The Lions

[Rosco]

SHaun Edwards warning there will be some surprises with the selections.

This is going down to the wire. I don't want to sound corny but there are four days left before the Lions squad is announced and places are still in the air. Games this weekend, particularly the Anglo-Welsh Cup final at Twickenham tomorrow, will be a big deal for some players.

Lions selection is down to one man: Ian McGeechan. He has the final word but is obviously bouncing ideas off and taking advice from the coaches that are going to South Africa with him; and after our most recent three-hour huddle – in a hotel near Heathrow this week – it is obvious that Ian is sticking by his word: he will pick on form and not reputation. Some big players who have been there and done it before, won Six Nations or Heineken Cups, might be in for a shock next Tuesday.

And then again there will, as there always seem to be in Lions selections, those whom the pundits – and wait for them to list their favourites over the next few days – will have overlooked. Some of those currently in the reckoning may not have made their national teams in the Six Nations which ended less than a month ago. Others may have caught the eye with performances in last weekend's Heineken quarter-finals.

I'm not going to betray confidences but Ian has said that, while he has been pretty certain for some time about the core of the squad, it will be the last 10 selections that decide whether the tour is a success. So there are guys at Twickenham tomorrow like Olly Morgan of Gloucester and Tom Shanklin and Lee Halfpenny of Cardiff who can book themselves one of the 36 places on the flight south or can join the list of players on stand-by. It's wide open.

The first thing to be decided was the way in which the Lions intend to play. Having in mind that the Springboks are unlikely to be selecting anyone smaller that 6ft 5in in either the back row or the second row and that they have probably the most efficient defence in world rugby, do we try to match them size for size, do we try boshing the ball up the middle or do we try to find other ways of unpicking a path to the line?

Then there are things over which we have no control. We have two games at altitude, so how does that affect our planning and, while most of the experimental laws may be on their way out (small cheer) they will still be in use in South Africa over the summer, so how does that influence selection? There will be plenty of kicking, that's for sure, and the ball goes miles at altitude, so how heavy is the premium on picking guys who are good under the high ball and who can ping it 60 metres down field? In the Six Nations Declan Kidney, the Irish coach, proved himself an innovative thinker by selecting two full-backs and only one specialist winger in his back three. We are lucky in having plenty of guys who fit that bill but just how many do we take? It's a problem which runs through selection.

Do you take two No10s or three and run the risk of having one of them go eight weeks without enough game time? And how is the balance changed if one of those fly-halves can play at inside centre?

You need three hookers and five props because of the demands of the replacements' bench but should there be four or five locks and what about the back row, especially as there are plenty of guys around who proved during the Six Nations that they can play at six, seven or eight? And how important do we see the role of a specialist No7?

The good thing is that Cape Town is just an overnight flight from Heathrow and that there is little or no problem with time zones. It is not like those days when the Lions boarded a liner at Southampton and vanished over the horizon, out of sight if not out of mind, until the start of the following season. Guys can be replaced at 12 hours' notice and probably will be.

For now, though, I just hope that most of the 36 named on Tuesday survive the remainder of the domestic season, the play-offs, the Heineken semi-finals and final and make the flight on 24 May in one piece.

I think one of the surprises will be Keith Earls.

 

[Judge Jules]

Good call. My nomination: Alistair Strokosch as one of the back rows.

 

[Whaddapie]

I think that they should take Matt Stafford.

 

[SaintGeorge67]

Agreed

 

[Rosco]

He's too inexperienced

 

[Karl Hungus]

Which Lions are we talking about?

 

[LarryHagman]

[quote author=Karl Hungus link=topic=32866.msg847523#msg847523 date=1239998510]
Which Lions are we talking about?
[/quote]

Rugby Union (The Lions is a combined UK & Ireland team). Not the Detroit ones.

 

[Karl Hungus]

That what I figured, I didn't think Stafford would be eligible to play for them.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

Lee Halfpenny has to go.

 

[Judge Jules]

Talented, versatile player, but I'm not sure you want newbies against the Boks, or even the provincial sides out there.

 

[Rosco]

The Irish media were reporting earlier today that O'Connell flew to London to be at the press conference tomorrow.

That can only mean one thing.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

[quote author=Rosco link=topic=32866.msg849064#msg849064 date=1240259481]
The Irish media were reporting earlier today that O'Connell flew to London to be at the press conference tomorrow.

That can only mean one thing.
[/quote]

Its nailed on from what i've heard.

Great choice as skipper imo.

 

[Judge Jules]

I'd be happy enough with that choice myself, but Dean Richards made me think when he wrote recently that the set-up which works for Ireland should be duplicated for the Lions - Dricco as skipper and O'Connell as pack leader. Any views?

 

[Jürgen4PM]

[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=32866.msg849062#msg849062 date=1240259285]
Talented, versatile player, but I'm not sure you want newbies against the Boks, or even the provincial sides out there.
[/quote]

He's allready played against the tri nations teams mate, as well as in Europe and the 6 nations sides.

 

[Judge Jules]

It's different out there, though, on those hard grounds with some properly fired-up Springbok up his @rse wanting to do a Lion an injury. I like Halfpenny and I'm not saying I defo wouldn't take him, but it would be a risk, not least for the player himself (and Wales).

