina next month. They fly to Australia the following day. Should Leinster reach the URC final, the Lions will be considerably depleted for a warm-weather training camp in Portugal and will probably have to call upon reinforcements to face the Pumas.
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Indeed, to demonstrate the importance of these two days, the Wales captain, Jac Morgan, was due to fly in from South Africa – the Ospreys played in Johannesburg on Saturday – while Marcus Smith had arranged to make the far shorter trip from the Stoop after Harlequins’ match with Exeter.
The ubiquitousness of Lions red makes it that much easier for everyone to get on the same page, but there is an unmistakable green tinge. Johnny Sexton’s presence, after the former Ireland captain was added to Farrell’s coaching staff, only adds to it, but 15 players from Ireland, with 12 from Leinster, means there is an obvious pitfall of players forming cliques to avoid.
“We were standing out here before, but it was only us and the Glasgow boys. We were supposed to be mixing and mingling, but there were only 15 people here,” the Ireland and Leinster winger James Lowe said. “You don’t want to congregate back to what you do the whole time. I’m sure everyone will be in the same boat. We’re definitely going to do our best to socialise with other people.
“We’re fortunate to have played with each other a fair amount. There’s so many skilful people, so many heads full of different knowledge and experiences, and it’s definitely good to pick the brains of other guys as well.”