Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn

[big ginger 8]

With the end of the season we've now had a number of articles naming Lions teams/squads and reactions to those articles. I'm bored in work so here's my squad while probably forgetting a load of lads.

Loosehead: Porter, Schoeman, Asher Opoku-Fordjour (it would annoy Olyy), Genge

Hooker: Sheehan, Kelleher, Lake, Ashman

Tighthead: Furlong, Fagerson, Bealham,

Locks: McCarthy, Beirne, Martin, Itoje, Ryan, Jenkins

Backrow: Doris, Earl, Morgan, Van der Flier, Cunningham-South, Reffell

Scrumhalf: Gibson-Park, Mitchell, Horne

Outhalf: Russell, Smithx2, Crowley

Centre: Ringrose, Aki, Jones, Tuipolotu, Henshaw

Backthree: Keenan, Feyi-Waboso, Freeman, Hansen, Lowe, Kinghorn

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Dream touring party:


There isn't one, and they just give up on this whole charade

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Dream touring party:


There isn't one, and they just give up on this whole charade

Best thing about this tour is that I've decided to travel to Romania and Georgia to watch Ireland having been given the opportunity.

 

[BPM]

Not too much to argue with there. Here's mine:

1. Porter / Genge / Schoeman
2. Sheehan / Kelleher / Lake
3. Furlong / Fagerson / Bealham
4. Beirne / Itoje
5. McCarthy / Martin / Ryan
6. Cunningham-South / Wainwright
7. van der Flier / Underhill / J. Willis
8. Doris / Earl
9. Gibson-Park / Mitchell / van Poortvliet
10. Russell / M. Smith / Crowley
11. Lowe / van der Merwe / Freeman
12. Aki / Tuipolotu
13. Ringrose / Henshaw / Marchant
14. Feyi-Waboso / Hansen
15. Keenan / Kinghorn / Furbank

Lost count, but that's my first stab.

Front and second row pretty much pick themselves. Back row is insanely competitive, but mostly because a lot of the better options do their best work at 7 or 8. I left out Morgan and Curry given their long lay offs but I wouldn't be surprised to see both challenging hard. Reffell is unlucky to miss out to Underhill and Willis in my squad. 6 is much tougher hence why I moved Wainwright.

I also went for Marchant at 13 as I think he's one of the best available and the Lions won't care about him playing in France.

 

[big ginger 8]

I also went for Marchant at 13 as I think he's one of the best available and the Lions won't care about him playing in France.

Obviously the Lions won't have any restrictions about picking someone who plays in France but in terms of the logistics I think it's pretty unlikely.

Certainly in the past the French playoffs have really overlapped with the early tour stuff and the lack of international games for certain players really seems to take them out of the shop window.

 

[BPM]

That's a fair point and could be a factor in selecting Willis, but in Marchant's case, Stade probably won't make the play offs.

OTOH, 13 is a pretty competitive spot and after Ringrose and Henshaw (who are obvious choices), I don't think there is much between Marchant, Slade and Jones. I personally, think Marchant is the best out of the three in terms of quality and consistency.

If Racing are in the play-offs, it might spare Andy Farrell the dilemma of whether to pick Owen or not

 

[Geordie]

That's a fair point and could be a factor in selecting Willis, but in Marchant's case, Stade probably won't make the play offs.

OTOH, 13 is a pretty competitive spot and after Ringrose and Henshaw (who are obvious choices), I don't think there is much between Marchant, Slade and Jones. I personally, think Marchant is the best out of the three in terms of quality and consistency.

If Racing are in the play-offs, it might spare Andy Farrell the dilemma of whether to pick Owen or not

Surely we dont have to go there. We have some quality 10s and 12s to pick from...and with a year to go...could have a couple of bolters aswell.

 

[BPM]

We don't, but he isn't our son …

 

[AlRums]

Little bit stunned you've both selected a fair smattering of Scots

 

[BPM]

To be fair, I could have gone for more too. 7 is so competitive but I'd not be unhappy if Darge gets the nod.

 

[big ginger 8]

Will be interesting to see what bolters if any arise over the next season. I got some flack before the last tour suggesting Kelleher and Conan would make it, so they often look outlandish but do happen.

Winger is the most up and down position imo and the easiest one to breakout at but given how Farrell uses his, I'm not sure how relevant it'll be.

 

[BPM]

Worth factoring in the opposition too. On the last two tours, I feel like the Lions were thinking about how to counter NZ or the Boks (who were both reigning world champions at the time) rather than vice versa. No disrespect to Australia, but the Lions should be focusing on how to dominate rather than how to contain.

Farrell will most likely pick an Ireland dominated side (rightly so unless they have a bizarre collapse) and will have also have a good idea of what Schmidt is likely to bring to the table. Both of those are big helps and will determine the type of squad that goes.

 

[Jimbo]

Worth factoring in the opposition too. On the last two tours, I feel like the Lions were thinking about how to counter NZ or the Boks (who were both reigning world champions at the time) rather than vice versa. No disrespect to Australia, but the Lions should be focusing on how to dominate rather than how to contain.

Farrell will most likely pick an Ireland dominated side (rightly so unless they have a bizarre collapse) and will have also have a good idea of what Schmidt is likely to bring to the table. Both of those are big helps and will determine the type of squad that goes.

Doesn't it stand to reason that Schmidt might have the best understanding of Ireland and how to contain them outside of the current Ireland setup, the familiarity surely works both ways.