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McGeechan favourite to lead Lions

Friday 02nd May 2008

McGeechan: Hot favourite for Lions job

The identity of the coach for next year's British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa will be revealed on May 14.

Wasps boss Ian McGeechan is the hot favourite to land the coveted role.

The announcement is to be made at a central London hotel, when the coach will be joined by 2009 Lions tour manager Gerald Davies, Lions chairman Andy Irvine and chief executive John Feehan.

The Lions have ten matches scheduled in South Africa, including Tests against the Springboks in Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg between June 20 and July 4.

Other fixtures include appointments with the Emerging Springboks, Western Province and the Sharks.

The tour opens on May 30 against a Highveld XV in Rustenburg.

If, as expected, 61-year-old McGeechan lands the job, it will be his fifth Lions tour as a coach.

He coached the Lions in Australia (1989), New Zealand (1993) and South Africa (1997), winning two of those three Test series.

McGeechan also took charge of the Lions midweek side on the 2005 trip to New Zealand under Sir Clive Woodward.

As a player, McGeechan was a Lions tourist in 1974 and 1977. He also played 32 times for Scotland, captaining them nine times, and coached them to a Five Nations Grand Slam in 1990.

If McGeechan's appointment is confirmed, his possible assistants in South Africa could include current Wasps coach Shaun Edwards and Cardiff Blues chief Dai Young.

Edwards aided Warren Gatland in plotting Wales's Six Nations title success and Grand Slam this season, while former Lions prop Young would head to South Africa as forwards specialist.