“Alex Cuthbert! Can there be a better feeling than that for a youngster? Brave and mighty again, and for Lions supporters, beautiful too.”
Enduring words of Sky Sports commentator Miles Harrison the last time the British and Irish Lions toured Australia was in 2013, when a fresh-faced 23-year-old Cuthbert powered and slalomed through a stunning try in the opening Test – the decisive result in a vital 23-21 win.
The Lions have existed as an invitational team at the pinnacle of rugby union since 1888, and in 137 years of touring against the southern hemisphere's best, only 124 have scored a Test try in New Zealand, South Africa or Australia.
Of those, 42 were Welsh, while 35 players from Great Britain and Ireland scored Lions Test tries in Australia. In human history, only 18 Welshmen have scored for the Lions against the Wallabies. Cuthbert is part of a very exclusive club.
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Watch Cuthbert's unforgettable moment with the Lions as he burst through Australia's defense for the crucial first Test in 2013.
Yet just two years before he achieved what so few do in his sport, Cuthbert was playing for Cardiff Met University's secondaries. He didn't make his professional debut at any level until September 2011 for Cardiff – 21 months before the 2013 Lions Test opener – and says he watched the previous Lions tour against South Africa in 2009 in the sevens tournament in Bath, playing for the team called Marauders in front with almost no onlookers.
As meteoric rises go, Cuthbert's was phenomenal. “It was pretty crazy,” he says Sky Sports year when the Lions will return to Australia.
“I was 19 when I first played for Wales Sevens, I signed for the academy in Cardiff and in my second year, when I was 21, I was called up to the senior team. Two months later I played against Australia in my first Test in the last Shane Williams.
A year after failing to make the Cardiff Met University first team, Cuthbert was a Grand Slam champion, scoring the decisive try against France
“We won the Grand Slam in 2012, I scored the winning try against France. The next year we won the championship, I scored two tries against England, then I played for the Lions and won the series. It was crazy.
“I never stood still to think about what I was doing. It was just, 'I guess that's what you do, right? If I keep doing what I'm doing, this will continue. ' That's probably why I did so well, I didn't think too much, I was free in the games.
“That got me to the point of achieving it so quickly. When I think about it now, it's amazing.
“I don't know how many times it happens to people, but it was an amazing experience. I have no regrets. I've achieved an awful lot in my rugby career and the Lions will probably always be top.”
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We take a look at some of the best moments from the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia
'Nothing as emotionally high as the feeling of doing the Lions tour'
Cuthbert exploded onto the scene as an athletic, powerful winger with deceptive pace. At 6'5″, he was a huge physical specimen in the backline and defenses struggled to contain his direct running and craved tries.
His path to rugby was also unconventional. The eldest of two boys, Cuthbert admits that although his father played rugby, he himself did not take the sport seriously until his late teens. Instead, he had an athletic education, in addition to horse riding, football and triathlon. Rugby came later.
But by March 2013, the zenith of Cuthbert's Wales days did not arrive until his 18th game, scoring two dramatic second-half tries on a day when Wales needed to beat Grand Slam-chasing England in Cardiff by more than seven points to steals the Six Nations title.
Wales cruised to a remarkable 30-3 victory and Cuthbert reveals he gave the performance of his life with a 30th-minute grade two hamstring tear – an injury severe enough to keep him out until the Lions tour three months later.
Cuthbert's two-try haul in Wales' 30-3 win over England in 2013 to win the Six Nations title came despite suffering a serious hamstring injury earlier in the game.
Warren Gatland, the man who gave Cuthbert his Test debut, was in charge of the Lions for the first time in 2013, but even then, the winger was overcome with emotion when he heard he was being included in his Cardiff team-mates.
“I was one of the first names because it went in alphabetical order. I just couldn't believe it.
“I immediately thought how everything happened so quickly. All within two years of playing professional rugby.
“It was the highest moment of my career. Being in the team room and having my name announced, I don't think you get anything as emotional as that. It's the highlight. It has to be.
“I remember going out to the parking lot to call my dad and completely forgetting that he was watching on TV too. He was waiting for me to get back to him. It was just one of those real emotional calls.
Cuthbert became British and Irish Lion number 777 and says he “couldn't believe it” when it was announced
“If someone asked me 'what game got you on the tour?', I'd have to say the England game. I don't know how I did it, my hamstring was hanging out. I was lucky I didn't tear it completely and be out of the tour.
