“I left my wife and kids in Menorca to fly straight to Australia and join the Lions tour. I had some pants with me, that was about it!”: Former England international on his last-minute call-up to the British & Irish Lions
Hooker Dorian West was a last minute British & Irish Lions call-up for the 2001 tour to Australia.
Top this for a chaotic Lions call-up. Dorian West didn’t even have any boots with him when he flew out for a family holiday as an emergency replacement on the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia.
West has told how he was landed in domestic hot water in answering Graham Henry’s last-minute SOS after injury doubts over two hookers – Keith Wood and Robin McBryde – persuaded the British and Irish Lions coach to contact him ahead of the First Test.
“I was on holiday in Menorca. I had no kit, no nothing. I had to fly to Frankfurt to get out to Australia. I had some pants with me, that was about it,” said West.
“My missus wasn’t that impressed. I left her in Menorca with three kids. She was very understanding though after a bit. When we got paid.”
The Lions had already lost one hooker in Phil Greening to injury by then and called up Scotland’s Gordon Bulloch.
West, who had been putting his feet up after touring North America with England, was 33 by then but he made such an impression in the midweek win over the Brumbies that he displaced Bulloch as Wood’s bench back-up for the Second and Third Tests.
“I’d been around a while. I knew most of the people there. So it wasn’t difficult, really, to fit in,” he said. “It was a magic place to be.”
The series went down to a decider in Sydney which the Wallabies edged 29-23.
Last-minute call
Martin Johnson (centre), captain of the British Lions shares a joke with Dorian West (right)(Dave Rogers/ALLSPORT)
Alongside West on the bench was Scotland scrum-half Andy Nicol who had been in Australia leading a supporters’ tour party but was drafted in at short notice when Rob Howley and Austin Healey were hurt.
Related: See more for the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia
Wales centre Scott Gibbs, England back row Martin Corry and Ireland pair David Wallace and Tyrone Howe were also called up as injury replacements during the bruising tour.
West, now the Sale forwards’ coach, hopes this summer’s mission Down Under will run more smoothly.
“It should be a great tour and I’ll be watching it on the telly, as always,” he said.
The Lions squad will be unveiled by chair Ieuan Evans and head coach Andy Farrell on May 8 in front of 2,000 fans at London’s O2.
They play Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on June 20 in a tour warm-up before the first match in Australia against Western Force in Perth on June 28.
