BRITISH and Irish Lions chiefs are confident a potentially embarrassing clash of fixtures that could affect the start of the 2009 tour to South Africa will be resolved.
The opening match of the tour is against a Highveld XV in Rustenburg on 30 May – the same day the Guinness Premiership final is scheduled to be staged at Twickenham.
Ian McGeechan was yesterday confirmed as Lions head coach, rendering the Wasps di
rector of rugby unavailable for the domestic showpiece should the London club become involved.
But Lions chairman Andy Irvine is convinced that the Rugby Football Union and Premier Rugby will strike an agreement. "Obviously it's a concern for us but I think that common sense will prevail," he said. "The Lions tour is so important that we will get this issue resolved. We're pretty confident about that. There's still plenty of time to go and I'm very much in the optimists' camp that a solution will be found.
"We were asked to bring the tour forward by one week by the RFU.
"It wasn't particularly easy to bring forward. We had to get co-operation from the South Africans but we did so in good faith and we're very surprised to learn of the clash of fixtures.
"But it's not rocket science to work it out. I think you could hold a round of Premiership matches between Christmas and New Year and that would allow the final to be brought forward by two weeks."
Irvine revealed that should the fixture clash remain in place, McGeechan would be required to lead the Lions to South Africa. "There is a slight possibility of the schedule remaining and if it does then Ian's priority would be with the Lions," he said.
The last tour to New Zealand was an unmitigated disaster with a bloated touring party of 51 players and 26 back-room staff collapsing to a Test series whitewash. Irvine stressed the importance of learning the lessons of the All Black debacle three years ago and insisted McGeechan's philosophy would ensure the same mistakes are not repeated.
"When we interviewed Ian his views of the how the tour should be run coincided with our own," he said. "I won't knock what happened on the last tour but it's important in any walk of life that you learn from the past.
"The one major lesson from that tour is that we need greater unity. The whole thing must come together. Ian was on that tour and knows how things can be improved. We have great faith in his judgment.
"I was surprised at the scale of the last touring party. It's easy for me to say in a retrospective sense because now it's history. If we'd won 3-0 we would have said it was a stroke of genius."
Irvine acclaimed McGeechan as the Lions' very own Sir Alex Ferguson. "There was speculation about other coaches getting the job but if you look at Ian's record it really speaks for itself," he said.
"There are similarities between Ian and Sir Alex Ferguson – and not just because they're both Scottish. The desire and hunger is there.
"From day one McGeechan was in our thoughts – he's the most successful coach in Lions history. We wanted someone with a special bond with the Lions. We looked elsewhere, but time and again we kept going back to Ian.
"The 2005 tour (of New Zealand] was very disappointing so it's vital we have the best leadership to achieve success in South Africa. We are delighted Ian made himself available and are very confident that he can lead the 2009 Lions to a truly memorable series win against the world champions."
• Wales coach Warren Gatland has rejected the idea of recalling veteran loose forward Colin Charvis for the summer tour to South Africa despite being without a specialist openside flanker.
The Grand Slam winners have been decimated by injuries and go to South Africa without Martyn Williams, understudy Robin Sowden-Taylor and Ospreys youngster Ben Lewis.
But Gatland decided his attention has to be on the future and will press Jonathan Thomas into action as an emergency openside flanker against the Springboks' powerful back row in the two-Test series on 7 and 14 June.
The uncapped trio of London Irish scrum-half Warren Fury, Cardiff lock Bradley Davies and Ospreys centre Andrew Bishop have all been included in Gatland's 27-man squad.
The full article contains 741 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
