British Lions / Ralph Ellis / 28 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Ian McGeechan's British Lions start their tour of South Africa for real on Saturday when they play the first game against a Royal XV. Betfair met up with England forward Lee Mears to find out more...

Hi Lee, thanks for meeting us. Tell us about a Lions tour. It dates back to the amateur days but is it still a big thing for a professional rugby player?

Well, one of the best things is they've managed to carry it from the amateur era to the professional and it's great. It's like an amateur tour in many ways - I mean, we all know we are professional rugby players now, but it's quite nice to meet up, meet boys you'd never normally play with, and you have to have a good craic to get some team bonding together. It means we've been having a couple of drinks, being sociable, sharing rooms, it's very different from what you are used to

What was your reaction when you heard you were picked?

Over the moon, I was really pleased. You never know if you are in the coach's mind, they obviously have a game plan and will pick players to play that way so you just hope and keep your fingers crossed that the way you performed in the Six Nations will get you in

A great way to round off your testimonial year, then?

Yeah, it's been a brilliant year and hopefully it will just keep getting better and better.

Ten years is a long time that you've played at Bath. Do you think that long stays at one club will get rarer as they have in football?

I think a bit of both, I'm proud to say I'm a one club man and I've been there for so many years, but I do envy the opportunities that are presented to boys nowadays, playing in different foreign countries and trying different styles of life. That's now part of being a pro rugby player, and I'd like to finish my career trying a bit in Japan or Italy or France, just to say I'm a bit more worldly wise

How do you view the Lions' chances because South Africa are clear favourites with our punters?

Well, they are probably right to go that way because South Africa are the World Champions, but our aim is to do what the Lions of 97' did and cause an upset. And so far I don't think I could have asked for any better. The boys are really digging in, we know we have a huge challenge in front of us but we also know we are the best of a very good bunch in the Northern Hemisphere.

Are you a good tourist - do you find being away easy?

I think so, obviously I miss my family but you know this is a chance of a lifetime. They are giving me full support and meeting all the boys and making new friends has been great.

You did a big winning tour of Australia as an Under-18. Do you still have close friends from that?

Absolutely - most of them are now playing Premiership rugby or been capped for England, and if not they are in the lower divisions. There were people on that tour like Mike Tindall, Andrew Sheridan, Jonny Wilkinson, Steve Borthwick, you can go on and on. They became friends for life.

Who's going to be the life and soul of the party on this trip and why?

There are a few strong candidates, everybody has been a good laugh - Donncha O'Callaghan keeps me smiling which is a change from trying to take my head off when I normally play against him!

What are the key things you need to gel a squad of people together on a tour?

You need something other than rugby to talk about, and that's one of the reasons why you do stuff together, going to the pub, playing a bit of golf, so the next day you are not just talking about rugby, you are having a bit of banter about other stuff

Tell us about playing hooker - it's the job at the coal face, isn't it?

You'd always like to think you could play a bit but I think I was born into this job. I'd love to get out and hang on the wing because I think I'm a back trapped in a forward's body!

So you'd rather be one of the glamour boys?

Didn't say that! I'd maybe like to try it for a few weeks but I know that after hanging out there I'd soon want to get back in the mix among the real men!

Finally, we gather you are taking flying lessons - tell us how that's going - we presume they are on hold for the summer...

I've had to miss them for a while. I do want to be a commercial pilot eventually, and for that you have to get all your hours up - once you've got the licence you have to keep going. I might as well wait until I finish playing and get it all done then. I had another lesson for my birthday, though and my wife Danielle's dad had a part share in a plane and has now got a glider, so I keep my hand in, but it's more fun than a career right now. But you never know - eight years time I could be on a Lions tour by flying the plane! The one we came over on was called Air Force Scrum!

Thanks for your time and we've a free £50 bet for your favourite charity

That would be the Willow foundation - details are on www.willowfoundation.org.uk. They try to create special days for terminally ill people. There's a lot out there for children but this is for over 16s, and having done some work with them they are brilliant. Every day of my life is special because of being in such a privileged position as an international sportsman, it's great how they bring special memories for others. As for the bet I'm not allowed to back us to win the Test series, so I'll be patriotic and back England to win the Ashes at [3.55].