Max Duthie, a partner in Bird & Bird’s sports group, is the legal officer to the British and Irish Lions, travelling with the tour party on its historic tour to Hong Kong and Australia for six weeks. He is writing a tour diary, exclusively for Legal Week. This is his second warts-and-all instalment.
The Lions’ first match on tour was against the Barbarians in Hong Kong. I got to the Hong Kong Stadium a couple of hours before kick-off to meet with the citing commissioner and judicial officer appointed by the International Rugby Board (IRB) to adjudicate on the match. The Lions’ bagman, who is a lovely Irish guy called Rala, had arrived a full eight hours before kick-off in order to get the dressing room ready: now that is proper dedication (pictured below: Rala’s pristine Lions’ dressing room hours before kick off in Hong Kong).
