Johnson set for clash of the giants

14 April 2012

The news of Malcolm O'Kelly's tour-ending injury for the Lions had just come through, producing an even more furrowed brow than usual. "Seriously? Who's replacing him?" asked Martin Johnson. The temptation, naturally, was to tell Johnno he ought to get to the Air New Zealand check- out desk sharpish.

Sitting across the sofa from Johnson, another giant presence felt he better intervene quick. "Hey, you can't go before Saturday, Johnno," grinned Jonah Lomu. "Don't forget we've got a game to play."

Yes, a big game too. Johnno's Northern Hemisphere XV versus Jonah's Southern Hemisphere XV at Twickenham, featuring such a splendid international cast list for Johnson's testimonial game that the great man admits to feeling quite humbled. It should be all about his emotional farewell but actually even he recognises it's the return to competitive rugby of the mighty Lomu after nearly two years which deserves to hog the limelight.

Yet both these greats know their place in the rugby firmament tomorrow. Having symbolised the very best of British and New Zealand rugby over the past decade, it's no wonder their early-morning focus at their hotel, along with the rest of planet rugby, will be on events 12,000 miles away in Rotorua as the Lions begin their tour against Bay of Plenty.

"Mate, I wouldn't miss it for the world," boomed Lomu. "Oh, it'll be all round the hotel," nodded Johnson. "A really difficult first game with 30,000 people in the stadium going crazy. It's going to be a huge tour, great, real intense Test rugby and an immensely difficult one for the Lions. That's the challenge isn't it?"

For a minute, he sounded so wistful I wondered if Johnson might be regretting not tackling this one last Everest. "No, when I retired, my time was gone and I was and am very comfortable with that," he said. As for being an emergency replacement on tour, just as he was on his first Lions tour there 12 years ago, he was adamant: "They've got plenty of good second rowers."

For all that he accepts withdrawal symptoms of retirement may strike next season, Johnson appears a man at peace with his decision. He's looking forward to his media work in New Zealand this summer, having warmed up with Lomu by doing running commentary for an adidas TV commercial in which 2005 Lions and All Blacks enact their version of the kids' playground game 'Last Man Standing'. A rather painful version as Ben Kay discovered, Johnno reports gleefully.

Yet it's Lomu who's fired by ambition whenever he thinks of this tour. He won't get a chance to play against the Lions when he begins resurrecting his

career with New Zealand provincial side North Harbour this summer but he's not given up hope of wearing the silver fern again.

"For me, there's one thing missing," he said, gesturing towards Johnson. "This gentleman held a Cup up in 2003 and I actually wouldn't mind having a crack at doing the same. This comeback's about nothing other than fulfilling a dream I started out with a very long time ago."

Like the rest of rugby, Johnson really hopes England's old nemesis gets that last chance because "he's been so magnificent for the game and his story is so inspirational". Once the unstoppable force of the world game, Lomu was felled by a kidney condition which wrecked his career and debilitated him to the point where he could barely walk.

He underwent a kidney transplant last August but, impossibly, looks a more formidable specimen than ever.

"If I didn't believe I could be an All Black again, I wouldn't be waking up at 5am to go training. Has my time gone? Well, everyone thought the time was gone for Linford Christie at the 1992 Olympics.

"Sprinters, like rugby players, aren't coming into their prime until their thirties these days. The older you are the wiser you are and the hardships I've known have only made me harder and mentally stronger."

The pair of them reminisced furiously. "How many tries did you get against us in the World Cup in '95? Four, was it?" asked Johnson - as if he didn't know - while Lomu recalled his utter misery at watching the young Johnno and his England mates on TV "taking us apart" at Twickenham in 1993.

Yet neither wanted to wallow in the past. Who were going to win in New Zealand? "The Lions, 2-1," reckoned Johnson. "Every Kiwi is dying for it to be three-zip but in our hearts we know it's more likely to be won in the final game at Eden Park. By the All Blacks, I think; I'll go 2-1 to us," was Lomu's equally predictable verdict.

And what about tomorrow morning? How about them watching the Lions together over breakfast? "Trouble is I'm not much of a watcher," said Johnson. Ah, spoken like English rugby's ultimate 'doer'.

Lomu, whose own deeds once shone brighter than anyone's in rugby, just offered a smile of recognition. He's done far too much watching these last few long years.

Johnson set for clash of the giants

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