Nick Popplewell

My Life in Rugby – Nick Popplewell: Life with the Lions was such a contrast for me

THE Lions tour to New Zealand in 1993 was the trip of a lifetime, I suppose in rugby terms it was the equivalent of an Olympic gold medal. I was in an Irish team that was struggling for most of the ten years that I was involved so it was just fantastic to be able to play with 14 very complete players and worry about your own game and not have to be concerned about others doing their job.
It sounds demeaning but that was the reality of it. Back then, our tactics with Ireland were to basically get hold of it, kick it away and hope that the opposition would make a mistake.
In the first Lions...

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