Last week’s very generous offer from Australia to stage the Lions tour seems to me to be just another nail in the coffin of what the Lions are really supposed to stand for. As the oldest touring international team in rugby, they represent the pride and ambitions of all the rugby nations of the world – and the chance that one day they may tour outside the SANZAR group is a long held dream of many rugby-playing nations.
Instead the lockdown has sharply brought into focus how they are now perceived, not only by SANZAR but by the home nations that supply the players.
The history of the Lions ha...