Eurosport rugby expert Neil Back would jump at the chance to be part of Ian McGeechan's coaching set-up for the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

It has been a busy few days for rugby at various levels this week with Ian McGeechan's appointment as Lions head coach, Martin Johnson's first squad as England team-manager and Leicester's final-minute win to secure a Guinness Premiership play-off spot.

I'll start with the Lions first. I support Geech's appointment 100 per cent. He is without doubt the right man to lead the tour, having been a Lion as a player and a coach, on both successful and unsuccessful tours.

Geech knows what it means to be a Lion and knows how to get a group of players together so that every one of them feels an important part of the tour.

That is how he made me feel in 1997 in South Africa. I started down the pecking order for the openside jersey but Geech always made me feel a vital part of the tour. Knowing this helped me to claim a place in the second and third Tests.

Geech is a tremendous coach and I can think of no better place for me to develop my coaching credentials than on that tour. I would love to be part of his team.

Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards will probably be his first coaching picks, and it would be fantastic to work alongside those two as well. There are few better at inspiring a team and, again, who better for me to learn that art from?

I think Geech will have two coaching teams, one to look after the Test team and the other for the midweek side. But while there may be two coaching teams on the tour, Geech will make sure that there is only one message.

Some people have criticised the 2005 tour for having two sets of coaches, but I think this was absolutely the right thing to do. You need them because the teams have to prepare at different cycles.

The fundamental error in 2005 was that the new combinations did not get a run out ahead of the first Test. It's a bit like picking a scratch Barbarians side and expecting them to be organised enough to beat one of the world's top-six teams.

It is also vital that the Saturday and midweek sides fully support each other. The players will know before they go to South Africa who are the favourites to make the Test side. That's not a problem because every player has similar experiences at their clubs.

What is crucial is that every player believes he has a chance of making the senior side - this is something I know Geech will focus on.

We'll have plenty of time to discuss the Lions over the coming year, but having Geech at the helm has given the 2009 generation the best possible start.

I also think Martin Johnson has made a good start to his England managerial career. I like the look of his squad for New Zealand and I cannot think of any selection I disagree with.

Leicester duo Danny Hipkiss and Tom Varndell are a little unlucky to miss the cut, but I think they have suffered from the Tigers' inconsistency this season. I've no doubt they'll get back into reckoning. In the meantime, playing in the Churchill Cup for the Saxons will do them good.

Obviously there are a few people missing due to injury, but I think they can still give New Zealand a run for their money. The All Blacks have lost a number of senior players to foreign shores since the last World Cup and, like England, have a number of inexperienced guys challenging for the jerseys.

The battle between Michael Lipman and Tom Rees for the England openside spot will be fascinating, while Danny Care, Danny Cipriani and Olly Barkley have the makings of a very exciting 9, 10, 12 axis.

I'm also looking forward to how Dylan Hartley develops. He has the potential to play at the highest level but he will need to look at his discipline. The kicking at international rugby is so good and will punish any indiscipline.

It is crucial now for Jonno to bring some consistency to England, from a playing and coaching perspective. England used something like 100 players between the last two World Cups and too many coaches came and went.

I think we can look forward to a settled period for England and the squad can look forward to the tour with real confidence. We all know the Kiwis do not cope with pressure all that well. This could be a start of better things for England.

I hope that is also the case with Leicester when they face Gloucester in the Premiership play-offs.

As I've said before in this blog, it has been a difficult season for the Tigers, what with the World Cup, our new coaching team and our injury list.

But we are in the play-offs and our victory over London Irish last weekend proved the character we have in our squad.

We were the last team to beat Gloucester in the league back in February but I'm not sue that will be playing on their minds. Nor I think our victory in last year's final - that's history now.

They have players like Ryan Lamb and Anthony Allen who have matured greatly this season so we are expecting a very tough challenge. They are the form team in England.

At Leicester, we all know that we have been inconsistent this season but the players and coaches are all pulling together. We know that if we play to the best of our ability then we can beat any team on our day.

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