During the autumn international period The Tig Blog commented on the media obsession with the national squads even when players were wearing club colours.
At a time when Tigers hosted Saints in a derby game which had been sold out a month in advance, the national Press recorded remarks along the lines of it was “bad news for England” that Ben Youngs had dropped out of the game against Gloucester the previous week and “bad news for England” that James Simpson-Daniel was playing so well but not in Stuart Lancaster’s national squad.
It was also apparently “good news for England” that the likes of Flood, Cole, Parling, Tuilagi, Allen, Waldrom, Tom Youngs and Gloucester’s Ben Morgan had come through unscathed when the teams went head to head.
The Tig argued then that Ben Youngs dropping out was bad news for him and Leicester (with respect to his replacements). And that the lack of English injuries was good for the players first and foremost.
Replace the word ‘England’ with the word ‘Lions’ and you’ve pretty much got the coverage sorted for the next couple of months.
Meanwhile, Tigers and the rest of the clubs are involved in the tightest tussle in recent memory for Aviva Premiership placings and points. Quins are tryng to show they can build a consistent threat for honours, Sarries and Tigers want their crown back, Wasps have returned as contenders, Saints and Gloucester are fighting it out to get back into the top four, Bath and Exeter are pushing on, and the bottom of the table now has three or four clubs desperate to claw their way upwards. It is a tense and riveting time of the year for the clubs, their players, and their fans. No one here is thinking about the Lions.
The Six Nations will be over by the time we start the five-match run-in to the end of the Premiership season. England stories will have to take the backseat (unless anyone is ruled out of the summer tour to Argentina). But then, of course, the Lions tour will be just around the corner.
Fantasy rugby games of choosing your Lions tour party now are all well and good, but in a collision sport with knife-edge results, there are too many variables to base the whole of your year on what might or might not happen in the summer.
Lions selection is THE peak of any playing career, the concept and the history give rugby a unique place in world sport and the tour party should be and will be massively well supported this summer. But let's just leave it till then please!
