Comic Relief
HAVE YOU heard the one about the British & Irish Lions team bus after a body-breaking session?
“There’s one incident I remember from the tour in 2009,” says Simon Shaw. “We’d just had a major contact session and the forwards were shot to bits. Everyone was lacking in energy, massively. Then Bobby (conditioning coach Paul Stridgeon) puts on some soundtrack and goes berserk. Dancing down the aisles and whatnot. We’re going, ‘What the hell?!’
“But by the end of it the whole bus, including the coaches, was rocking. We arrived at the hotel and we all went, ‘Sod this, let’s go round again!’ We spent another 20 minutes on the bus, banging the windows and having a great time.
“It’s within some people to be a massive influence, even if you think they’re not as serious. They bring something special.”
In an age of one-percenters and edges in the face of stifling pressure, maybe people who man the release
