A great example of how no Test team is decided before a Tour, Matt Dawson travelled to South Africa in 1997 seemingly third in the scrum-half pecking order, but ended up starting all three Tests against the Springboks.
An injury to Rob Howley earned him his shot and he took full advantage. In the first Test Dawson scored the vital try, with a magnificent dummy one of the iconic images of that Tour victory, while his pass also set up Jeremy Guscott for the series-clinching drop goal.
Dawson was selected again by Graham Henry for the 2001 Tour to Australia, coming off the bench to replace the injured Howley in the second Test before starting the third.
And he made it three Lions Tours when picked in 2005 to New Zealand. In charge of that Tour was Dawson’s former England coach Sir Clive Woodward, and it was under the former Lions centre that Dawson claimed World Cup glory in 2003, showing all his skills from 1997 with a dummy and then the pass for Jonny Wilkinson’s winning drop goal in the final. He won 84 Test caps in all for England and the Lions over an 11-year career.
Career
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British & Irish Lions Scrum Half |
1997 - 2005 |
