Brad Barritt has dismissed any fears of potential jet lag and weariness being a factor when he makes his British and Irish Lions debut.
England international Barritt will be part of a Lions three-quarter unit compiled from such far-flung destinations as Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and Japan against the Brumbies in Canberra.
Barritt flew to Sydney from a North American holiday, while his centre partner against the Brumbies, Billy Twelvetrees, and wing Christian Wade both left England’s Argentina tour early, and former Wales wing Shane Williams was summoned from Japan, where he now plays for Mitsubishi Dynaboars.
A combination of injuries and a need to give players sufficient recovery time prompted a call for reinforcements as the Lions build towards Saturday’s first Test match against Australia in Brisbane.
Barritt, Wade and Williams all trained for the first time yesterday but the Saracens centre said: “For all three of us, when there is something like this your body can just run on adrenalin.
“The sheer weight of what this game means to each and all of us is enough to give you motivation for a decade.
“The mind is stronger than the body, and if you want to be there and you want to go out there and do a little bit for the side and not let the team down, you can achieve that.
“When Andy Farrell (Lions assistant coach) phoned me in the States, he did indicate I would be starting (on Tuesday), so I just needed to get my head around that and be prepared. On the flight, I knew it was about getting my body-clock up to speed.”
Barritt has not played since he suffered an ankle injury during Saracens’ Heineken Cup semi-final defeat against Toulon seven weeks ago.
He added: “I always knew I needed to keep fit just on the off-chance that something did happen.
“Credit to the guys at Saracens, they stayed with me all the way up to June 5 and helped me do my rugby rehabilitation and got everything right.
“It has only been the last two weeks that I’ve been on vacation, and I’ve tried to do a few little things when I could.”
Now he is with the Lions, Barritt is determined to do everything he can to not only help preserve their 100% tour record, but also provide a further filip ahead of next weekend’s opening Test.
“The guys have performed fantastically, and it is up to us to carry the baton on Tuesday,” he said.
“It is a huge motivation for us to keep that winning momentum going, and if there is a good victory tomorrow it further adds to the confidence of the whole squad.
“The guys involved tomorrow have just got to focus on that game and think of nothing else.
”I think as rugby players you live in a seven-day world. What happens last week is irrelevant to this week, and what happens next week is all dependent on this week.”
And that work ethic is shared by Williams and Wade who, only a few days ago, could never have seriously expected to play in the same team during their careers.
“I would like to think that I am physical, perhaps not 17 or 18 stone, but I can hold my own out there, and I certainly know that Christian can. Maybe we will bring a little bit of diversity to the team,” Williams said.
“All the wingers so far have played extremely well. Unfortunately, there are a few niggles and injuries out there, and it is maybe a chance for someone like Christian to get in there, show his stuff and who knows what is going to happen on Saturday?
“He could score six tries tomorrow and be starting (on Saturday).
Wade, who at 22 is 14 years younger than Williams, has arrived in Australia with two major awards Rugby Players’ Association players’ player and young player of the year and a first England cap in his locker.
“It has been a crazy couple of months for me, with the awards to my Test debut and now being out here,” he said.
“As a rugby player you have got to have a sense of self-belief at all times.
“We’ve had the one training session today to go over what we need to know for the game, but ultimately when we are out there, there are going to be situations when you are just playing off the cuff anyway, so you need to have that self-belief and just go with it.”
And Williams, a Lions tourist in 2005 (New Zealand) and 2009 (South Africa), has been impressed with what he has seen so far.
He added: “2009 was the one that got away. We had a great tour, everyone enjoyed each other’s company and we worked hard, and we believed we should have won that series,” he said.
“Just running alongside the players today, there is almost like an arrogance running off them of where they believe that they can win this series. That’s great to have.
“Sometimes, these tours are won mentally rather than physically, and they are in a strong mental place at the moment, which is great to see.”