OF ALL the speeches made by all the captains of England at post-match dinners, John Pullin’s towers above the rest for its striking brevity. After almost 50 years, one sentence from the Lions hooker continues to stand the test of time:
“We may not be much good but at least we turn up.”
It referred to England going where others feared to tread.
With The Troubles at their worst during the early Seventies, Scotland and Wales ignored the so-called Celtic brotherhood with their separate refusals to honour Five Nations’ fixtures in Dublin.
England, with more...