Lions squad

la gran siete

Nver mind the starting 15 at this moment ,who will make the the squad of 37 and who will be the captain .The bookies favourite for the captaincy would appear to be Warburton but i say thats a mistake as he is not necessarily the best 7 .Tipuric has that honour so I say let go for Paul O'connel who is such an inspirational figure and an excellent lock who is highly experienced and respected.As for the squad not sure what the total will be but i am going fopr 37 so with that in mind here goes

15 -Leigh Halfpenny , Stuart Hogg,Mike brown

Wings-George North, Sean Maitland, ,  Simon Zebo,Christian Wade( my left field selection)

Centres -Brian O'Driscoll, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies, Manu Tuilagi.

F/H- Jonathan Sexton, Billy Twelvetrees(can play 12 as well), Owen Farrell

S/H-Mike Phillips, Ben Youngs,Danny Care

Props  Gethin Jenkins, Mako Vunipola, Cian Healy, Adam Jones, Dan Cole ,Ewan Murray
locks-Joe Launchbury, Paul O'Connell(capt), Alun Wyn Jones, Ian Evans
hooker - Tom Youngs Richard Hibbard, Rory Best
flanker- Chris Robshaw, Justin Tipuric, Sam Warburton , Sean O'Brien ,Tom Croft
Number 8- Johnnie Beattie ,Ben Morgan

Clunk

If you remember, Gatland has stated that the tour captain won't necessarily be game captain in each test. It will be more of a squad captain role - to set the standard and be an ambassador for the tour, on an off the field and in the media. What he doesn't want to do is choose a game captain now, and then be forced to select all his teams around that choice. Form and injuries play such a part that flexibility is needed.

IMO Warburton is the right choice for this role, which he performed superbly in RWC11 and the subsequent 6N campaign. He has also demonstrated this year that he has no qualms playing under a different match captain as the situation demands. He is pretty much guaranteed a spot in the test 23 IMO - whether at 7, 6, or on the bench covering the whole back row, and will promote the right attitude no matter where and how he is used (or just as importantly, not used).

If others (O'Driscoll, O'Connell, AWJ, Jenkins, Robshaw, etc) are a better choice for captaincy in a given game/test match - then I have no doubt Gatland will select them as such. Warburton will back this approach, from within the team, from the bench, and from the stands. And the squad mentality will be better for it.

I'm not sure the same would necessarily be said for some of the other captaincy options if they found themselves benched, outside the match 23, or injured. Previous tours (2001, 2005) have come off the rails slightly due to squad disharmony, and Gatland understands the dynamic of the tour (the 2009 tour looked tighter than any since 1997 - Geech knew how important this is).

davidegee

pretty surprised at some of the selections.  Done for convenience or ability, i.e. Sheridan / Jenkins?

Ivor the Engine

Breaking News - Johnny Wilkinson ruled himself out of Lions.

Give.  Me.  A.  Break.

Smacks of yesteryear and a total non story.

BT Bob

Looks a pretty well-balanced selection to me. Hartley stands out as being the luckiest bloke there. I fail to see what he brings to any team. Rory Best must be pretty gutted.

Clunk

Okay in full:

Backs:
Leigh Halfpenny,
Stuart Hogg,
Rob Kearney,
Tommy Bowe,
Alex Cuthbert,
Sean Maitland,
George North,
Jonathan Davies,
Brian O'Driscoll,
Jamie Roberts,
Manu Tuilagi,
Owen Farrell,
Jonathan Sexton,
Conor Murray,
Mike Phillips,
Ben Youngs.

Forwards:
Dan Cole,
Cian Healy,
Gethin Jenkins,
Adam Jones,
Matt Stevens,
Mako Vunipola,
Dylan Hartley,
Richard Hibbard,
Tom Youngs,
Ian Evans,
Richie Gray,
Alun-Wyn Jones,
Paul O'Connell,
Geoff Parling,
Tom Croft,
Toby Faletau,
Jamie Heaslip,
Dan Lydiate,
Sean O'Brien,
Justin Tipuric,
Sam Warburton

travid

The BBC have no bias at all.......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22351634

Pathetic!

la gran siete

yes I agree but then I think Faletau is massively overrated. I wouid have Ben Morgan who is the best ball carrying number 8 by a country mile.Lydiate can also count himself very lucky as he has only just come back from injury and is in no way match fit . Tom Wood would have been my man

gibbsy

Got to agree with that one. Think I would have picked Ken Owen over Hartley, but certainly not over Best. Glad to see Ian Evans has made the squad, certainly one of the most consistent locks in the 6 Nations.

travid

Agreed also Bob. Best has every right to be a little peeved, to say the least!