The looking forward to the Lions Tour thread

[desperado]

GM I really can't see Russell making it. He has displayed a distinct lack of bottle when most needed. Reckon Gattie will go Sexton/Biggar/Farrell.

Probably right - Biggar hasn't impressed me though and Ford while very good needs a lot of babysitting and doesn't strike me as a Gatland type. I don't see any of them troubling Farrell and Sexton though. I do think Russell is the next best of them though and there will likely be one or two more Scots than most are predicting

Ford melts under pressure; don't like Biggar myself - but I think Gattie might. I reckon TH for me is one area of concern. Apart from Furlong and Cole, none of the rest impress as scrummagers regardless of who he brings - 1 injury away from a problem.

[jimbobjoe]

I'd have Ford behind Russell, Biggar and PJ for 3rd choice. Leicester fans' dismay at losing Owen Williams (who tbf is decent) and replacing him with a supposed international says it all.

[simonokeeffe]

I'd have Ford behind Russell, Biggar and PJ for 3rd choice. Leicester fans' dismay at losing Owen Williams (who tbf is decent) and replacing him with a supposed international says it all.

If Ford starts a game then someone else probably has to kick for him

hes also a speed bump in defence

[Oldschool]

GM I really can't see Russell making it. He has displayed a distinct lack of bottle when most needed. Reckon Gattie will go Sexton/Biggar/Farrell.

Probably right - Biggar hasn't impressed me though and Ford while very good needs a lot of babysitting and doesn't strike me as a Gatland type. I don't see any of them troubling Farrell and Sexton though. I do think Russell is the next best of them though and there will likely be one or two more Scots than most are predicting

Ford melts under pressure; don't like Biggar myself - but I think Gattie might. I reckon TH for me is one area of concern. Apart from Furlong and Cole, none of the rest impress as scrummagers regardless of who he brings - 1 injury away from a problem.

Agree with on the THs but neither Furlong or Cole are injury prone.
Mind you NZ will have no problem taking out key personnel on this tour. There's plenty of previous to justify that claim too.
They will have noticed how Furlong not only coped with but dominated both Marler and Maka backed up by Itoje abd Lawes on their LH side.

[paddyor]

Agree with on the THs but neither Furlong or Cole are injury prone.
Mind you NZ will have no problem taking out key personnel on this tour. There's plenty of previous to justify that claim too.
They will have noticed how Furlong not only coped with but dominated both Marler and Maka backed up by Itoje abd Lawes on their LH side.

COle has been a sick note since the last lions tour. It took him2 years to get back to form.

[Oldschool]

Agree with on the THs but neither Furlong or Cole are injury prone.
Mind you NZ will have no problem taking out key personnel on this tour. There's plenty of previous to justify that claim too.
They will have noticed how Furlong not only coped with but dominated both Marler and Maka backed up by Itoje abd Lawes on their LH side.

COle has been a sick note since the last lions tour. It took him2 years to get back to form.

I don't think that's accurate at all.
He was out for 9 months with a neck injury and has been pretty much available since.
More importantly he's just come thru a tough 6Ns still standing.

[backrower8]

Mako Vunipola has been talked up ridiculously all season for his "great hands" in the premiership mainly. He is not a hard scrummager. McGrath is. McGrath has gone off the boil a bit but not much. We can go after the ABs scrum with the Irish props and either George or Best or Owens hooking (ABH). Hartley is a farce as captain (especially post Italy) and as an anonymous player.

I am finding it hard to read Healy's form in the 6N - he was shaping up well for Leinster pre January. He was very good in all phases against lowly Italy. Is there a reason why Joe only gives him 15-20mins? His body language looks muted all the time when subbing on in green. He carried very well once yesterday and put Sinckler under huge pressure but was pressured himself against Cole in 2 scrums. I really want him to be the 3rd LH over Marler who is questionable in terms of scrum consistency (RWC2015) and smarts.

Finally, Jonathan Joseph is a complete charlatan. He is lovely running onto the ball in space against weak defences, but is not a man for 50-50, hard contests. I don't think he should even travel. Henshaw at 13 beside Farrell at 12 for me.

