It’s one of the hottest debate topics egg-chasing has to offer.
Given we live in something of a green goldfish bowl on these Irish shores, there’s no harm getting input from elsewhere. And so we have the HarpinOnRugby Lions Selector Panel, made up of one fan from each nation, with even the Irish panellist based abroad.
This week we kick-off the 3rd round of selections with our English panellist Rich Church-Keen.
15. Leigh Halfpenny
14. Tommy Bowe
13. Brian O'Driscoll
12. Jonathon Davies
11. George North
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Mike Phillips
8. Jamie Heaslip
7. Sam Warburton
6. Sean O'Brien
5. Paul O'Connell
4. Richie Gray
3. Dan Cole
2. Ross Ford
1. Cian Healy
16.Rory Best 17. Alex Corbisero 18. Donncha O'Callaghan 19. Stephen Ferris 20. Ben Youngs 21. James Hook 22. Chris Ashton
With the Autumn internationals looming large, I'll make just one change to my previous starting line up. Gethin Jenkins may not be instantly made available for the tour by his French club and I believe Adam Jones has taken a knock, so I will move Cian Healy into a starting berth and put Alex Corbisiero on the bench, Cian has had a phenomenal start to the season and pretty much picks himself at the mo, and I'd take Corbisiero over Marler for the bench spot due to his ability to cover both prop positions.
I expect Adam Jones will be back shortly, but I'll make that switch for now and worry about his fitness in my next update.
I will concentrate on the other guys in the Lions squad this time out, the Midweek side.
My take on a 'midweek' side would be a mixture of youth and experience, the guys ready to step into the first team if needed and some guys with world class potential.
I would like (and this is definite opinion rather than how I think it'd be picked!) to see…
15: Rob Kearney - Ireland - Currently out with a knock but when fit, he'd be unlucky not to be in the starting line up, but with Foden’s injury seeming more serious,he could be the only true alternative to Halfpenny. Lets see how Mike Browns Autumn games go!
14: Tim Visser - Scotland - Awesome try scoring record and one of the few Scottish options i see going on tour.
13: Manu Tuilagi - England - Bulldozer that unfortunately can bulldoze off during games. Potentially one of the best centres in the game, needs to learn to put in 80 minutes.
12: Jamie Roberts - Wales - Arguably should be in the full squad, but i like the idea of the master and pupil combination of BO'D and Davies. D'Arcy is one of my favourite players, but injury and inconsistency rule him out at the moment.
11: Jack Cuthbert - Wales - Young, hungry, strong as an ox..... this guy has an immense future.
10: Freddie Burns - England - An uncapped guy on the Lions tour?? yeah, why not. Sexton is leading the way for the 10 shirt, Priestland has dropped off, Wilkinson is only a possibility and Farrell isn't even playing at 10 for his club and Fred is ON FIRE this season. How Lancaster hasn't put him in the Elite player squad is ridiculous.
9: Danny Care - England - Massive good form to start the season, but ultimately will fall behind Youngs for England and the Lions Bench spot, and i still believe the physicality of Mike Phillips will win him the starting berth.
8: Toby Faletau - Wales - Will fight it out with Ben Morgan and Denton for the midweek spot, but i believe Gats will stick to what he knows and Toby will win out!
7: Justin Tipuric - Wales - With Lydiate out and Warburton indifferent, a big international year for Tipuric could see him jump all the way to a starting Lions spot.
6: Chris Robshaw - England - Many see him as an inspirational leader, I'm not 100% convinced yet, but he's on form and he knows how to win, so he'd be my midweek captain.
5: Alun Wyn Jones - Wales - Will push Gray and Donncha for the starting slot alongside PO'C but propensity for stupid penalties not outweighing his positives drop him to the midweek side.
4: Courtney Lawes - England - See above.
3: Tom Courts - Ireland - Solid and dependable, and with several prop injuries, may well get the call!
2: Richardt Strauss - Ireland - Newly qualified for Ireland, strong runner, strong scrummager, he could certainly bring front row power to the table!
1: Joe Marler - England - Another I'm not 100% convinced by. Great in the loose, not so great in the scrummage and easily wound up. I can see him as a definite tourer, but he is no starting Lion.
Next time out there will have been some more international action, so it will be the first real chance to see some changes to the line up!!
Til then
RC-K
My name is Richard Church-Keen, born in Coventry, live in Dudley, yet by God's grace, I'm a diehard Gloucester Rugby and also an England rugby fan (and yes, in that order.) I'm a rugby mad husband to a rugby mad wife with a rugby mad stepson and indeed, rugby has taken over every facet of my life. I am a chef by day, and #RugbyUnited’s charity director and blogger in chief by night. Oh. And a twitter addict (@RichC_K)!!!
Thanks Rich! His change to the front row has also altered the HoR Composite Lions XV, made up of the four panellist’s choices put together. Follow this link to see how the side now looks. Next week, it will be the turn of our Welsh contributor Hywel Davies.
