Two Wales players on Lions tour is embarrassing but completely justified
As if we needed a reminder of just how low Welsh rugby has fallen, here we have it.
Since 2001, Wales have never had fewer than 10 players on tour. In 2013, that number reached a peak of 15 meaning a Welsh representation of 41 per cent.
And now? Just two. And those who have made it are unlikely to be involved in the Test side. Australia is an awfully long way to go to hold tackle pads. The 'bin juice' of the squad, to use rugby parlance.
It is a sad state of affairs. Lions folklore has Welsh contributions coursing through its veins.
As a 37-year-old, the first tour I remember is the 1997 triumph in South Africa. Neil Jenkins sticking the boot into the Boks with Scott Gibbs running riot in midfield.
Thursday throwback!
Neil Jenkins in 1997 vs South Africa hits the middle of the middle! 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/D4PNUBtHuu
— School of Kicking (@SchoolofKicking) December 22, 2022
Four years later, five Welshmen were in the matchday squad against Australia for the first Test. Even Sir Clive Woodward's shambolic trip to New Zealand in 2005 saw Welshman Gareth Thomas end the tour as captain.
Then in 2009, Jamie Roberts was man of the series in the most brutal tour in recent memory. Stephen Jones was top points scorer and Shane Williams tied with Tom Croft for most Test tries, whilst Mike Phillips was at his bristling best.
The last time the Lions faced Australia, they might as well have just been called Wales. George North and Alex Cuthbert were joint-top try scorers, Leigh Halfpenny was top points scorer and the team was captained by Sam Warburton. Warren Gatland made the still controversial call to drop Brian O'Driscoll in favour of Jonathan Davies, and the rest is history. Man of the series that tour? Leigh Halfpenny.
And what about four years after that in New Zealand? Man of the series: Jonathan Davies. Captain: Sam Warburton.
Lion #778: Jonathan Davies 🦁
Two Tours, including a Players' Player of the Series performance in New Zealand in 2017 ⭐️ https://t.co/fYEnbVChqS pic.twitter.com/7kQSYSEhNz
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) January 5, 2024
Indeed, three of the last four player of the series awards have gone to a Welshman. Only Maro Itoje bucks the trend after picking it up last time out. Although the heroes were still Welsh.
Alun Wyn Jones made a genuinely miraculous comeback to captain the team, Dan Biggar led the points tally and Josh Adams scored eight tries.
But here in 2025, the Welsh boys better be good value on the behind-the-scenes tour documentary or they risk becoming a tricky quiz answer in years to come.
Personally, Lions tours are usually a rare period in time when I get close to feeling British over Welsh. Not quite, but close. This, the Olympics and anything celebrating the allied war efforts makes the lack of Welsh representation on the Union Flag almost bearable.
But I'm not sure I'll be able to stomach supporting the Lions this time around. Usually I'd be all in. But that's because I've got skin in the game.
This time, with no Welsh player likely to be in the Test team, can I really stand there and cheer for the Irish, Scottish and English? It'd be like picking sides in The Old Firm. Who cares?
Every year since 2009, me and my University of Worcester RFC comrades have got together to watch the first Test.
When George North famously wagged his finger in Will Genia's face before dotting down, I was at the bar at The Railway in Penarth, South Wales.
We were a few beers deep, and the place erupted. Pints went everywhere. Strangers hugging each other. Welsh, Scottish, Irish – even English. It did not matter. Just euphoric, sporting bliss... at 9am, I should add.
Rugby enemies becoming friends is the unexplainable allure of the Lions. Players and fans alike uniting to stand toe to toe with a new enemy. It's powerful.
But I fear it will not be this time. Because part of that togetherness is all the nations being needed, and needing each other.
This summer, the scene in the Railway will not be repeated... because the Lions do not need the Welsh this time. Their presence Down Under will have no bearing on the Test series result.
The brutal truth is it would be exactly the same if Jac Morgan and Tomos Williams were battling to save Welsh rugby from extinction in Japan rather than achieving the pinnacle of their careers in Australia.
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