 

[Rosco]

[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=32866.msg849091#msg849091 date=1240261124]
I'd be happy enough with that choice myself, but Dean Richards made me think when he wrote recently that the set-up which works for Ireland should be duplicated for the Lions - Dricco as skipper and O'Connell as pack leader. Any views?
[/quote]

My personal preference is always for a forward to be captain. If not a forward then it has to be the outhalf.

Jim Telfer kinda let the cat out of the bag a few weeks ago saying that McGeechan's preference for captain would be a big, mean looking physical player. The example being he picked Johnson as Lions captain at a time when De Glanville was England captain - and it worked well back in '97 so why not again.

They said they felt they got a psychological edge on the Boks when Johnson towered over Teichmann at press conferences.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=32866.msg849091#msg849091 date=1240261124]
I'd be happy enough with that choice myself, but Dean Richards made me think when he wrote recently that the set-up which works for Ireland should be duplicated for the Lions - Dricco as skipper and O'Connell as pack leader. Any views?
[/quote]

Against a side like the SA's we need to front up from the very start, in this aspect players will willingly follow a man like O'Connell into the battle.

How he's not got the chance to lead the Irish on a regular basis I'll never know (i wish he was welsh)

 

[Rosco]

I'd take Halfpenny.

He's a tricky winger, very good finisher. Tackles above his weight and kicks goals too.

 

[Judge Jules]

Points taken about O'Connell, plus of course there's the precedent of Willie John. Fair enough. Thank goodness O'Connell got his form back in time.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=32866.msg849095#msg849095 date=1240261387]
It's different out there, though, on those hard grounds with some properly fired-up Springbok up his @rse wanting to do a Lion an injury. I like Halfpenny and I'm not saying I defo wouldn't take him, but it would be a risk, not least for the player himself (and Wales).
[/quote]

He'll cope just fine JJ.

 

[Rosco]

[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=32866.msg849101#msg849101 date=1240261606]
Points taken about O'Connell, plus of course there's the precedent of Willie John. Fair enough. Thank goodness O'Connell got his form back in time.
[/quote]

I think Ireland has actually had more Lions captains than any other country.

 

[Judge Jules]

Quite possibly.  Pity one of them - Ciaran Fitzgerald - was the worst one ever, not worth a place in the team and consequently weakening the Test side, which you do NOT need when you're up against the Blacks.

 

[Rosco]

Agreed.

The most overrated player in the history of Irish rugby. Made his name by being captured on camera when screaming "have you no fucking pride" to teammates during an England game. Useless coach too.

He almost destroyed the club i was playing at about 8 years ago when he alienated all the senior players. Needless to say he didn't last long.

He now makes his money selling condoms.

 

[Judge Jules]

;D

 

[Jürgen4PM]

Great squad named

 

[the count]

Lions 37-man squad
Backs: Lee Byrne, Rob Kearney, Shane Williams, Leigh Halfpenny, Ugo Monye, Luke Fitzgerald, Tommy Bowe, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Brian O'Driscoll, Keith Earls, Riki Flutey, Ronan O'Gara, Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips, Harry Ellis, Tomas O'Leary.

Forwards: Jamie Heaslip, Andy Powell, David Wallace, Stephen Ferris, Alan Quinlan, Joe Worsley, Martyn Williams, Alun Wyn-Jones, Paul O'Connell (capt), Donncha O'Callaghan, Simon Shaw, Nathan Hines, Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones, Andrew Sheridan, Phil Vickery, Euan Murray, Jerry Flannery, Lee Mears, Matthew Rees.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

1. Jenkins
2. Flannery
3. Murray
4. O'Connell (Capt)
5. AW Jones
6. Wallace
7. Williams
8. Powell
9. Phillips
10.Jones
11.Williams
12.BOD
13.Roberts
14.Bowe
15.Byrne

Great call not to take Ryan Jones, plus i'm glad that they showed some balls and took Halfpenny, Earls, Quinlan and Monye.

 

[Judge Jules]

Powell is a very lucky boy indeed to be in the party. Just to prove I'm not biased though I think Peel is correspondingly unlucky not to be there.

15 Byrne

14 Bowe
13 Dricco
12 Shanklin
11 Williams S.

10 Jones
9 Phillips

1 Jenkins
2 Flannery
3 Murray

4 O'Connell
5 Shaw

6 Wallace
8 Heaslip
7 Worsley

 

[Jürgen4PM]

Come on JJ mate. Powell is an exceptional number 8 who along with his Irish counterpart were the 2 dead certs to be selected. Don't buy into what Rosco says about him, he is everyhing a modern 8 should be (and is rightly recognised as a top player).

He was voted MOTM against SA earlier this season and is his game is unbelievably well suited to playing on the South African tracks. I don't know if he will start but to say he's a "lucky boy" is just plain ludicrous.

The great thing about this squad named is that you can allready see that there are maybe only two players (PO'C & BOD) who you know will start the tests, and most importantly they've gone with form and the right blend of players.

 

[Judge Jules]

On his day Powell is very good at running from the base of the scrum or in open play, so I can see your point about him on the hard pitches. There's a lot more to the no.8 position than that though, and the rest of Powell's game hasn't been good enough often enough for me (or for Warren Gatland, I might add - wonder what HE thinks about this). It's going to be a war out there and I'd have picked bruisers like Jason White or Easter ahead of Powell all day long.

Still an' all, it's done now and I'll be cheering him on with the rest of them. The Boks will be favourites but I reckon the Lions could well be the value bet.