British & Irish Lions coach Sir Ian McGeechan was also in charge of Northampton Saints ahead of the 1997 Tour to South Africa.

But Matt Dawson insists the legendary motivator refused to give anything away in the lead up to the squad announcement.

McGeechan selected Dawson, Gregor Townsend, Paul Grayson and Nick Beal from his Saints squad, but they were made to wait to hear the news.

In fact, the quartet were out on the Northampton training ground when McGeechan made his full squad announcement, and it meant Dawson had to keep a rather unusual promise.

“It was an ongoing joke with Geech, us trying to get him to tell us whether we would be going, and he did not flinch,” Dawson explained.

“I was sitting around a table with Grayson, Townsend and Geech having a bite to eat and giving him a grilling, asking for a pointer, and he didn’t budge – it was extremely frustrating.

“I knew I may be in the running as I had good form, but I was injured for the Five Nations Championship. I knew I was going to be watched by the Lions coach every week though so I had an opportunity.

“Allan Clarke said to me I would be in, but I said no chance and that I would shave my head if I got it. And of course I had to keep that promise when I was selected. It's a massive moment in my rugby career.

“It was incredibly exciting, everyone on the street was talking about it, it was the first professional tour. Everyone was giving you congratulations, it was a massive deal at the time.”

Dawson was picked as the third-choice scrum-half, behind Rob Howley and Austin Healey, but – in keeping with the unpredictable vibe of the entire Tour – he made the No.9 jersey his own in a series that turned Lions into legends.

He went on two more Tours, to Australia in 2001 and New Zealand in 2005, while he was also part of the England World Cup-winning team of 2003. But 1997 will always hold a special place in his heart.

“When your name is called out, when you receive a letter, when the coach tells you on the sidelines of the pitch that you're going on a Lions Tour, in rugby terms you've made it,” he said.

“There is nowhere to go, and in very, very few walks of our lives do we ever get to somewhere where there is nowhere left to go."

Now a rugby pundit and TV personality, he is one of the most recognisable faces in British sport. And he can chart it all back to the year he first lived a dream.

“I think the uniqueness of the Lions and the uniqueness of the concept of bringing four nations together to go and take on the best in the world, from a very early age you are aware that the Lions are aspirational,” he said.

“But it seems too ridiculously far away, to think you could be one of the elite players in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. It is the pinnacle. “