‘It’s like Outlander’ – Schoeman dismisses Lions eligibility jibes

Outlander, the writer and artist Kahlil Gibran, and Perth’s mining heritage are not frequently mentioned in the same media conference.

However, Pierre Schoeman, a Scottish prop, is not typical interviewee.

The South African-born forward appears to be one of the more philosophical members of the summer tour of Australia with the British and Irish Lions.

And the 31-year-old, who is one of eight players in Andy Farrell’s party from outside the United Kingdom and Ireland, has thrown out doubts about their eligibility to play in the squad.

Schoeman, who has 42 Scotland caps after residency, said, “If you’re good enough to play for your country and then you’re good enough to play for the Lions, and you’re selected, obviously you’re going to do that.”

“We, my wife, myself, and other players call Scotland home. You fully accept that and accept it.

It resembles Outlander, they say. You relocate to another country, and your new home is now there. There you are. You fully understand the culture and now, as the British and Irish Lions, you fully understand and accept that.

Nothing else, not even your past, or future, is important; it’s all about the here and now.

In one of his books, Kahlil Gibran effectively states, “Today is gone forever, tomorrow might never come, and now is the time to live.”

The Lions’ second warm-up game on Saturday will take place in Perth, making its own connection to Scotland.

We now know everything about Perth because it was significant for gold mining, Schoeman continued.

“We adore Perth. Perth is actually a Scottish town called Perth. We are familiar with some interesting statistics. The city is the world’s most remote.

We admire the Western Force because we are aware that they will raise standards. Most of those blokes only get to experience it once in a lifetime.

They “want to demonstrate that they are good enough to compete with the British and Irish Lions,” so we must go further and demonstrate our loyalty to them.

It will be a spectacular spectacle. It will be enjoyable.

Schoeman was featured in the Lions’ final 21 minutes of Friday’s 28-24 defeat to Argentina in Dublin.

The focus now shifts to Australian tour games, and Schoeman is forgetting the first Test on July 19 with allusions to Gibran’s philosophy.

He said, “It’s not focusing on what’s going to happen; it’s already here.”

You have a huge obligation, a responsibility because you have to feel the responsibility of, say, 50, 000 fans or more visiting Australia.