When the definitive history of the British & Irish Lions tour this summer is written, there may be a special place reserved for Ted’s coffee van. Taking up position in the car park of the Richmond Hill hotel, here was a focal point, a leafy suburban equivalent of a water cooler around which Andy Farrell’s men could break the ice.
Up on the hill, overlooking the Thames, with local artists tending their watercolours next to the house Ronnie Wood once owned, it was all a far cry from the cut and thrust of a Test series in Australia but, in keeping with the Lions’ serene buildup, 10 days after Farrell named a squad that was low on controversy the tourists gathered for the first time.