[Ruckedtobits]

IMO, Zander Fagerson is in with a shout at TH. Jonny Grey has had two great Seasons in a row and Scottish back-rows have played well at Club and International level, except against England.

Irish players in contention have a built-in bias if they have played and beaten NZ recently.

English players will get selected based on their worst performance this season, not their best, i.e. what's their minimum performance?. Welsh contenders will get selected based on their best performance, not worse. Thus, players like Scott Williams, Liam Williams, Biggar, Evans (LHP), Tipuric must all be prospects, depending on how many he takes. (North, Webb, Owens, AWJ & Warby considered certs).

The overall outlook towards this Tour will clearly determine the selection. Are the Lions going only to win the Test Series, or to win as many games as possible, as well as the Test Series?. If the latter, the likelihood is two teams will evolve. If the former, it's quite possible the Test team will change radically over the series.

IMO, there is no chance that a Lions pack will overpower NZ up front for any prolonged period. However, Gatland knows NZ rugby well enough to recognise the truism that the middle-five win Test Series.

NZ will score 20 points minimum per Test. To beat them, the Lions Team must contain real attacking threats throughout the team and develop three different Game Plans, one for each Test.

[ronk]

That and bring Ringrose and hope he plays like BOD on his first tour.

[simonokeeffe]

Gatty saying Farrell is in the mix for captaincy, if nothing else points heavily to confirming he'll start at 12 (hopefully with Henshaw at 13)

dont think he has the temperament myself eg the Italy game

[Golf Man]

Wouldn't necessairily be my choice but he has been excellent for England the last couple of years and is a real leader for them as well

BTW I think its more and more likely to be Warburton - he had a pretty good 6 Nations, good Lions record and more than likely to be in the team especially with Gatland picking it. Its the easiest choice for him as well - he has essentially ruled Hartley out other options are Best, Farrell AWJ - don't really see a Scottish option that will tour, and its unlikely he will pick a complete rookie captain when Warburton is availabel to him

[jimbobjoe]

I can see Gatland selecting Warburton but I don't understand the justification for it. A distinctly average player for all but two or three games a season and nearly always anonymous for Cardiff. I'd say the captaincy options are (in no order):

Best
AWJ
Murray
Sexton
Farrell

The problems with those Best, AWJ and Murray not guaranteed to start/finish games and Wazzer prefers a forward as captain.

If it was me I'd go for Sexton with AWJ and Farrell as VCs.

[Logorrhea]

Given how weak the competition at hooker is, Best has a real shot. I'd be surprised if Gatland would go with him given how the last tour went, but he wouldn't be a mile off.

[OTT]

Given how weak the competition at hooker is, Best has a real shot. I'd be surprised if Gatland would go with him given how the last tour went, but he wouldn't be a mile off.

Gatland did not even pick him initially for the last tour and the hookers then were probably worse then now. Hibbard, Youngs and Hartley in his teething (literally) phase.

Will be interesting to see who gets the nod.

[ronk]

I can see Gatland selecting Warburton but I don't understand the justification for it. A distinctly average player for all but two or three games a season

.

That's a feature not a bug.

[Dave Cahill]

If it were any other coach does anyone think Faletau would make the squad? He has played bugger all rugby and started even less

[LeRouxIsPHat]

If it were any other coach does anyone think Faletau would make the squad? He has played bugger all rugby and started even less

Agreed, thought he'd be a certainty but he hasn't got back up to speed yet and he won't play big enough games to justify selection with the competition that's there.

[paddyor]

If it were any other coach does anyone think Faletau would make the squad? He has played bugger all rugby and started even less

No.

[paddyor]

Huw Jones out for a few months with injury.

[neiliog93]

I can't see Gatty not bringing Biggar. I mean, if he selected three other guys ahead of him it would really undermine Biggar's confidence for Wales and the player-coach relationship going ahead to the 2019 RWC. It's why national coaches shouldn't be allowed to coach the Lions.