“Alex Cuthbert! What better feeling could there be for this young man? Once again bold and powerful and for Lions supporters, beautiful too.”

timeless words sky sports Commentator Miles Harrison The last time the British and Irish Lions toured Australia was in 2013, when fresh-faced Cuthbert, 23, made his debut A sensational performance in Tests resulted in a decisive score in a crucial 23 games. 21 wins.

The Lions have been an invitational team at the pinnacle of rugby league since 1888, and in 137 years of touring the best teams in the southern hemisphere, only 124 have made the grade in a Test match in New Zealand, South Africa or Australia.

Of these, 42 are from Wales, while 35 players from Great Britain and Ireland have played Lions Tests in Australia. Only 18 Welshmen have scored against the Wallabies for the Lions in human history. Cuthbert is a member of an extremely exclusive club.

Yet just two years before he accomplished something few in the sport could do, Cuthbert was playing for Cardiff Metropolitan University. He did not make his professional debut at any level until September 2011 in Cardiff, 21 months before the start of the 2013 Lions Test season. He said he watched the Lions last tour against South Africa at the 2009 Rugby Sevens Championship in Bath. The team is called marauders There were almost no onlookers in front of me.

Following a meteoric rise, Cuthbert’s performance has been astonishing. “It’s crazy,” he said. sky sports The Lions will return to Australia this year.

“I played my first Wales Sevens aged 19 and signed with Cardiff’s academy and the following year, when I was 21, I was called up to the senior team. Two months later I was first Played the Test for the last time against Australia in Sean Williams.

“In 2012 we won the Grand Slam and I scored against France. The next year we won the Championship and I scored twice against England and then I played for the Lions and won It’s been a series of games.

“I never really stopped to think about what I was doing. It was just, ‘I guess this is what you do, isn’t it? If I keep doing what I’m doing, this is going to continue. ‘ That’s probably why I To end up performing so well, I didn’t think too much and I was free in the game.

“It allowed me to achieve something so quickly. Looking back now, it’s unbelievable.

“I don’t know how many times this happens to people, but it was an amazing experience. I have no regrets. I’ve achieved a lot in my rugby career and the Lions will probably always be the best.” Top. “

“There’s nothing more emotional than being on a Lions tour.”

Cuthbert emerged as an athletic, fast winger. At 6ft 5in he was a physical specimen at the back, with defenders struggling to contain his direct runs and hungry for tries.

His path into football was also unconventional. Cuthbert, the eldest of two boys, admitted that although his father played rugby, he himself did not take the sport seriously until his late teens. Instead, he has a background in track and field, in addition to horseback riding, football and triathlon. Football is a close second.

But by March 2013, Cuthbert was making his 18th appearance for Wales and had two dramatic second-half tries as Wales needed to beat Grand Slam-chasing England by more than seven points in Cardiff. Win the Six Nations Championship. title.

Wales secured a stunning 30-3 win, with Cuthbert revealing he suffered the best performance of his life when he suffered a grade two tear in his hamstring in the 30th minute, an injury serious enough to keep him out. Lions tour in three months.

Warren Gatland was Cuthbert’s Test debutant when he first took charge of the Lions in 2013, but even then, when he heard Cuthbert was joining Cardiff, The team still feels a rush of excitement – guys.

“I was the first one out because it was in alphabetical order. I couldn’t believe it.

“I immediately thought about how it all happened so quickly. It all happened within two years of playing professional football.

“This is the pinnacle moment of my career. In the team room, my name was announced, and I don’t think you can get that emotional. This is the pinnacle. It has to be.

“I remember going to the parking lot and calling my dad and I totally forgot he was watching on TV too. He was waiting for me to call him. It was just one of those really emotional phone calls.

“If someone asked me, ‘Which game got you on the tour?’, I would have to say the England game. I don’t know how I did it, my hamstring was hanging off. I was lucky not to tear it completely Crack it and quit touring.

“When everything calmed down the next day, my hammy was screaming. It was just pure adrenaline and the atmosphere got me through it. It was the best atmosphere I’ve ever experienced.”

