Coach of the British & Irish Lions Warren Gatland. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: The Sunday Telegraph
THE British and Irish Lions will snub Sydney and hide in sleepy Noosa for the week before the third Test against the Wallabies in July.
In a controversial move, Lions bosses have elected to dodge the distractions and pitfalls of Sin City in the lead-up to the series finale at ANZ Stadium on June 6.
Instead of being based in Sydney, the 37-strong Lions squad will fly from Melbourne to Queensland's Sunshine Coast the day after the second Test on June 29.
They'll train on the club oval of the Noosa Dolphins for the week before arriving in Sydney on Thursday night.
Tour management have made the deliberate decision to remove the squad from the media scrutiny, potential spies and night time dangers of Australia's biggest city.
With England's 2011 World Cup dwarf-tossing escapades serving as a glaring example, the potential for off-field drama among the non-Test playing group to derail preparations was no doubt a consideration in deciding to hide in faraway Noosa.
There are also no Sydney ferries for Lions star Manu Tuilagi to dive off late at night; as the big centre found himself in trouble with Auckland police for doing following England's World Cup exit two years ago.
The intense scrutiny of the Sydney media is also hoped to be avoided in Noosa; and possibly all the gaze of all media.
It is understood Lions management have plans for a "blackout week" in which they will offer barebones media access, or give interviews early in the week for media to stockpile before shutting up shop until the Test.
Lions tour manager Andy Irvine and coach Warren Gatland - who toured Sydney last year as part of a logistics reconnaissance - are acutely aware of how the 2001 Lions mission in Australia unravelled even before the kick-off to the series-deciding Test in Sydney.
Disgruntled back-up Lions halfback Austin Healey ranted that Wallabies lock Justin Harrison was an "ape", a "plank" and a "plod" in his English newspaper column on the day of the third Test.
Lions management were apoplectic that Healey had gift-wrapped a team talk for the Wallabies who won the series on Harrison's brilliant late lineout steal.
Irvine and Co. are taking no chances that Healey's brain explosion was symptomatic of the 2001 tour already being over for a third of the tour party or it being made in the straitjacket of another big city stop.
The decision to skip Sydney for the week of a possible decider has left many in Australian rugby - and associated sponsors - privately unimpressed.
The Test match is sold out but the pre-Test hype in Sydney will be dulled without Lions players in town training and filling up news pages and bulletins.
Noosa rugby folk are, at least, overjoyed.
"It's the biggest thing to ever happen for rugby in Noosa," said Dolphins club secretary Brian Gibson, a Leeds expat.
"It's been an almost military operation. We had Lions security and logistics people visit as well as coach Warren Gatland last year before the location was ticked off. It's great news."
The Noosa Dolphins have a wonderful set-up for their three senior teams and eager junior sides who also have the benefit of a resurfaced ground thanks to the Lions visit.
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