Here’s my personal recollection of the trip.

The Tigers had put together the trip, based on a standard Gullivers tour, but with some Tiger touches added. Matt Poole as one of our tour guides, Peter Wheeler and Deano would join us later as resident tour celebrities. 4 cities in 3 weeks, and a stopover in Singapore on the way back.

We arrived in Brisbane nearly 30 hours after leaving Leicester, and our first taste of Australia was to be subjected to the stringent controls the Aussies had put in place to prevent foot and mouth from entering. After successfully entering the country (no-one was deported), we set off for the city centre, our hotel, and in my case, some much-needed sleep.

The atmosphere in Brisbane was very much like Paris. We spent the following day exploring the city and visiting a local koala sanctuary. Everywhere you looked, there was someone wearing the colours. Apart from a few rugby league fans who were in town for the State of Origin match, everyone else was from the UK.

After a heavy night in the pub with the rest of the group, Saturday finally arrived, and with it the anticipation of the first test later that evening. We walked into the city centre to pick up some last minute souvenirs, and there were hundreds, maybe a couple of thousand people in the main square. It was a sea of red.

We thought maybe 10,000 people would have been a fair estimate of the travelling support, given the stories we’d heard about backpackers snapping up tickets, but nothing prepared us for what was to come later.

As part of the trip, access had been arranged to the Gullivers Big Pub before the match. The pub was located at the ground of Easts rugby club, not far from the Gabba. After an afternoon of eating, drinking, and general merriment the time had come to leave for game. The tension was palpable, and rumours of the stories that had been appearing in the British press had reached us.

We entered the Gabba, and were absolutely dumbstruck by what we saw. To a man (and woman) almost everyone was wearing red. The Aussie support was literally nowhere to be seen – the odd pocket of support here and there, and that was all. It was unbelievable. We started with the songs – Bread of Heaven and Molly Malone mainly, and we didn’t stop for the whole 80 minutes.

The whole match was a roller coaster ride of emotion – taking the lead, and then hanging on whilst they got back into it. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing on the pitch. Australia was stunned. Both on and off the pitch they were completely out-manoeuvred. We had set out our stall, and they were going to fight back using every trick they knew.

The hotel had very kindly taped the match for us, and it was straight back to the bar to re-live it again.

The next day we set off for a couple of days at Surfer’s Paradise. For those who have never seen Surfer’s, think Benidorm – mainly high rise, and there’s some really tacky stuff there, aimed at Japanese tourists.

The highlight of this part of the trip was a touch rugby tournament on the beach. A warning – don’t ever try this when Matt Poole is on the opposing team, especially when he gets up just enough momentum to flatten anybody standing in the way!

Then just as quickly, it was time to leave sub-tropical Queensland and head south to the (much) colder climes of Canberra, home of Paddy and Tug.

Although it’s the capital of the country, on the surface it would seem that not a lot really happens here, apart from politics and the industries supporting it. Our visit offered us the briefest glimpse, as we were only there for 1 night. We arrived, dumped our stuff at the hotel, and went straight off to the Bruce Stadium for the final midweek game of the tour – against the reigning Super 12 champions, ACT Brumbies.

As it was a midweek game, and our own Paddy was playing, we all decided to wear our tigers shirts as a show of support for the Leicester guys. Nonetheless we managed to upset some Welsh people sitting behind us, as we insisted on doing the tiger chants throughout the whole match.

We cheered every time Paddy got the ball – the Australians sitting nearby thought we were completely bonkers until we told them why we were cheering. Nobby came within 5 metres of scoring a try right in front of us, which we cheered wildly. Then Oz scored from an interception of a throw by Pat.

Things were heated throughout the game, Pat and Dawson renewed an old acquaintance. ACT, as you would expect, played well and the Lions were perilously close to losing. Going into injury time, Oz scored his jinking try at the other end, which then required Matt Dawson to convert. We stood and watched helpless as he struck the ball, and then erupted into wild celebrations as it sailed between the uprights. Needless to say, there was much post-match drinking to indulge in after that!

Next day, most of us went off sightseeing, but some remained at the hotel and were treated to a visit from Pat (lucky things!). The best was yet to come though. We left the hotel that evening for our flight to Melbourne, and we went into the airport to find the entire squad in the departure lounge waiting for their flight. To a man they were all very obliging, happily chatting to us, signing autographs and having photos taken.

We arrived in Melbourne and were met at the airport by Peter Wheeler, who had arrived that morning. Next day, we all went off to the beautiful Yarra Valley, on a wine tasting tour. We visited a number of vineyards, sampling their wares, and needless to say drinking all morning on a small breakfast is not recommended! By the time we got back to the hotel, Deano had arrived along with a smaller group who were joining us for the final 2 games. Saturday came around quickly enough, and we went off to the big pub, this time held in the Royal Exhibition Hall.

The big celebs were certainly turning out in force. Ian McGeechan was just one that we ran into.

The Aussies had basically stopped anybody who wasn’t Australian from buying tickets, so the Aussie support for the second test was much bigger, even if a lot of them didn’t seem to know much about rugby. Right up until half time we believed that we were going to win the series, and then two really significant things happened. The loose pass from Wilko which allowed Joe Roff to score and Nathan Grey’s “tackle” on Richard Hill, which left Hilly with a broken cheekbone. We seemed to lose all of our shape after that and the Aussies went on to win. We left the Colonial stadium downhearted and believing that the boys had left themselves with an uphill struggle in Sydney.

We moved onto Sydney the next day, and spent most of the week exploring. The Aussies were certainly building up the final test as if it were bigger than the world cup, but we had to laugh at their efforts to remind their supporters what colour the team wore.

Finally, matchday came and we set off for Stadium Australia with feelings of trepidation. We had heard all about Oz’s column in the Guardian back at home - enough said. You couldn’t help but think that we had already had our best chance of winning the series. This was going to be a really tough game, especially as we had no idea how many of the team were actually fit.

The boys gave it their all during the match, but sadly it wasn’t to be. We left the stadium dejected, thinking what might have been. The bus back to the hotel was strangely silent… We went over to Manly the following day, for a final look around before packing our bags ready for the journey home. We left for a brief stopover in Singapore before finally heading back to Leicester.

Whatever the outcome, it was a great experience, new friendships have been forged, and many of us have already pre-registered for New Zealand 2005. I gave it some thought as to whether we would go back to Australia for the RWC, but I don’t think that the atmosphere would be quite the same. A Lions tour IS special.

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