Lions 2005: Where are they now? Part 3

With Warren Gatland’s squad for the upcoming British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand announced, we look back at the last time the men in red ventured to the home of the All Blacks and ask – what happened to them? Let’s take a look at the men who started the first test in Christchurch, turning now to the forward pack:

1: Gethin Jenkins

Potentially the most welsh-named man in history, Jenkins is one of the few 2005 tourists yet to hang up his boots. Post-tour, Jenkins became one of the most in demand props around, though his appointment as Wales captain in 2007 was short-lived, with incoming coach Warren Gatland passing the armband onto Ryan Jones after just one game under Jenkins’ stewardship. Jenkins would however sporadically skipper the side over the next few years, becoming more of a fixture on the team sheet than my mum in Asda’s wine aisle.

After winning the Amlin Challenge Cup with Cardiff in 2010, Jenkins did the mandatory gap yah in the south of France, winning the Heineken Cup with Toulon before returning to the Blues. He toured with the Lions again in 2009, but withdrew from the 2013 tour through injury. After a few wilderness years, he had just about re-established himself in the Welsh team last year before injury struck and he missed the recent Six Nations. Having surpassed numerous international appearance records, Jenkins wouldn’t be the most surprising call up if injury necessitates a few old heads joining the Lions squad, but he’s facing stiff competition from a new wave of props coming through.

2: Shane Byrne

Selected ahead of England’s Steve Thompson for his more accurate line-out throwing, Byrne had a bit of a shocker on tour, throwing his darts with about as much accuracy as Captain Hook. Nonetheless Byrne played in two tests for the Lions, but after several years of toiling behind Keith Wood, (he famously was first named in an Ireland squad in 1993, but didn’t make his debut until 2001) his international career came to an end shortly after returning from New Zealand.

After 10 years with Leinster, Byrne moved to Saracens where he spent two seasons before retiring in 2007. He’s since served as a director for the family business, a waste disposal firm in Wicklow, though rumours he collects your rubbish singing The Garbage Man song from The Simpsons are sadly unsubstantiated. He briefly returned to his amateur roots playing GAA and has also built a respectable media and punditry career off the back of his famous mullet, appearing on several Irish TV shows. However, an appearance in Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie as a Russian heavy probably ranks as more of a career low than getting spanked by the All Blacks.

3: Julian White

A quick search for “Julian White Rugby” returns numerous list articles of rugby’s “hardest” players as well as several videos of White punching someone or other. With a face resembling a slightly more sophisticated kicked potato, White was the perfect player to take the fight to the All Blacks, starting all three tests. White racked up an impressive trophy collection with Leicester Tigers, winning two Premiership Finals and two Anglo-Welsh cups at Welford Road. He made himself unavailable for England shortly before the 2007 World Cup to spend more time with his family, but was named in first the Saxons and then the full England squad in 2009 after Matt Stevens’ ban.

White quietly ended his career as an unused substitute as Tigers beat Northampton in the 2012 LV Cup final, though in truth had begun transitioning to his current role as a full time farmer several years previously, apparently much to the frustration of perpetually-frustrated Tigers Director of Rugby Richard Cockerill. He now owns around 700 sheep, so there’s that.

4: Paul O’Connell

Picture Paul O’Connell in your head right now. He’s angry isn’t he? All pink in the face. Probably screaming. Little bits of spit flying all around. Back in 2005, when he first pulled on the iconic Lions jersey he was exactly the same, except he had hair. O’Connell was already firmly established in the Ireland side by the time of the Lions tour, having captained the team in Brian O’Driscoll’s absence in 2004, but in the following years would cement his place amongst the all-time greats of world rugby. He was shortlisted for the IRB player of the year in 2006, the same year he won the Heineken Cup with long-time club Munster and the Six Nations Triple Crown with Ireland. He followed that with another Heineken Cup in 2008 and a Celtic League in 2009, before being named as Lions captain for the ultimately unsuccessful tour of South Africa.

Several injuries would follow in the next few years, including one which kept him on the shelf for nine months. He again toured with the Lions in 2013, captaining the midweek side, but a fractured arm in the first test left him resigned to a coaching role for the rest of the series. Back-to-back Six Nations championships followed in 2014 and 2015, and an agreement was reached for O’Connell to hang up his green jersey after the 2015 World Cup, whereupon he would join Toulon. An injury suffered in the tournament meant he would never play for the French side, retiring from all forms of rugby in 2016 and joining Munster’s academy in an advisory role. He has since written an autobiography, and now spends his time as a pundit as well as absolutely smashing it on Question of Sport:

Part 4 coming soon…

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