If Henry Pollock fits the mould of modern-day British and Irish Lions ‘bolter’, his counterpart for the 1997 tour to South Africa was one Will Greenwood.

As the former England centre and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner points out, though, Pollock is virtually “a veteran compared to me,” having made his Test debut off the bench against Wales in March, scoring twice in his solitary cap to date.

Indeed, ahead of the Lions’ crunch tour to face the world champion Springboks in 1997, head coach Ian McGeechan selected Greenwood despite the then 24-year-old having yet to play for England. He remains the last uncapped Lions player and it’s doubtful there will ever be another one.

Greenwood is uniquely positioned, therefore, to provide insight into what 20-year-old Pollock – the rugby player on most people’s lips at the moment – may be feeling and going through currently.

Thinking back, Greenwood reveals he had two moments of disbelief at receiving a Lions call at all: firstly due to the antics of housemate and fellow would-be Lion Austin Healy, and secondly due to the date.

“Back in 1997 I was given a letter, unlike in all the tours since when it’s announced live on Sky Sports News. There’d been some rumours I had half a chance, but they were hard to believe.

“A bit like Henry Pollock and his marvellous performance to beat Leinster in that Champions Cup semi-final in Dublin, in 1997 at Leicester Tigers we’d actually put 37 points on Toulouse in a European semi-final and that was probably the day I got picked. It was a real launchpad for me, but I didn’t find out.

“The letter was firstly hidden by Austin Healy – who I was living with – for three hours, and then I thought it was an April Fools. It landed in my letterbox on April 1 1997, but after a while I was like: ‘Oh my God, this is happening.’

“I turned up at the Oaklands Park Hotel in Weybridge to meet the squad, and I was going in scared. There were five Leicester players in the squad, so I knew some, but the rest of the lads…Scott Gibbs, Keith Wood, these guys were like flipping superheroes. I was terrified.

“I was rooming with a giant of a man who has become one of my great friends, Scott Quinnell, and I’d never met him before in my life. I turned up so concerned but he came over and gave me the biggest cuddle. It was like being cuddled by Hagrid.

“Then Allan Bateman came over and said: ‘Hello mate, I think we’ll probably be playing in the midweek team together because Gibbs-Guscott might be the first Test partnership,’ so we had a little laugh and a joke straight away.

“Before you know it, you’re out on the field. Literally there’ll just be a moment where you’re passing the ball around and then you’ll do something like make a little half-burst, and they’ll go: ‘Oh okay, he’s all right.’

“It’s such an open environment because everyone is so desperate to win, and they totally trusted the coach.

“For me, it was Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer, who are total legends, and for this Lions tour it’s Andy Farrell, who is just such a warrior, awesome athlete, competitive coach.

“All the other players will go: ‘If Farrell thinks Pollock is good enough, then he’s good enough.'”

Despite his total lack of Test rugby experience, Greenwood flourished in 1997 as he started and scored in the Lions’ first tour match against Eastern Province in Port Elizabeth as part of a 39-11 victory.

He started four of the next seven tour matches leading up to the first Test, where he missed out on selection, before his tour then ended in scary fashion as a result of a horrific injury in the final midweek game between the first and second Tests against the Free State Cheetahs.

Greenwood was knocked unconscious off the hard turf and swallowed his tongue, proving unresponsive on the pitch and in the medical room for several minutes in an event legendary Scotland and Lions doctor James Robson – a six-times tourist – describes as “horrendous,” admitting since he was moments away from slicing open Greenwood’s throat to further protect his airways.

On the famous Living with Lions documentary from 1997, the anguished screams of Greenwood’s mother can be heard as he is stretchered from the pitch: “William, William, what have you done.”

Robson “saved my life” Greenwood says, and it’s recorded footage on the documentary he says he hopes never to revisit.

His advice for Pollock as the young pup on tour? Do your utmost to display exemplary hallmarks of professionalism, and take the opportunity to smash the Lions you are competing against for a starting place, because they won’t hold back against you.

“Well I don’t think he needs shoulders back and be confident, because that’s sort of his USP,” Greenwood says.

“The reality is he just needs to be strapped up, ready to train. Be first on the training field, first in the team meeting room. It’s not about sucking up, it’s about doing things right.

“Look after the (soft toy mascot) Lion BIL, don’t leave the Lion.

“When you get on the pitch, just tear it up. If there’s a gap or you get a chance in a contact drill to smash Jac Morgan or Tom Curry, then smash him. Because they will smash you.

“That’s one of the key things. Fight for your place, because everyone wants it.”

Lions is Willy Wonka stuff – it’s a proper golden ticket

Greenwood is part of a select group of players to have toured with the Lions to all three of the southern hemisphere’s heavyweights, following up his 1997 experience in South Africa with trips to Australia in 2001 and New Zealand in 2005.

An ankle injury in 2001 ruled him out of potential Test selection against the Wallabies, while the 2005 series saw the All Blacks comprehensively beat the Lions 3-0.

Yet, when Greenwood reflects on his Lions experience as a whole, he counts each tour as special despite their differences.

“They were all unbelievable. Clearly the winning series is the one you talk about more often, but actually, for the people who have been, it’s more than that.

“So often in life, a sportsman or woman is publicly defined by W or L: major winner or runner-up, because that’s the binary way a supporter would look at it.

“When you’re playing and you’re involved, of course that’s in the back of your mind, but it’s actually the people you get to sit on the bus with.

“It’s who you drive around New Zealand with when you get battered by McCaw and Carter, Umaga and Sivivatu. When you’re chasing shadows.

“When you’re in Australia and there’s huge frustration at getting beaten by Australia A in a s****y game where the ref pinged us off the park and we know we should have won. You have to get back on the bus and it’s how you pick each other up. How after a tough training session, you throw each other back together.

“You crack on and you try and just explore as much of the country as possible without in any way impacting your elite sporting performance by being on your feet all day. It’s a fine balance.

“The people I met on the tour in 2005 were just as nice and just as good friends as the people I went on tour with in 1997, it’s just people prefer to talk about 97 because we won.”

In terms of where becoming a Lion ranks as a sporting achievement, Greenwood’s answer illuminates the sort of fantasy-like feelings experienced by players bestowed with the honour.

“The reality is you want to be part of everything in life.

“The Lions is just one of those truly special things that I’m supremely grateful three different coaches took a chance on me and gave me the opportunity to tour the toughest places in the world to play rugby in, with some of the best players that have ever played rugby in the northern hemisphere.

“It’s Willy Wonka stuff, really. It’s a proper golden ticket.”

British & Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.