Lions

There is no honour like captaining the British and Irish Lions - and no one appreciates that more than '93 tour captain, and Scottish legend, Gavin Hastings. In the first of our chats with the Lions legends, Rugby Rugby Editor Pete Murison catches up with the iconic fullback.

One of the true pleasures of working in the media is having the opportunity to chat to some of the greatest players to have played the game. Gavin Hastings is quite comfortably one of them.

Having experienced two Lions tours, the first in 1989 to Australia, and the second, in 1993, as captain, to New Zealand, there are few who are in a better position to talk about the magic of the Lions experience.

Hastings, now an HSBC Lions ambassador for the upcoming tour of South Africa, has a fantastic list of career achievements. Having played 61 times for his country, captaining them on 20 occasions, Hastings was also a part of the Grand Slam winning side in 1990.

Until recently he was the all-time leading points scorer for Scotland and is still the record holder for most points in a Lions jersey - this is a man who has enjoyed some great honours in the game.

None of those though, as great as they are, rival captaining the Lions. When asked how high on his list of achievements 'wearing the armband' for the Lions was, his answer was quickly forthcoming.

"It’s right at the top, absolutely no question in my mind - no doubt in my mind - captaining the Lions is a very, very special thing and it was clearly a great honour for me to be offered the opportunity to do so.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was absolutely fantastic."

He continued: "You know the fact that we went down to New Zealand, I had played many times before, and for me it was always going to be the epitome - the ultimate accolade and the ultimate challenge.

"At that stage I don’t think I had been to South Africa, I maybe went later in the year, but up till then I don’t think I had ever been so I’d only really toured New Zealand and Australia, and for me New Zealand was the ultimate challenge."

Following last year's November internationals the critics have been quick to dismiss any hopes the summer touring party might have of beating the reigning World Champions on their home turf. After some heavy defeats against the Tri-Nations teams the belief seems widespread that the Southern Hemisphere is completely dominant over the North.

Hasting though believes there are the players to get the job done in South Africa and warns that people should not underestimate the power of the Lions jersey.

"I don't think there is any doubt about that [that there are the players], you just have to be around all the sort of hype the Lions generates, and there is massive hype, great excitement - there's huge anticipation prior to the Lions tour.

"I think for a British and Irish Lions player to go down there as part of a Lions tour, [and try] to emulate the achievements of '74 team and the '97 team, I think is a wonderful thing to be charged with.

"It just adds to the excitement, it adds to the anticipation and it adds to the whole desire of wanting to become part of another successful Lions tour.

Even for spectators, Hasting insists the Lions experience is like nothing else.

"I've always said to people, if you’ve never been part of the Lions [experience], it’s one thing that you should do before they give up going across the world."

Having toured South Africa as a player, including being a part of the 1995 World Cup, and of course having followed their progress in recent times, Hastings says he is always impressed with the quality of the Springbok side.

"I've watched South Africans teams in sevens and fifteens play an awful lot of rugby in the last ten or twelve years - I'm totally impressed with their attitude and just their commitment to the game. They have a huge desire to do well and a huge desire to win.

"Right across the board they're very, very strong in every department and rugby is such a massive game in South Africa."

While it is over a decade since Ian McGeechan last guided the Lions to glory in South Africa Hastings knows that it will still be very fresh in the hearts and minds of all South Africans.

"It's 12 long years for the South Africans since the Lions were last there, it's a long time to wait for revenge. You know it just adds to the excitement and anticipation of the tour."

During the upcoming Six Nations Muri will be chatting to all of the HSBC Ambassadors, Gavin Hastings, Gareth Edwards, Jason Robinson and Brian O’Driscoll.

Later this week: Part 2 with Gavin Hastings - Lions swansong for McGeechan and ‘Big Gav’s’ take on who should captain the team to South Africa.

"Gavin Hastings is an HSBC ambassador. HSBC is the Principal Partner of the British & Irish Lions Tour to South Africa in 2009. For more information, go to www.lionsrugby.com"