As the British and Irish Lions prepare to seal a historic series victory against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, legendary former captain Martin Johnson has played a key role in inspiring the current squad.
Johnson, who captained the Lions on their 1997 series win in South Africa and again in the heartbreaking 2001 decider loss to the Wallabies, was invited by head coach Andy Farrell to deliver a surprise speech to the team ahead of Saturday’s second Test.
The former England lock — also a World Cup-winning captain in 2003 — handed out jerseys to the squad at a special ceremony during a team dinner, sharing hard-won insights from both triumph and defeat.
"Martin speaks nice and calmly. It was a privilege to have him there," Lions scrum coach John Fogarty said following the team’s final training session at the MCG.
"He talked a bit about the Lions series they won and the Lions series they lost and the difference in both.
The room was completely quiet for the whole time he spoke. There were guys just staring up at him. Maro (captain Maro Itoje) asked him a question or two and then he handed out the jerseys.
There was a bit of contemplation and reflection after he talked, which is a good thing. It was a quiet room because they wanted to listen to a guy they see as an icon."
With the Lions holding a 1-0 advantage after their opening win in Brisbane, victory in Melbourne would hand them their first series win since 2013, with one game to spare.
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Johnson, who lifted the Tom Richards Cup with England at the same venue two years after the 2001 Lions defeat, urged the players to stay level-headed and present in the pressure-cooker environment of an expected 90,000-strong crowd.
"Martin said it is the smallest of margins in the biggest of games. He talked about being able to get back to neutral and about being in the moment," Fogarty added.
"All that stuff is difficult when you're playing in front of 95,000 people in a stadium as iconic as the MCG.
When you're under pressure or applying pressure your emotions can go up and down, so being able to get back to neutral or find a way to get clarity back in your mind in the shortest of times is difficult for players.
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That's really important for us in this game. We are not going to get everything our own way and we know it's going to be a game of small margins, so it was good advice."
Australia, looking to level the series, will be boosted by the return of imposing forwards Will Skelton and Rob Valetini, who both missed the first Test due to injury.
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