The Lions 2013

The squad is being named around now

 

BOD is in

 

Roberts, Davies, North, Maitland, Tuilagi

 

10's - Farrell, Sexton

 

9's - Murray, Phillips, Youngs

 

Props - Cole, Healy, Jenkins, A. Jones, Matt Stevens, Vunipola

Hookers - Hartley, HIbbard, Youngs

 

Very harsh on rory best

 

O'Connell makes it

 

back row - Croft, Faletau, Heaslip, Lydiate, O'Brien, Tipuric, Warburton

 

Captain - Warburton

 

Halfpenny, Hogg, Kearney and Cuthbert are in too

 

Very harsh indeed on Rory Best whom I'd probably have picked before any of the others, tho' obv.Gatland's been far closer to the relevant action.

Not sure about Warburton as captain, though I was never convinced by the Robshaw-for-captain bandwagon as I didn't think he'd be an automatic choice for the Test side. Bit surprised he's not even in the party though.

 

There aren't all that many obvious choices as captain because naturally you're guaranteeing the guy will start the Tests.

I think it might backfire on Gatland though. If there's one player in that whole touring party you were  hoping wouldn't play too well to oust your captain the last person I would put in that position is Sean O Brien. He's capable of out shining everybody on that tour if he's 100%.

The choice of only two 10's is a bad one for me. Inevitably a replacement will be called in.

 

It was a gamble whoever was named skipper. Just look at the bookies favourites for the role: BOD, O'Connell, Warburton, Robshaw, Best and AW Jones..............................2 weren't deemed good enough for the squad and none of the others should be anywhere near certain of their places in the test side.

 

Rosco: I'm hoping to see a back row of Warburton, Faletau and O'Brien.

I don't see why Warburton playing 7 should stop O'Brien from having a starting place at 6. I think he could be devastating there.

 

I thought it was a rather obvious squad selection personally. The only real shocks for me were the inclusions of Stevens and Maitland + the likes of Best and Robshaw missing out.

Best: Well it was looking like a scrap for the third place between him and Hartley and tbh it was a coin flip in my opinion. Youngs and Hibberd have both had great six nations + they've both scored high in the lions index during the HC games.

Robshaw: It's quite telling that he's been left out. It's pretty clear how we're going to look to play on this tour.

Maitland: Whats he like? All i know about him is that he's the kiwi who now plays for the jocks.

Stevens: Very lucky boy.

Lydiate: Great player, but has to classed as jammy to get selected. I think he's played a grand total of 100mins since coming back from a very serious injury.

 

Picking only 2 10's is very risky. I really can't understand why Gatland didn't choose to take a 3rd 10 from the start.

 

I think O'Brien is being penciled in for a bench spot. He could be a game changer. He can play any of the three roles, but the drawback to him at 6 or 8 is he isn't really a lineout option. If Faletau gets the nod at 8, I can't see O'Brien at 6  - It'll be Croft in that instance. If Heaslip gets the nod at 8 then anything goes for 6.

There's a few guys who haven't played a lot of rugby recently who might feel lucky to be in  - O'Connell and Bowe from Ireland for a start.

There's not a whole lot to argue with in the squad though - it's obvious from the interviews (and the selection reflects it) they were looking to bring a very physical side down under. If the coaches can get the right atmosphere in the squad this could go very well for us. There's going to be a lot of tight calls for test spots.

 

What odds could you get on the Lions going unbeaten?