There is nothing that can compare to running out for a British & Irish Lions Test for the first time. I was speaking to Andy Farrell this week and I was getting goosebumps just thinking about it. Running out on to the field, the noise, the energy, the stakes – it’s completely different from anything those players will have experienced before. It’s a new chemical stimulus and in conversation with Farrell I was immediately transported back to Durban and 2009.
For all the sports psychology, visualisation and every bit of preparation you can do, it’s still different. It changed the way I warmed up. I made sure I got out on to the field early just to be able to absorb it. You are not a spectator when the whistle goes, you’re not looking around thinking: “This is cool”. That’s for the fans, so I would go out early to feel it, to sense it and just get used to it.
