British & Irish Lions 2017 tour to New Zealand
Warren Gatland announced his 41-man squad today:Full squad
Forwards: Rory Best (Ireland), Dan Cole (England), Taulupe Faletau (Wales), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Jamie George (England), Iain Henderson (Ireland), Maro Itoje (England), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales), George Kruis (England), Courtney Lawes (England), Joe Marler (England), Jack McGrath (Ireland), Ross Moriarty (Wales), Sean O'Brien (Ireland), Peter O'Mahony (Ireland), Ken Owens (Wales), Kyle Sinckler (England), CJ Stander (Ireland), Justin Tipuric (Wales), Billy Vunipola (England), Mako Vunipola (England), Sam Warburton (Wales)
Backs: Dan Biggar (Wales), Elliot Daly (England), Jonathan Davies (Wales), Owen Farrell (England), Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Jonathan Joseph (England), Conor Murray (Ireland), George North (Wales), Jack Nowell (England), Jared Payne (Ireland), Johnny Sexton (Ireland), Tommy Seymour (Scotland), Ben Te'o (England), Anthony Watson (England), Rhys Webb (Wales), Liam Williams (Wales), Ben Youngs (England)
I think he's got a great squad here. I know a few Scots are pretty miffed as they feel they've been short-changed with only 2 players. I thought he might've included Finn Russell and possibly Richie Grey.
For me, the one glaring omission is Joe Launchberry - outstanding in the 6 Nations and skipper of the Premiership leaders... I'd have put him in before either Lawes or Kruis.
It's a tough fixture schedule and there will be injuries, so additional players will undoubtedly get a call-up. FIXTURES
3 June New Zealand Barbarians vs British and Irish Lions Toll Stadium, Whangarei
7 June Blues vs British and Irish Lions Eden Park, Auckland
10 June Crusaders vs British and Irish Lions AMI Stadium, Christchurch
13 June Highlanders vs British and Irish Lions Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
17 June Māori All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua
20 June Chiefs vs British and Irish Lions Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
24 June New Zealand vs British and Irish Lions Eden Park, Auckland
27 June Hurricanes vs British and Irish Lions Westpac Stadium, Wellington
1 July New Zealand vs British and Irish Lions Westpac Stadium, Wellington
8 July New Zealand vs British and Irish Lions Eden Park, Auckland To be frank I feel a bit sorry for the Scots given their level of improvement .Having said that I cannot see any of them being better than the players selected.There will though some who may get the call due to injuries.Hamish Watson comes to mind Fair point re Watson - he had an outstanding 6 Nations.
I do just think the Scottish team is somehow better then the sum of it's parts (if you get my drift), a product of Verne Cotter's coaching I think. I think you are probably right .Their debacle against England may well have counted heavily against them
Still they have got Greig Laidlaw in the mix now due to unfortunate circumstances.
Another player who can count himself unlucky is Gary Ringrose Looking forward to having a nice cold beer with my bacon sarnies on Saturday morning. Great set piece work from The Lions.Shame about the result. I'm clutching at the straw that they're still nursing some jet-lag, and learning to gel....
By Saturday, at least one of those excuses will be gone...
Thought today's performance was better than last Saturday's - but Sexton still looks out of sorts. My money's on Farrell starting at 10 against the Crusaders. Looking a lot more organised today.Johnathan Davies' line was very nice, off Farrell's shoulder.Hope he ok for remaining games. Great 80-minute performance. Loved the Vunipola, George, Furlong front-row. In fact, the whole forward pack were excellent. Sexton back to form was a huge bonus. Hope Hogg's injury wasn't too serious; I'm guessing 1/2p would've started the next game anyway..
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