The Ultimate Challenge

A Lions tour to New Zealand is probably the greatest spectacle in world rugby. It means everything to both teams.

- Gregor Paul

The novelty of a Lions tour is never likely to wear off. Not for New Zealand’s top players. The chance to play the Lions remains an enormous carrot – one that several of the country’s leading players have deliberately built their contracts around.

When Kieran Read, Sam White lock and Ben Smith signed four-year deals in 2013, their two big goals were the 2015 World Cup and the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour.

These are the landmark events that New Zealand’s best players want to be part of. These are the two events by which a career can be defined.

Only one current All Black, Jerome Kaino,played against the Lions last time they were here and it is a source of regret for him that he only managed to do that in an Auckland jersey, not for the national side.

Kaino, like Read, White lock, Smith and every other player in the country, has been anticipating this tour for a long time. It’s not as if the All Blacks went through last year spending every waking minute thinking about the Lions, but somewhere in the back of their thinking and planning, they have been slowly building towards this point.

It was no different the last time the Lions were here. A handful of older, experienced players hung around hoping they would be involved. Among those were Justin Marshall and Carlos Spencer.

Marshall had not toured Europe in November 2004 with the All Blacks.

He had been left behind to allow the coaches the opportunity to develop younger talent. He interpreted that as a sign that his days as an All Black were numbered, so in January he announced he would be joining Leeds, but only after the Lions series.

That he managed to force his way back into the team to play in all three tests remains one of the highlights of his long and illustrious career.