Lions 2017 – ‘An
Irishman, Welshman, Scotsman and an Englishman turn up at Heathrow. ’
The
itinerary, described as ‘suicidal’ by Graham Henry, will take all of Gatland’s
coaching abilities to get the Lions even close. They will have to perform
alchemy of the highest order to create the right mix to mould a united and
capable team. Gatland has a vast reservoir of experience to call upon and he
will have utilised this to select the party that he feels will be good enough
to beat the AB’s. Tomorrow, at last, the endless parochial media speculation
can end. When national bias has to be put to one side and when the players who
have earned their places can be seen as British Lions, not as English, Irish,
Scots or Welsh players, and move seamlessly into a composite capable squad
without losing the qualities that set them apart.
There
will elation for a finite number of elite players and bitter disappointment for
those who had high expectations but are not chosen and, of course, the media
will be vociferous in its criticism or support depending on their own perceived
interests. Gatland will not be overly concerned; he has been through it all
before and has confidence in his own abilities and record and believes that the
team he has chosen will do well. The majority of the players, coaching staff
and supporters will trust his judgement. He was part of the rehabilitation in
2009 and he led the Lions to victory in Australia in 2013. He knows more
intimately than most what it will take to win in NZ. He comprehends what a
Lions tour means to the hosts and how desperately they will want to win and he
will use that to forge an identity and an
ethos for the 2017 Lions.
The
selection will not have been arrived at easily; a great deal of rugby will have
been watched, studied and analysed before conclusions have been reached. The
litmus test will have been the consideration of England’s matches against Wales
and Ireland, and Ireland’s performance in Cardiff. These games stood out in the
6 Nations and made and destroyed reputations. It is no easy task to select a
Lions squad and everyone will have an opinion.
2017
British and Irish Lions
15,
14 &11: Hogg,
Halfpenny, North, Williams, Daly, Nowell
12&
13: Davies, Ringrose,
Henshaw, Williams
10:
Farrell, Sexton,
Biggar
9: Webb,
Murray, Youngs/Davies
Props:
McGrath, Evans,
Marler, Furlong, Cole, Francis
Hooker:
Owens, Best, George
Locks:
AWJ, Charteris,
Kruis, Itoje, Jonny Gray, Henderson
Flanker:
Warburton, Tirpuric,
O’Brien, O’Mahony, Stander, Moriarty
No.8:
Faletau, Billy
Vunipola
39
man squad
The
choice of a 39 man squad is to ensure the depth needed to cope with the
inevitable injuries.
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