“When everything calmed down the next day, my hammy was screaming. It was just pure adrenaline and the atmosphere got me out. It's the best atmosphere I've ever been in.”
Despite the injury, Cuthbert showed his finishing strength and pace to deny England a Grand Slam – a performance he believes got him on the Lions plane
'I rode the wave and I wasn't scared at all – the Lions support was wild'
Traveling on tour, Cuthbert competed with compatriot George North, Ireland's Tommy Bowe and Simon Zebo and Scotland's Sean Maitland for two starting spots in the first Test.
When Bowe broke his arm after the third game of the tour, Cuthbert's chances increased exponentially, but he was still far from convinced.
“Maybe having Tommy injured gave me more hope, but I wasn't sure. When Gatland announced that, he was trying to keep my emotions in check.
“I was really looking forward to it, I wasn't nervous or anything like that. It was more of a shock to see my name appear on the screen.
“All week doing press, you realize how big the Lions are. Everywhere we went, it was a sea of red. The day of the game was crazy, the amount of fans cheering us on to get on the bus, into the stadium. It was wild.
“You look around who you're with and you know this is the pinnacle. Alun Wyn Jones, Paul O'Connell, Brian O'Driscoll, Johnny Sexton. All these top players and I was thinking, 'two years ago I was a university player.'
“I wasn't scared at all. I was so young and new to international rugby, I was just riding the wave. I was so confident, not arrogant but sure of myself. I would do anything.”
Eight minutes into the second half of the Brisbane Test at Suncorp Stadium, Cuthbert's eternal Lions moment arrived.
After getting around from his right wing, he collected a pass from Sexton on the run to speed past Michael Hooper, then left James O'Connor, Kurtley Beale and Will Geni in his wake as each defender managed only a passing grab. The Welshman was soon surrounded by his Lions teammates.
“I see it being tried everywhere,” says Cuthbert. “YouTube, Instagram, they send it to me, I'm tagged on it probably once a week! I'm stuck forever.
“It was perfect timing, a great pass from Sexton and I was straight. It was one of those where I knew if I got past the first one, I was in. I didn't look anywhere else.”
“It was like slow motion and then it all just hits you: the atmosphere, knowing the importance of trying, it was a feeling. Probably my favorite.”
'I left the tour feeling insulted – Lions Test selections are ruthless'
From that ultimate high, Bowe's miraculous recovery – working overtime with a surgeon and physio to return from a six-to-eight week injury in just three weeks – saw Gatland demonstrate the ruthless nature of the Lions selection.
His overjoyed goalscorer was on the bench and failed to get in as the Lions lost the second Test by a single point. For the decisive third Test, Cuthbert was left out entirely – something almost impossible to predict two weeks ago.
“I came back from that tour exhausted that I wasn't involved in the later tests. Warren left with Tommy Bowe's experience.
Irish winger Tommy Bowe suffered a potentially broken hand at the end of the tour earlier in the tour but miraculously returned three weeks later
“Looking back now, it was probably a pretty obvious decision at the time, but I felt like I was playing the best rugby I've ever played in terms of my finishing and the way I hit the ball and the tries I played. .
“I felt aggrieved and I spoke to Warren about it. That's the thing that people don't realize: it's all well and good to be picked for the team, which is incredible, but he's going into the Test on 23.
“You go there thinking you're the best but, in theory, you're only the best in Wales. The competition is fierce.
“I had the chance for that first test and I felt like I did enough. It's relentless.
Cuthbert was dropped to the bench and failed to take the field for the second Test defeat, while he was left out altogether for the decisive third Test
“It was funny because I was in the room with Tommy and after the first test I was buzzing. Obviously I have a good chance to start again in the second. Tommy actually trained on Monday and I knew straight away, 'I'm in trouble he could be for me here'.
“I learned a lot from Tommy and he was a really good guy about it and it worked. We were there to win and I'm not that selfish. That's what we all wanted and in the end we achieved it.
“I was delighted to be part of a game to remember and to score the winning try, that's probably one of the most important memories.”
His advice for the Lions in 2025? Accept everything.
“Sometimes you can get caught in professional rugby where you're just focused and you don't see the bigger picture. You don't really enjoy it.
“I would say to the players, 'I'm really buying into the Lions experience'. I did and I've had the best two months of my life.
“For me, that's really everything. My goal was to announce myself on that stage. To be part of a winning streak, that's something I'll always remember.”