“I’m riding the wave and not scared at all – the support from the Lions has been crazy”

On the tour, Cuthbert competed with compatriot George North, Ireland’s Tommy Bowe and Simon Zerbo and Scotland’s Sean Maitland for the two starting spots in the first Test.

Cuthbert’s chances doubled when Bowe suffered a broken hand after the third game of the tour, but he remained unconvinced.

“Tommy’s injury probably gave me more hope, but I’m not sure. When Gatland made the announcement it was trying to get a hold of my emotions.

“I was really looking forward to it, not nervous or anything. It was more of a shock to see my name on the screen.

“Being in the press all week, you realize how big the Lions are. Everywhere we looked, it was a sea of ​​red. Game day was crazy, there were a lot of fans cheering for us and getting us on the bus, Getting into the stadium. It was awesome.

“You look around at the people you’re with and you know this is the pinnacle. Alun Wyn Jones, Paul O’Connell, Brian O’Driscoll, Johnny Sexton. All of them The top players and I were thinking, ‘Two years ago I was a college player.’

“I’m not scared at all. I’m still young and new to international rugby and I’m just riding the wave. I’m very confident, not arrogant, but confident in myself. I’m willing to do anything.”

Cuthbert’s eternal Lions moment came eight minutes into the second half of the Brisbane Test match at Suncorp Stadium.

After circling down the right wing, he received a pass from Sexton on the run and accelerated past Michael Hooper before leaving James O’Connor, Kurtley Beale and Will Guinness behind him. behind, as each defender can only catch briefly. The Welshman was quickly surrounded by his Lions teammates.

“I see this attempted everywhere,” Cuthbert said. “YouTube, Instagram, I get it, I get tagged maybe once a week! It’s always with me.

“It was perfect timing, a great pass from Sexton and I went right through. It was one of those ones where I knew if I passed the first one, I was going in. I didn’t look anywhere else.

“Everything is like in slow motion and then it all hits you: the atmosphere, knowing the importance of trying, it’s a certain feeling. Probably my favorite.”

‘I left the tour feeling aggrieved – the Lions’ Test selection was ruthless’

From that high point, Bowe’s miraculous recovery – with surgeons and physios working overtime to come back from a six to eight-week injury in just three weeks – saw Gatland showcase the Lions The brutal nature of team selection.

His ecstatic try-scorer was benched and did not feature as the Lions lost the second Test by a point. For the third Test decider, Cuthbert was left out entirely – something that would have been almost impossible to foresee just two weeks ago.

“I came back from that tour and regretted not playing in the later Tests. Warren took on the experience of Tommy Bowe.

“I look back on it now and it was probably a very obvious decision at the time, but I felt like I was playing the best rugby I’d ever played, both in terms of my finishing, the way I hit the ball and the number of tries I was scoring.

“I felt aggrieved and spoke to Warren about it. It’s something people don’t realize: it’s all well and good to be selected for the squad, it’s fantastic, but it comes down to Test 23.

“You go there thinking you’re the best, but on paper you’re only the best in Wales. It’s fierce competition.

“I had the opportunity to play the first Test and felt I had done enough. It was relentless.

“It’s funny because I live with Tommy and I was excited after the first Test. Obviously I had a good chance to start again in the second Test. Tommy ended up doing an actual training session on Monday and I Immediately I knew, “I might be in trouble. “

“I learned a lot from Tommy, he’s a real good lad and it all worked out. We went there to win and I wasn’t selfish like that. That’s what we all wanted and we achieved it in the end ”

“I’m happy that I was part of a game that will be remembered and scored the winning goal, which is probably one of the most important memories.”

What advice does he have for the Lions in 2025? Put it all in.

“Sometimes you can get caught up in the game of professional rugby and you’re just so focused that you don’t see the bigger picture. You don’t really enjoy it.

“I would say to the players, ‘Really believe in the Lions experience.’ I did that and had the best two months of my life.

“It really means everything to me. My goal is to announce myself on that stage. To be a part of a winning series, it’s something I’ll always remember.”