Primarily, we’re thinking back to South Africa in 1997 when the Lions concept was less commercial, when players were allowed to be more open and when the talk was not of “learnings” but of “Everest”.
The Lions had just lost to Northern Transvaal and were now playing the Gauteng Lions. It was a battle, but they won.
Coach Jim Telfer said it was the night that re-established momentum, silenced the Bokke and saved the tour. We all know what happened after that.
“It was like a fourth Test match and I don’t think the guys who played realised what they’d done at the time,” recalled Martin Johnson, captain of the tour but not in the squad that night.
“When they came off, the ovation they got from the rest of the squad – I’ll never forget that. That game was massive. That’s one of my favourite moments of being a Lion – and I didn’t even play.”
It’s a mad segue to Saturday in Adelaide, but there’s a point to be made. The side made up of former All Blacks and Wallabies is, on paper, threatening.
The carrot of killing Lions’ momentum and plunging them into self-doubt a week out from the first Test must serve as an enormous incentive, even to all the Kiwi members of the group.
So, it’s the job of the Saturday boys to keep Lions’ spirits high.
“That’s the beauty of professional sport, isn’t it?” says White. “You always have that challenge, you always have that pressure.
“It’s not about going out there and trying to do things differently. It’s about enjoying the occasion, being free and showing what you can do.
“And when you put in a good performance and you’re sat in the changing room, you can look around at your peers and say, ‘that was good fun’.”
He has work to do before that sensation kicks in, but it’s work White’s dreamed about doing for the longest time.
