Who should captain the lions.

[tones]

The Heineken Cup final is on 23rd May and the first match of the tour is on 30th May. Presumably they will depart at least four days in advance.

Given the promotional duties of the Captain and a presumed wish to have him in camp as soon as possible, it may come down to which of the two (if either) is in the HC final, with the non-finalist getting the nod.

If neither get to the HC final, I think PO'C will get it as Geech has expressed a preference for forwards. I'd prefer BO'D to have it myself but that's as much provincial bias as anything.

Fantastic that the two main contenders are Irish though.

Horrific way of deciding the captain though!

[El Diablo]

Article from Timesonline entitled "O'Driscoll wouldn't get in my Test team".....has to be a wind up. But never the less some good opinions from Dallaglio, Guscott and others.......
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... t=0&page=1

[Kyle]

Article from Timesonline entitled "O'Driscoll wouldn't get in my Test team".....has to be a wind up. But never the less some good opinions from Dallaglio, Guscott and others.......
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... t=0&page=1

Check out the Stephen Jones Lions XV thread!

[suisse]

Phil Vickery will get it.

[olaf the fat]

Phil Vickery will get it.

There could be big difference between what the test team should be and will be

[simonno6]

Phil Vickery will get it.

nah - Steve Borthwick is a shoe in!

[RoboProp]

As others have said it should be BOD. I would like to see him get it, if only to put the ghosts from 2005 tour to rest. Vickery or Borthwick will probably get it. Yargh!
Also, if we get the most players I think it should be the Irish Lions and special guests. Just saying!

[Oldschool]

As others have said it should be BOD. I would like to see him get it, if only to put the ghosts from 2005 tour to rest. Vickery or Borthwick will probably get it. Yargh!
Also, if we get the most players I think it should be the Irish Lions and special guests. Just saying!

Special guests guesting mid week I guess.

[Munsterboy]

Has to be BOD. POC was excellent in the 6Ns but BOD was a class above the rest. He won us games we would have lost, that's what a captain does. I don't think I've ever seen a player more inspirational than BOD was against France, England and Wales. Those three tries, the drop goal and the huge hits on Beauxis and Shanklin were moments that made the team say "we can win this".

I understand why Geech likes to have a big man as captain but BOD's sheer hardness commands as much respect as POC's size, even from the Boks. The Lions team will have plenty of leaders (including POC) but it will need an inspirational captain.

[tickettout]

It does not really matter who captains the Lions, BOD was world class during the 6 nations, Paulie has had an incredible year lifting the HEC and winning the G/S. either one deserves the captaincy..
The smart money is on Paul O Connell though..

[Provincial Towns]

It's an unbelievably tight call.

In a way it makes absolute logical sense to put the lions squad under the ledership of BOD as captain and POC as vice given that it's a proven form combo, but given the braoder base of players, Geech may want to break that up.

But when you try to come up with alternatives, POC and BOD are so far ahead of anyone else that it's impossible to imagine a captain/vice captain combo omittnig either of them.

You also have to think about what's best for Irish and Leinster rugby. Has BOD enough on his plate? The relinquishing of the Leisnter captaincy seems to have done him the world of good and he's been playing as well as ever with the national team. If it all goes belly up in SA, what effect will that have on him going into next season? If the same happens with BOD and POC as captain, what effect will that have for the national taem going into next season?

[fourthirtythree]

It's an unbelievably tight call.

In a way it makes absolute logical sense to put the lions squad under the ledership of BOD as captain and POC as vice given that it's a proven form combo, but given the braoder base of players, Geech may want to break that up.

But when you try to come up with alternatives, POC and BOD are so far ahead of anyone else that it's impossible to imagine a captain/vice captain combo omittnig either of them.

You also have to think about what's best for Irish and Leinster rugby. Has BOD enough on his plate? The relinquishing of the Leisnter captaincy seems to have done him the world of good and he's been playing as well as ever with the national team. If it all goes belly up in SA, what effect will that have on him going into next season? If the same happens with BOD and POC as captain, what effect will that have for the national taem going into next season?

I think it will be O'Connell. He won't want to have a vice captain from the same country and I don't see BOD as anybody's vice/semi/under/deputy anything. Same with O'Connell by the way.
So which Welsh player will be vice captain?

[TrapperChamonix]

Have a look at the attached list of Lions captains since the war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_and_Irish_Lions

Of 16 tours (discount '86 Rest of the World game) there have been 7 Irish Captains, 3.5 Scots, 2.5 Welsh and 3 English (Beaumont and Johnstone x 2). If as we suspect, the 2009 captain will be BOD or POC it will make almost as many Irish captains as the rest put together (8 out of 17 tours).

That really is a remarkable statistic.

on the otherhand, only one of those Irish captains lead a winning tour

[Grumpy Old Man]

There was an item on the radio this afternoon that Paddy Power have suspended betting on Lions captain, after taking a number of large bets on Paul O'Connell. Haven't seen it anywhere else though.

[Cossax]

There was an item on the radio this afternoon that Paddy Power have suspended betting on Lions captain, after taking a number of large bets on Paul O'Connell. Haven't seen it anywhere else though.

Here.

[RoboProp]

Does this answer the question?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMnx6ZnM ... L&index=25

[true blue 06]

BOD , he's on great form, he's the best player ireland have ever had and he's just led us to a grand slam

[Ollie Le Reed]

What a hit.!!!! That settles it

[BlueArmyOriginal]

Does this answer the question?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMnx6ZnM ... L&index=25

He really put every single ounce of himself into that hit, absolutely brilliant.
I think at this stage it should be BOD or POC depending on what you want from your captain(before anyone asks the fence is very comfortable this time of year) it shouldnt be Vickery or Jones. Vickery shouldnt even be starting and Jones has shown nowhere near the kind of leadership qualities needed for the Lions so far this year.

[intothewest]

In the words on Ron Burgundy...agree to disagree...you need a forward (more gnarled the better) to lead in Sith Afrika...a la Willie John or Johnson and POC is as close as there is at the moment. I've a feeling he will get it too, but if BOD gets it, you couldnt begrudge him....and no, a hit in a ML game from 3 years ago has nothing to do with it...