Ahead of the Lions Tour, Rugby World is bringing fans some of the best articles from their archive.
This piece, from 2013, features Eric Miller opening up on the 1997 Tour of South Africa
On 30 April, I reflected on the fact that I'd been retired for seven years. It's been a while since the juices have flowed but I was salivating once again when the 37 Lions players were announced.
At the age of 21, I was picked in the 1997 squad. I was naïve to say the least; I was a kid with tunnel-visioned hunger to just play the game.
The pureness of my attitude immunised me from the circus that surrounds these tours. On the negative side of being so young, rarely did I reflect on how privileged I was to be selected for a Lions tour, let alone a winning one.
I knew I'd been playing well that year, and one great thing after another was happening on the pitch. I was a regular in the Leicester first team and had earned my first handful of caps for Ireland.
Outsiders cannot sense the extent of the trials and tribulations that are part and parcel of any Lions tour. I had my share of bad luck, but I was certainly not the most unfortunate player ever to be selected.
My first match on tour was against Boland. I had a good game but a couple of days after the match I felt some moving parts in my cheekbone. I wasn't overly worried but once I received the results of the scan I was told my tour was over.
My heart missed a few beats as James Robson insisted we seek another opinion, and hours later I returned to the hotel with the thumbs up. Apparently the minor break was well away from the eye socket and would cause me no further risk.
The week of the first Test was also to have its share of ups and downs. I went to bed on the Tuesday evening in a bad way. Other players had suffered from flu, but my timing couldn't have been worse.
We were told about selection via a letter under our bedroom door and it was Wednesday morning when I found out I'd been picked for the first Test. I remained in bed all day and by the evening I'd been ruled out.
Considering the enormity of the game, Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer weren't going to take any risks. That day, I was also informed that a childhood friend had taken his own life.
The memories of those events remain with me to this day. I didn't find out until after the tour that there had been an overblown story about the codeine tablets my father had given me while I was sick.
I took them to be a variation of paracetamol, but I think codeine was a banned substance at the time.
I was in bed for five days, and I knew that it would be out of my system in half that time. Overall, it was a storm in a teacup.
Winning the first Test was massive and we then believed we could take on anybody. We played Orange Free State on the Tuesday before the second Test and some of the best rugby on tour was played that evening. It was probably the best rugby game I've ever been involved with.
I played in that second Test and I feel blessed to be a part of one of the best rugby tours of recent years, and the bonds I formed with some of the players are lifelong. The chemistry harnessed from day one helped it all come together and ultimately brought the best from a group who dared to win against all the odds.
