Extraordinarily perceptive. Yes, I often sit here in my little Aussie home thinking of the mother country and contemplating my deep rooted insecurity about England no longer being the dominant nation it once was. What a raging debate we have in our house about British identity. My half English/ half Australian 5 yo son woke me every day of the World Cup with his version of 'Advance Australia Fair' - never missed a day and now, England are no longer a dominant nation. Geez, it's the end of the Empire, I'm F!@#ed
I'm not hostile to your suggestion - please don't take it seriously. I blame Willie John Mcbride for my support of the Lions tour. He's a very impressive man. I was very impressed when I met him. Everybody was, including the man standing next to me. In fact, the man standing next to me was in complete awe of Willie John Mcbride. So much so, he was nearly wetting himself with excitement. And yet, this man was a Lion himself and a World Cup winner. In meeting Willie John Mcbride you start to realise why Andy Ripley would have followed this him over hot coals and why Will Greenwood was in awe of him. But that's not it. When you see on forums and you hear down the pub and in the stadiums, supporters slag the players and coaches of other countries, when you hear them abuse others just cos they were born in another country or you see supporters of one country spit on players of another, or when you even hear people judging players that they don't even know, based on hearsay or a headline, then, I have this romantic idea that we could all learn from the Lions players. Because, even though the Lions tour is over hyped and over commercialised, it still brings players from four rival countries together. And most of those players will form a bond between them built on respect. Some will even find a friendship that will last a life-time. In this divisive and over cynical world, I think that is quite cool. Naive, I know, but I don't give a.
