Ben White was just a short flight away from the British and Irish Lions when he was called up as a replacement for the current tour. But fellow Scotland scrum-half Andy Nicol was about to climb the Sydney Harbour bridge when he became the answer to a No.9 emergency in the build-up to the deciding third Test with the Wallabies in 2001.
White was four hours away from Brisbane training in Auckland with the Scotland tour party when he was called into the squad after Tomos Williams was ruled out of the tour after damaging his hamstring in the win over Western Force.
Unlike Nicol, White had all of his playing kit with him, which is not surprising as the former Scotland captain was looking after a Lions fans’ tour group in 2001. It was after a round of golf that he received a call from Donal Lenihan, the tour manager, warning the Bath star that he may be needed if a scan on Austin Healey’s injury came back with a worst-case scenario.
With the bridge walk booked, Nicol, who hadn’t played for two months, posed for a picture at the very top of the famous structure, with singing from the Lions fans in the Rocks area below adding to the surreal moment.
Nicol was drafted into the Lions’ match squad for the deciding third Test, which the Lions would narrowly lose 29-23. Walking into the team hotel on the morning of the game, he spent the next few hours running through the team’s playbook set out on a flip chart.
Wales scrum-half Rob Howley, who suffered a rib injury in the second Test defeat, prompting the last-minute SOS, did his best to get Nicol up to speed with the moves while the team’s kit man found a pair of boots that fitted.
Nicol, who was an unused replacement for the third Test, told RugbyPass: “I had been at the Lions hotel earlier in the week in Manly catching up with some of the Bath boys, Matt Perry and Iain Balshaw, and then two days later I am in the match squad. I didn’t even have my boots with me and the kit man had a pair that fitted. I got the call from Donal when I was about to leave the hotel and climb the Harbour Bridge, having earlier that day played a round of golf.
“You get breathalysed before you climb the bridge and I’d settled down for a pint when we got a cancellation to climb that night. So that was the only reason I hadn’t had a full day on the pop, which is probably what the plan had been. I remember having the photo that they take when your group gets to the top, and I said to the tour company boss that the picture might be worth a fortune with me on the Bridge at 11pm and the next day I play in a series-winning Test, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
“I got to the Lions hotel at 9am the next morning and Graham Henry wasn’t exactly welcoming and was under pressure as the head coach. Rob Howley, with his broken ribs, sat with me going through a video and flip charts to try and learn the plays throughout the day.”
Remarkably, that was the second time Nicol had been added to a Lions tour due to an injury crisis, as he left Samoa, where he was with Scotland, to head to New Zealand in 1993 before the game with Taranaki because Rob Jones was doubtful. “I was in the South Seas, having just played Samoa with Scotland, and Rob was ill and they weren’t certain about the blood tests,” he recalled.
“I was there for six days, sat on the bench against Taranaki and played the final six minutes. The Lions (coaches) wanted me to stay as they had a few injuries and needed numbers for training, but the Lions committee refused that request. It was the same tour that Wade Dooley wasn’t allowed to return after going home for his father’s funeral.”
While his own Lions story is limited to one short appearance, Nicol expects White to make an immediate impact and believes the former London Irish player’s experience of Top 14 rugby with Toulon has made him a real threat having taken on the ‘petit general’ role that No.9s must assume in the French top flight.
White has got the nod ahead of Leicester’s Jack van Poortvliet, with Ben Spencer another potential option after his stellar season with Bath, the club Nicol led to Heineken Cup glory in 1998.
Nicol believes White could put serious pressure on England’s Alex Mitchell for the backup Test role to Jamison Gibson-Park, who is now fit to play a full part in the Lions series against the Wallabies.
He added: “I have been a big fan of Ben’s for a number of years and he has consistently been very good for Scotland; he has been a bit under the radar because his half-back partner is Finn Russell.
“ Finn gets all the plaudits while Ben goes quietly about his work and has been very effective for Scotland and scores lots of tries, which is a very good trait.
“His support lines are excellent and the modern-day scrum half needs to have that ability and he does that very well.
“His passing and kicking skills under pressure are really good and so the basic fundamentals of a scrum half are there, but he also has that sixth sense to know where to be at the right time.
“There are a lot of good scrum halves in British and Irish rugby and my three No.9s for the tour were the ones that got picked. But Ben must have been very close. Gibson-Park was a shoe-in, Mitchell benefitted from Northampton going deep in the Champions Cup, while Williams had a great season for Gloucester. I think Ben missed out because he was playing in France and Toulon going deep into the Top 14 play-offs went against him.
“Andy Farrell went with Blair Kinghorn even though he was still involved with Toulouse because he was a guaranteed selection. When it was a more contentious selection, he has gone with the UK-based players and rightly so for the benefit of the preparations.
“Ben deserves to be there, and being in Auckland helped; he is not here to make up the numbers and has played a lot of good rugby recently. He deserves it.”
