Across The Gain Line . . . with Colm Kinsella

PAUL (O’Connell) has been absolutely immense on this tour and is the best captain I have ever worked with.
“The way he has handled himself in the last week of the tour speaks volumes about the man.
“He spoke to the group on Friday night, telling us what the final Test meant to him and what an honour it had been for him to play for the Lions.
“Paul told us our performance in the game would leave a legacy for the next four years. It was real hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck stuff.
“I don’t think Paul gets the credit he deserves. When you play with or against him you realise just how good a player he is.
“He does all the unglamorous work at close quarters and has an unbelievable engine. People in the stands don’t necessarily see that.
“As a captain, he is absolutely inspirational- we all have so much respect for him.”
The above glowing tribute of Lions captain Paul O’Connell wasn’t penned by one of his Munster or Irish team-mates but by Welsh flanker Martyn Williams in his column on the BBC website.
So much for Warren Gatland’s assertion earlier this year that, “probably, out of all the teams in the Six Nations, the Welsh players dislike the Irish the most.”
Williams description of O’Connell as the ‘best captain I have ever worked with’ should not be taken lightly. The Cardiff Blues star is a former double Grand Slam winner, who was part of the Lions touring party to Australia in 2001 and New Zealand in 2005. He has worked with some highly regarded skippers in the past.
It is high praise indeed. But Williams’ tribute wasn’t the only unsolicited praise O’Connell received during the course of the tour.
Scrum-half Mike Phillips and Leinster-bound lock Nathan Hines also made special mention of O’Connell’s outstanding contribution.
Some sections of the English media wondered whether the Young Munster clubman’s place in the Lions’ starting line-up was under threat for the Test matches. It was laughable, seemingly born out of a touch of envy at the relatively small number of English players included in the starting line up for the opening two Test matches.
O’Connell proved his immense value to the tourists throughout the 10-match tour, but especially with the manner in which he rallied the troops in advance of the final Test in Johannesburg last weekend.

Concerns expressed by British & Irish Lions doctor
CONCERNS expressed by British & Irish Lions doctor James Robson over the shape of modern day rugby players won’t have gone un-noticed by clubs in this part of the world.
Robson has been the Lions doctor on five tours but he has never known anything like the levels of intensity and attrition witnessed during the Lions’ 2-1 series defeat to South Africa.
Five Lions players - and two Springboks - ended up in hospital after the brutal game and Robson fears the balance is wrong between power and skill.
Robson believes players have got too big for their skill levels.
“I think they have become a little too muscle-bound and too bulky. I think you may see changes in the physical nature of the player that brings them back a little - I hope so - in order to speed up the game and introduce a higher level of skill.”
Robson repeated his call for the northern hemisphere unions to take a uniform approach to the number of matches professional players are having to play.

And finally . . .
Favourite Lions quote of 2009: “You know you’ve had a s**t game when you get text messages from your mum, your sister and your Mrs saying that they still love you.”
(Lions prop Phil Vickery offers an insight into the trials of a professional rugby player as he prepared for the third Test against the Springboks).