So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu,

Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu...

Well, adieu anyway to Philip John Vickery OBE, who today announced that yet another neck injury has forced his retirement from the game.

A quick glance at his CV makes for impressive reading:

• 73 England caps;
• 5 x British Lion;
• World Cup Winner;
• England captain;
• oriental tattoo which translates as 'I'll fight you to the death';
• his own "Raging Bull" clothing range; and (last but not least)
• a qualified cattle inseminator.

Not bad for the son of a Cornish dairy farmer. He's apparently a thoroughly decent bloke too.

Good luck to you sir.

Two things...

1. You have to feel a little sorry for Phil Vickery; and


2. The Springboks won the mind-games battle hands down.

There they were before the 1st Test, complaining about the so-called illegal scrummaging technique of the Lions whilst behind the scenes they were beavering away at their very own highly illegal scrummaging tactics themselves. Fair play to them - they got away with it 100% and the unfortunate victim of the elaborate scam was Mr Vickery, the most experienced forward on the pitch.

And so, to all intents and purposes, the Raging Bull was dismantled by the Beast. Ironic really, as it was the South African tighthead, John Smit, who was supposed to be the vulnerable one.

The Raging Bull has now been reduced to the role of Mild-Mannered Heffer and must seriously be considering his international future.

And for the Lions the learning curve just became that much steeper.