A BEDRAGGLED red army drowned its sorrows by drinking Christchurch dry after Sir Clive Woodward’s 2005 Lions side had been smashed by the All Blacks. The Lions supporters felt the full force of a southern gale in more than one sense, not only getting soaked by an icy downpour in the stands, but also seeing their over-hyped side blown away on the pitch.
The estimated 15,000 British and Irish Lions fans who had poured into Christchurch swamped the city centre, turning up in their droves in red replica shirts, fleeces or jackets. However, with many of them having paid upwards of £6,000 in travel and living costs for the privilege of following the Lions, the overwhelming nature of the defeat rankled. Steve Cuthbert, 25, an engineer from Cambridge, was not in forgiving mood: “They didn’t front up. Citing (Tana) Umaga after the match is too late — they needed to say what they had to on the field.”
John Mennis, 39, an Irish stockbroker based in London, was equally critical: “We were let down by that team. What really puzzled me was the lack of fight and urgency given the build-up, and the lack of leadership when things went wrong. They all needed to stand up and be counted.”
Sam Vernon, 26, an IT technician from Cardiff, added: “I’m quite embarrassed by them — there was nothing there. We won no decent lineout ball, and that’s a disgrace. Woodward’s not been true to his word in terms of picking form players — instead, he’s based his selections on England’s 2003 World Cup run.”
Richard Armstead, 44, from Newport, was even more pessimistic. “We underestimated how the All Blacks would perform at home, there’s no Plan B, and I predict a 3-0 whitewash,” he said. Despite the pain of the defeat, the 2005 Lions tour is a winner in terms of the biggest influx of supporters New Zealand has experienced, and the national tourist office has estimated it will be worth £100m to the country’s economy. New Zealanders are known for their hospitality, but this time there is an added incentive to roll out the red carpet, because they have bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup and know this series will be critical to their chance of success. Rugby has undergone massive changes since the Lions were last in Christchurch 12 years ago, when the game was amateur and the travelling support tiny by comparison. Nothing highlights the fervour better than the recent adidas announcement that they have sold 300,000 Lions shirts, making it a bigger seller this year than Real Madrid.
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Many fans do not see the result of the series as the be-all and end-all. Irrespective of the result of the three-Test series, many fans are hooked on the Lions. John Hall, the managing director of Gullivers Sports Travel, the biggest of the official travel agents, says he already has 3,000 bookings for the next Lions tour to South Africa in 2009.
Hall confirmed that his company has brought in 5,000 Lions supporters, with 1,100 of them accommodated on a 47,000 ton cruise ship, the Pacific Sun, which is anchored in the deepwater port of Lyttleton, a 20-minute drive from central Christchurch. Hall leased the liner from P&O because there are not sufficient hotel rooms to meet the demand from Lions fans in New Zealand’s major cities, and it will sail on to Wellington and Auckland.
The security surrounding the ship, which has a crew of 600, is stringent due to the tightening of maritime security in the wake of Al Qaeda terrorist threats. “The passenger list was vetted by UK Special Branch,” Hall says. However, its cargo of Lions supporters lost no time in getting into party mode. On their first night on board the ship the inmates broke all drinking records, the purser ordering an emergency truckload of Guinness.
Surprisingly, the black market tickets for the first Test slumped, with touts unable to make the profits they were hoping for.
The New Zealand Rugby Union has banned the resale of tickets, but some touts found a legal loophole by offering a street map of Christchurch or a can of soft drink for sale, with the tickets thrown in “as an added extra”.