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 it’s the turn of our English panellist, Rich Church-Keen from #rugbyunited blog.
Well its been a great 6 Nations so far, especially for English fans and probably not so grand for the French and Irish fans!!
As always I will pick on form, so this is more a 'Home nations 6 Nations team' rather than Lions and there are a few suggestions that I have even surprised myself with!! I always earmarked the 6 nations as the catalyst for mass changes to the likely Lions and with some injuries and people falling in and out of form, my lineup has vastly changed, but I really don't expect this to be a starting Lions line up!
Full Back - Alex Goode is Mr Solid, yet unspectacular, Kearney is playing in a struggling Irish backline, and Stuart Hogg is emerging as a great talent, but at this moment, Leigh Halfpenny is back in possession of the 15 shirt. His all round game, and especially his potential as a secondary kicker just edges out Hogg.
The Wingers - Well, the wingers for me, are a problem, Injuries to potential Lions Tommy Bowe and Simon Zebo possibly changed the landscape. Loss of form from Chris Ashton and question marks hanging over the credentials of Visser, Gilroy and Maitland leave me with a straight choice of George North and Alex Cuthbert. Well, thats what I thought, but consistently good performances from Mike Brown playing out of position have made me think hard on who to choose. If you were to put Brown in a back 3 with say Cuthbert and Halfpenny i genuinely think he could work out as a Lion. Logic though, would lead me to think that with Gatland in charge, the 2 Welshmen would take the nod.
Centres - There have been some great individual performances from centres. Twelvetrees v Scotland, Tuilagi v France, Matt Scott v Italy, Brad Barritt and Jamie Roberts have been excellent defensively, but offer little going forward, B'OD has shown glimpses of the genius that we know he has, but he's also shown that he's lost a yard of pace. Form for me would point to Barritt and Tuilagi. They work well together, Tuilagi can destroy any defence and Barritt will always keep opposition attackers honest. Choosing Barritt pains me as i prefer attacking centres, but fact is, he is a major factor in why England are 3 wins from 3 games.
Fly Half - Ruaridh Jackson is in the same boat as Stuart Hogg for me. He's a definite emerging talent, but Lions tour may be too soon for him. Dan Biggar is playing well, but for me, he's not a Lion. So that leaves a straight choice between Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell. Sexton missed the Scottish game through injury, but I imagine he'll be back soon and certainly in line for the tour, however England’s Iceman is having a superb tournament and will continue to push for the 10 jersey for the remainder of the season. Sexton with the edge....for now.
Scrum Half - Mike Phillips, Greg Laidlaw, Connor Murray and the England duo of Ben Youngs and Danny Care will all feel they are the right man for the 9 shirt, and to be honest, you can argue a case for any. Danny Care is second choice for England, but at club level, he's on a real hot streak. I'm a fan of abrasive scrum halfs, and Phillips is certainly the archetype of an abrasive scrummy! Laidlaw and Murray are both still learning, though are reasonably experienced at international level. Ben Youngs for me blows hot and cold.... my choice at 9 right now, would be Danny Care, mainly based on his cameo's and league form!
The Back Row - I think every selection I've made so far has been predominantly Irish in the back row, however injury to Stephen Ferris and Heaslip and O'Brien seem to have dropped off this season. The big performers for me have been Kelly Brown, Johnny Beattie, Chris Robshaw, a rejuvenated Ryan Jones and some superb cameos from Haskell and Morgan. If I am picking on form (and I am) my back row would be Ryan Jones at 6, Chris Robshaw at 7 and Johnny Beattie at 8. Jones ball carrying is excellent, Robshaw has been possibly England’s best player, tackling himself to a standstill and Johnny Beattie has looked dangerous nearly every time he's held the ball. Ben Morgan had a great game v Scotland and for me, will take the 8 shirt if he can get back before the end of the 6 Nations and play to that level in the remaining games.
The second row - Well, again, this is a position where injuries and form have totally changed the outlook. I have had a Scotsman in my 2nd row since week 1, Richie Gray, but he has been eclipsed by Jim Hamilton, both as a player and as a leader, and its the leadership qualities and abrasive, no nonsense attitude that earn him one of the shirts. The form of Parling and Launchbury for England has been immense. Parling especially, still reasonably small for a second rower, but effective. I'd JUST give Geoff Parling the nod at the moment.
The front row - Well, nothing much changed here. Healy, Best and Coles. No-one is standing up to be counted. Cross and Ford are playing well for Scotland, as is Murray, Hibbard is also having a reasonable run hooking for Wales whilst Adam Jones scrummaging, by his own admission, is not as it should be and Hartley and Tom Youngs may be competing so hard for the English 2 shirt that they drop off of the Lions radar, so the trio above will keep the 1-2-3 shirts until someone proves worthy.
Just to recap......
15 - Halfpenny - Wales
14- Cuthbert - Wales
13- Tuilagi - England
12-Barritt- England
11 - North - Wales
10 - Sexton - Ireland
9 - Care - England
8- Beattie- Scotland
7- Robshaw - England (Captain)
6- Jones - Wales
5 - Parling - England
4- Hamilton - Scotland
3- Cole - England
2- Best - Ireland
1 - Healy - Ireland
2 from Scotland, 3 from Ireland, 4 from Wales and 6 English probably is a fair reflection of the way the tournament has panned out in the first 3 games. I wonder how much it will have changed after the tournament end!!!
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! Click here to see how his latest selection affects the HoR Composite Lions XV.
