Wednesday 5 July 2017 08:29, UK
Jamie George's family were in tears at the British and Irish Lions' stunning support in Saturday's second Test win over New Zealand.
The Saracens hooker bid an emotional farewell to his parents, who have returned to England and will miss Saturday's Test series decider with the All Blacks in Auckland, live on Sky Sports 1.
George admitted he's "never seen anything like it" in summing up the Lions' throng that turned Wellington's Westpac Stadium into a home match for the tourists, who edged to victory 24-21.
And the 26-year-old expects the Lions' huge travelling support to take over Eden Park this weekend as the tourists bid to record only their second series win in New Zealand.
"The way the Lions fans were on Saturday, that's something I'll never forget for the rest of my life," George said.
"I had a lot of family in the stadium and they were all in floods of tears before the game, just based on the atmosphere.
"I've never seen anything like it," he added. "I can fully imagine it's going to be very similar and maybe bigger this week."
Despite having 17 England caps, George is yet to start a Test for his country.
But he has been in the starting XV for the Lions in both Tests on this tour under head coach Warren Gatland.
The front-rower has now forced his way to the front of the Lions' queue, but admitted he had to stretch himself to get there.
"As soon as I got on the plane the messages from Gats (Warren Gatland) were that he was going to pick the best players to beat the All Blacks," George said.
"The one thing I needed to do was to be confident enough to show my leadership, especially in and around scrum time, and I've sort of built into that the more the tour's gone on."
The Lions' only series win was back in 1971. So, when asked if he understands that the 2017 squad's names could live forever with a victory on Saturday, George replied: "Well, we're fully aware of what's at stake. But we can't get carried away with the emotional side of the game.
"We've got to make sure physically we're on it, mentally we're on it and that we go into our game with clear heads and really attack it, because sometimes you can get overawed by the whole occasion.
"Thinking about making history and all that, I don't think we can think about it. We'll just go play by play, minute by minute."
