Martin Johnson's 'good advice' could help Lions seal Tour triumph says John Fogarty
England's 2003 World Cup-winning captain, Johnson became the first man to skipper the Lions twice when he followed up his 1997 captaincy with the same role four years later. He had led the Lions to an iconic victory over the Springboks in '97 but experienced the other side of the coin in 2001 when the Lions were beaten 2-1 by the Wallabies.
The former Leicester Tigers second row visited the Lions camp in Melbourne on Thursday night for the shirt-presenting ceremony ahead of Saturday's game when the Andy Farrell's side will try to seal a series victory at the first opportunity having won the first Test in Brisbane last Saturday.
Assistant coach John Fogarty described Johnson's impact on the players following Friday's captain's run training session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
'Martin came in last night and he speaks nice and calmly. It was so cool to have him there. It was a privilege really,' Fogarty said.
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'He talked a bit about the Lions series they won and the Lions series they lost and the difference in either. He spoke about how in the biggest games the fundamentals are incredibly important. There's going to be errors but not compounding errors on errors is a huge part of winning big games.
'The room was completely quiet for the whole time he was there and spoke. There were guys just staring up at him. Maro (Itoje) asked him a question or two and then he handed out the jerseys. It has been such a privilege this whole journey to have someone like him come in and talk to the lads was another privilege. It's cool.'
Some of the current Lions squad had not been born when Johnson last led the Lions 24 years ago but Fogarty said: 'They knew who he was. They knew who he was for sure.
'There was a bit of contemplation and reflection after he talked which is a good thing. It is what you want. You don't just want to turn around and get your dinner. There was a bit of thinking and there were conversations, but it was a quiet room because they wanted to listen to a guy they see as an icon.'
Scrum coach Fogarty explained his biggest takeaway from Johnson's address.
'He said it is the smallest of margins in the biggest of games. The error bit, what he is talking about there is being able to get back to neutral and talking about being in the moment.
'All that stuff is difficult when you're playing in front of 95,000 people in a stadium as iconic as this. When you are 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.
'I think that's really important for us tomorrow. We are not going to get everything our own way and we understand what type of a game and how big a game it is going to be for both teams, and we know it is going to be a game of small margins. So that's good advice.'
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