JONNY BELL WAS a 21-cap Ireland international when selection time came for the 1997 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa in 1997.
The 23-year-old centre had scored tries, that year, against Italy and Wales and his name was mentioned in selection circles. Unfortunately for him, Ireland had just endured a woeful Five Nations – winning only one game, against Wales.
16 years later and Bell, now a backs coach at Ulster, remembers the weeks and months leading up to that tour and his battles with focusing on his provincial and international rugby when conservations so often turned to the Lions.
He told TheScore.ie, “In ’97, I had a good start to the season. Ireland had a difficult championship but I was in the preliminary squad.
Advertisement
The coaches [led by Ian McGeechan] leaned towards Will Greenwood and he went as a bolter. That was as close as I got.”
Tommy Bowe got closer than his coach in 2009 and started all three Tests against the Springboks. With Ulster flying high in the Pro12 late last year, and with Bowe scoring twice against Argentina for his country, squad selection for the 2013 tour seemed inevitable.
The winger hyper-extended his knee against Northampton Saints in December and, despite a comeback that includes a try in his first league start, selection in Warren Gatland’s squad is far from certain. Bell, however, feels the Monaghan man should travel.
He said, “If I was Warren Gatland I’d be taking Tommy Bowe on tour. He has shown what he is capable he is since he came back and he is a world-class player.
He wants a Lions tour and a Pro12 title for Ulster this season. If all things go to plan in the next few weeks, he’ll have a chance.”
Bell added, “It is the pinnacle of every rugby player’s career. Tommy Bowe has the credentials. He has been there before and done it.”
Warren Gatland will announce his preliminary touring squad in London on 30 April.
*This afternoon, Ulster nominated the RDS in Dublin as its ‘home’ venue for a potential Pro12 Final on Saturday, 25 May.
Honestly who wouldn’t take him he is a monster try scorer i wouldnt play him for test 1 but if he does well in the other games in between you never know
Thing is the Lions is based on form not reputation, Bowe only playing 1 full rabo game isn’t helping his chances, if he started the QF he would had have a much better chance of going.
The two welsh lads will defiently go, Zebo and Visser are probably next in line .. So that leaves Bowe, Wade, Maitland, Ashton and Gilroy to battle it out for the remaing spots .. Bowe and Wade being the pick of the bunch.
Zebo 5 caps 1 try. Ashton 30 caps 17 tries. As much as we all hate Ashton for his antics, to put Zebo (just back from injury) ahead of Ashton is not really taking a neutral angle on the whole debate on who travels.
Bowe is a quality player but I just don’t know if there’s enough time left. Winger is a position with huge competition. If Ulster go all the way and he shines yeah, certainly. If not I doubt he’ll travel.
Anyone else think it might be better if very few Irish players went, loads need a rest, injuries were massive this year and with tours they get back to there clubs much later.
All our teams have a very big season coming up next year and pre season with the provinces won’t do any harm
That’s a great idea Chris. Quickly, tell all the players that are in line for selection about your idea so they don’t make a daft decision and ruin there careers. QUICKLY before its too late.
France compete strongly in 6n after Lions tour. I am sure each individual player would like to travel. However success for the national team does not follow just because you have a large number of Irish Lions. You don’t see sir Alex pushing for players to be playing in summer tournaments. I remember bod and ferris being injured on lions tour. So while I would be proud to see a lot of Irish lining up in the first test it will not better irish results in the future. Also the tour to America should be a development tour rather than first pick test team.
Rory McIlroy takes two-shot lead into final round of Masters
59 mins ago
9
FreeWomen's Premier Division wrap
Shelbourne put seven past Bohemians to keep pressure on Athlone
1 hr ago
0
As it happened
Bordeaux Bègles v Munster, Champions Cup quarter-final
11 hrs ago
101
Sign in or create a free account
To continue reading create a free account
Or sign into an existing account
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 168 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.Privacy Policy
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 113 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 149 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 117 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 84 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 84 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 138 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 63 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 78 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 86 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 49 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 95 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 102 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 73 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 54 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 92 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 72 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
I hate chris ashton anyone agree
Only he and his mam would disagree…. I’m waiting for the day he drops the ball doing one of those stupid flops. Then all will be well in the world.
Honestly who wouldn’t take him he is a monster try scorer i wouldnt play him for test 1 but if he does well in the other games in between you never know
Thing is the Lions is based on form not reputation, Bowe only playing 1 full rabo game isn’t helping his chances, if he started the QF he would had have a much better chance of going.
The two welsh lads will defiently go, Zebo and Visser are probably next in line .. So that leaves Bowe, Wade, Maitland, Ashton and Gilroy to battle it out for the remaing spots .. Bowe and Wade being the pick of the bunch.
Zebo 5 caps 1 try. Ashton 30 caps 17 tries. As much as we all hate Ashton for his antics, to put Zebo (just back from injury) ahead of Ashton is not really taking a neutral angle on the whole debate on who travels.
And just for the record Ashtons club stats obliterate Zebos. Not a nice guy, but he can play.
Bowe is a quality player but I just don’t know if there’s enough time left. Winger is a position with huge competition. If Ulster go all the way and he shines yeah, certainly. If not I doubt he’ll travel.
Anyone else think it might be better if very few Irish players went, loads need a rest, injuries were massive this year and with tours they get back to there clubs much later.
All our teams have a very big season coming up next year and pre season with the provinces won’t do any harm
That’s a great idea Chris. Quickly, tell all the players that are in line for selection about your idea so they don’t make a daft decision and ruin there careers. QUICKLY before its too late.
I know what you mean Chris but remember, those not going with the lions will b going to USA and Canada anyway,,,
I don’t know what he means, can you explain.
France compete strongly in 6n after Lions tour. I am sure each individual player would like to travel. However success for the national team does not follow just because you have a large number of Irish Lions. You don’t see sir Alex pushing for players to be playing in summer tournaments. I remember bod and ferris being injured on lions tour. So while I would be proud to see a lot of Irish lining up in the first test it will not better irish results in the future. Also the tour to America should be a development tour rather than first pick test team.
Again someone must let players know this. Poor lads will ruin Irish rugby if they get on the flight. Nooooo. Cancel the Tour.
Sir Alex? Which sport?