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.
It’s now 2013 and the tour is starting to loom on the horizon…our English panellist Rich Church-Keen kicks-off the latest round of selections.
Happy new year! Its 2013, meaning that the Lions tour is now THIS YEAR! Exciting times!
In my last blog I had the 'form' selection and the 'probables' selection, but now we are getting to the time of year when injuries will play a huge part.
This was my 'probables' selection from the last blog and for the interest of continuity, i will keep this as my selection for this month
15 Kearney
14 Bowe
13 BOD
12 Davies
11 North
10 Sexton
9 Phillips
8 Heaslip
7 O'Brien
6 Ferris
5 POC
4 Gray
3 Cole
2 Best
1 Healy
But with current injury problems with key players, probably most noticeable with Paul O'Connell and Tommy Bowe, the players on the fringe of selection are now in with a real shout of playing.
So who could step up to replace the first XV if injuries keep players out? Some are pretty obvious, some maybe not so...
15- Easy one this Kearney or Halfpenny. If both were injured it'd be Goode or Foden
14- Bowe has a knock currently, the most obvious replacements would be Visser, Cuthbert or Ashton. Both Visser and Ashton have good scoring rates, but Cuthberts raw size and established links to Gatland would put him way up in the pecking order. Gilroy could also force his way in if he gets a chance during the 6 nations
13- BO'D- another guy with injury issues, on form, few are better, but if we lost him, Tuilagi could easily step up or Johnathon Davies could move out to 13 with Jamie Roberts stepping in at 12
12- J Davies- pretty much see above. Jamie Roberts or Gordon D'Arcy would be the obvious choice, Brad Barritt is a solid yet unspectacular alternative, or thinking a bit more outside the box, Flood or Hook could step in and give an alternate first receiver to take the pressure off the fly half, who will doubtlessly be given a torrid old time against the Ozzy back row!
11- North- See the options with Bowe, I'm not au fait with the intricacies of left and right wings, but most are fairly interchangeable, right?
10- Sexton- Sexton is SO far ahead of any other 10 at the moment that this would be unthinkable! But with Priestlands form gone, Biggar unproven, not convinced with the Scottish 10's, so that would leave 2 inexperienced Englishmen in Farrell and Burns, Ronan O'Gara or the internationally retired Jonny Wilkinson or Hodgson. I must admit, none of the back up options thrill me, so lets wrap Sexton in cotton wool and keep fingers crossed!
9- Phillips- if i wasn't doing an alternate selection blog, I'd have replaced Mike with the hot on form Danny Care anyway, but also there are guys like Connor Murray and Ben Youngs pushing for a starting berth. The 9 shirt is a fierce battle even if you don't factor in injuries!
8- Heaslip- like the 9 shirt, and in fact, the other 2 back row slots, this is a competitive shirt anyway, all 4 nations can offer 1 or 2 players, my preference, as a Gloucester fan, would be to see Ben Morgan in a Lions shirt, but equally, Waldrom, Faletau or Denton could push on for the 8 jersey
7- O'Brien or 6- Ferris - Warburton, Robshaw, Croft, Rennie, Strokosch, Tipuric, Henry, Haskell, Vernon.... endless possibilities!!!
5- O'Connell and 4- Gray - It looks increasingly likely that PO'C will not make the tour, but new blood such as Launchbury or Donncha Ryan will be ready to step in, as will more established locks such as Lawes, O'Callaghan, Hamilton and the on form Geoff Parling
3- Cole- Tighthead is a tough position to fill, Gethin Jenkins can operate both sides, but the only real tighthead prospect is Micheal Bent, who is relatively untested at international level.
2- Best- Ross Ford, Dylan Hartley or Richardt Strauss for me. Welsh hookers seem a little lightweight, Tom Youngs not quite ready in my opinion, the 6 nations will be a proving ground for all the wannabe starters!
1- Healy- Adam Jones or Gethin Jenkins if fit would be notable starters, Corbisiero, Marler, Euan Murray could all fit in as well
The 6 nations will certainly give the line up a shake, but injuries will also play a huge role in the selection process, but as you can see, in some cases more than others, there are several top drawer selections for the majority of positions.
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)!!!
Since Rich has left his side unchanged, that of course means the Composite XV made up of the four panellists’ selections put together also has no changes, but you can follow this link to see it anyway.
