Representing the Lions on tours of the Southern Hemisphere is a honour Gareth Edwards has cherished all of his life.
The legendary Welsh scrum-half is eagerly looking forward to travelling with the class of 2009 to South Africa next summer in his role as ambassador for the tour sponsors HSBC.
Edwards, who featured in a triumphant 1971 team in New Zealand and then took part in an unbeaten tour of South Africa three years later, stressed the importance of the role of the captain.
Edwards was in awe of Willie John McBride, the Lions captain on the second of those tours and a teammate on the first one.
It will be hard for Ian McGeechan, the coach of next year's tourists to find such a commanding figure as that uncompromising Irish forward, but he believes the man who gets the nod will rise to the occasion.
Three candidates stand out in the opinion of the experienced Edwards, who was capped on 53 occasions for Wales. His fellow Welshman Ryan Jones would have been a shoe-in for the role if the tour had taken place this year in the aftermath of a Wales grand slam in the Six Nations competition. A year on, Jones, in Edwards' opinion, faces his strongest competition from the Irish duo of Brian O'Driscoll, who endured a torrid injury-hit time when captaining the Lions in New Zealand in 2005, and the powerful lock forward Paul O'Connell.
There appears to be no realistic challenger from the Scottish ranks while Edwards feels the claims of England's Phil Vickery and Steve Borthwick have diminished during the turbulent period of transition under new coach Martin Johnson.
"Ryan Jones was ticking all the boxes at the end of last season after the Welsh grand slam but you have to remember that team was nearly dead and buried at half time against England at Twickenham. So fortunes can change dramatically at this level," he said.
"He would be the first to say that he has not played as well as he did last year in the first few months of the season. But he showed glimpses of it against New Zealand [on Nov 22] so he could be back on the case.
"Brian O'Driscoll is also back in contention. He is looking more of a threat now. Last year he wasn't quite there but he was only being measured against what we have come to expect from him. He has got the experience of being a Lion before, twice over, He would have been very disappointed with what happened to him in New Zealand. Will that be a motivating factor? I don't know.
"Then there is his Irish colleague Paul O'Donnell. He is also in with a good chance in my view. I think it is down to those three though."
Edwards feels the role of Lions captain is more important than the national team captaincy because the man in charge has to embrace the different cultures of the four nations in a short space of time.
"There are seven fixtures before the first Test match and the captain has to stamp his authority on the squad in that time," he said.
McBride had no problems asserting himself as a leader.
"When he talked, you listened, it was as simple as that. His presence motivated the team. He was a big man who took the fight to the opposition. He took no nonsense. He was a peacemaker if needed but he could also look after himself."
That begged the question about McBride's infamous call of "99" in South Africa in 1974 - a coded signal for the Lions to pile into their opposite numbers at the first hint of trouble on the field.
It was described at the time as "getting our retaliation in first" against the physical Springboks.
"That was a myth," said a grinning Edwards when pressed about the 99 call.
wjohnson@thenational.ae
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
SPECS
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Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
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START-UPS IN BATCH 4 OF SANABIL 500'S ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME
Saudi Arabia
Joy: Delivers car services with affordable prices
Karaz: Helps diabetics with gamification, IoT and real-time data
Medicarri: Medical marketplace that connects clinics with suppliers
Mod5r: Makes automated and recurring investments to grow wealth
Stuck: Live, on-demand language support to boost writing
Walzay: Helps in recruitment while reducing hiring time
UAE
Eighty6: Marketplace for restaurant and supplier procurements
FarmUnboxed: Helps digitise international food supply chain
NutriCal: Helps F&B businesses and governments with nutritional analysis
Wellxai: Provides insurance that enables and rewards user habits
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Amwal: A Shariah-compliant crowd-lending platform
Deben: Helps CFOs manage cash efficiently
Egab: Connects media outlets to journalists in hard-to-reach areas for exclusives
Neqabty: Digitises financial and medical services of labour unions
Oman
Monak: Provides financial inclusion and life services to migrants
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
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Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.5L/100km
On sale: Now
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The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
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Company: Idealz
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The specs
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