Grunting and groaning, mumbling and muttering, snarling and spitting, the sandpaper-like scratching of body parts best concealed from the light of day – as a rule of thumb, golden oratory is not part of the soundscape of a rugby dressing room at half-time.
So how did Jeremy Guscott get to speak like Cicero during the famous Durban Test between the Lions and the Springboks in 1997?
The prince of centres did well to make himself heard at all, given the Celtic-drenched torrent of Anglo-Saxonism gushing out of Jim Telfer, who could inspire aggression in a bunch of carnations when he was in the m...