With the excitement building ahead of 2013's visit to Australia, we decided to pump up the volume by bringing you our fifth British & Irish Lions watch!
Every three weeks or so Planet Rugby will update its leaderboard for who should pack their bags, who should keep the diary open and who should stock the fridge with a few beers, pizzas and ice creams for soaking up the tour on the couch, as the most coveted of selections fast approaches.
We must stress that long-term injuries have been taken into account for our calls. However, those nearing a return to action are accommodated.
Here we go - make sure to give your feedback.
FULL-BACKS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Wales and Cardiff Blues full-back Leigh Halfpenny remains the front-runner for the position, having continued to perform for his region. Halfpenny receives plenty of attention for his excellent goal-kicking but he is also a threat with ball in hand and strong under the high ball, making him the perfect candidate. Rob Kearney's return from injury is a positive sign for all Lions fans and if he stays fit will absolutely travel. Harlequins' Mike Brown is not far behind the leading duo and could travel as a full-back/winger option.
On standby: Mike Brown, Lee Byrne, Alex Goode
Best make other plans next June: Ben Foden, Stuart Hogg, Felix Jones.
WINGS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Tommy Bowe's injury sees him drop down the pecking order, with Heineken Cup showman Simon Zebo rocketing up our squad ranks. Chris Ashton is another who comes back into the fold after some strong performances for Saracens, whilst Craig Gilroy keeps his spot ahead of what could be a breakthrough Six Nations for the Ulster winger. Finally, a shootout between two Welsh giants sees Alex Cuthbert edge out George North to take the final spot. Two standby contenders include the returning Luke Fitzgerald, who has shone in his two matches back, and Osprey Eli Walker.
On standby: George North, Eli Walker, Luke Fitzgerald, Tommy Bowe, Tim Visser
Best make other plans next June: Liam Williams, Ugo Monye, Christian Wade, David Strettle, Sean Lamont
CENTRES
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: England powerhouse centre Manu Tuilagi remains near the top of the list after his heroics against New Zealand. Jamie Roberts has shown enough in recent weeks to suggest he is nearing a burst of form ahead of the Six Nations and could form a strong partnership with Tuilagi in midfield. Brian O'Driscoll is easing back into playing following injury and with the Ireland captaincy no longer his, expect a burden-free O'Driscoll to shine over the next two months. That leaves Brad Barritt as a defensive lynchpin and Welsh centre Jonathan Davies to fill the other seats travelling to Australia.
On standby: Scott Williams, Jonathan Joseph, Keith Earls
Best make other plans next June: James Downey, Anthony Allen, Darren Cave, Gordon D'Arcy, Ashley Beck
FLY-HALVES
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: The competition is as fierce as ever between Jonathan Sexton and Owen Farrell, with both players showcasing their skill sets during the Heineken Cup. Sexton is the front-runner and will not let being courted by Racing Métro distract him during the Six Nations, whilst Farrell produced a remarkable kicking performance against Racing to stake his claim. Behind them a third candidate is unclear, with Jonny Wilkinson struggling against Montpellier, Rhys Priestland ruled out for some time and Toby Flood's form being scratchy at best. In a battle between Freddie Burns (knee scan dependent), Dan Biggar and Flood, we'll take Biggar. Rhys Patchell and Charlie Hodgson are on the radar.
On standby: Jonny Wilkinson, Freddie Burns, Toby Flood, James Hook
Best make other plans next June: Rhys Priestland, Ruaridh Jackson, Ronan O'Gara, Rhys Patchell, Charlie Hodgson, Greig Laidlaw, Paddy Jackson
SCRUM-HALVES
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Danny Care and Ben Youngs are both strong candidates to start after illustrating their individual qualities recently. Care remains as sniping and tricky to defend as ever, whilst in the blizzard against Toulouse the busy Youngs' tactical kicking was outstanding. Behind the pair of them, Mike Phillips leads a strong Irish trio of Eoin Reddan, Conor Murray and Paul Marshall, with Scottish nine Henry Prygos an outside bet.
On standby: Conor Murray, Eoin Reddan, Paul Marshall
Best make other plans next June: Tavis Knoyle, Issac Boss, Richard Wigglesworth, Lloyd Williams, Lee Dickson, Henry Prygos
NUMBER EIGHTS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Jamie Heaslip is most definitely the number one number eight playing in Britain and Ireland right now. His performances for Leinster this past month have been superb and he increases his positional lead over his tour rivals because of that. Nick Easter continues to play well for Quins but is unlikely to go so our two other eights this time around are Toby Faletau and Kelly Brown, who would make a great midweek skipper.
On standby: James Coughlan, Thomas Waldrom, David Denton, Ben Morgan
Best make other plans next June: Jordan Crane, Nick Easter
FLANKERS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: And so we arrive to the Lions strongest position. Take your pick really as decisions may be made for us during the Six Nations. While Sam Warburton is Wales captain, the form of Justin Tipuric this past month has been outstanding and it will be interesting to see whether the Osprey gets game time in red. Chris Robshaw seems to be assured a place on the plane (we feel maybe not as a starter) so the other spots are heading toward Stephen Ferris (almost back) and Sean O'Brien. Tom Wood and Peter O'Mahony will be pushing hard along with Tom Croft and Dan Lydiate later on. The wildcard is, of course, 2013's non-international player and Toulon star openside Steffon Armitage.
On standby: Ross Rennie, Dan Lydiate, Tom Wood, Peter O'Mahony, Tom Croft, Steffon Armitage
Best make other plans next June: Tom Johnson, John Barclay, Alasdair Strokosch, Chris Henry, Ryan Jones, Iain Henderson
SECOND-ROWS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Just the one change here after another solid month of Heineken Cup rugby from Geoff Parling, Nathan Hines and Donnacha Ryan. That trio has a good balance of workrate, skills and grunt that will be needed against James Horwill and Sitaleki Timani. Our final lock spot is going to Richie Gray, who gets in ahead of Joe Launchbury, with both hoping for a strong Six Nations to boost their hopes of travelling.
On standby: Paul O'Connell, Joe Launchbury, Alun-Wyn Jones, Jim Hamilton, Courtney Lawes
Best make other plans next June: Luke Charteris, Bradley Davies, Al Kellock, Donncha O'Callaghan, Ian Evans, Mike McCarthy
HOOKERS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Richardt Strauss is out of the Lions mix this time around due to an ankle injury, which sidelines him for the Six Nations. That injury follows a knee problem so his fate may be decided for him should his run of bad luck continue. Rory Best remains the front-runner while Dylan Hartley is set to make the plane. The final spot is between either Richard Hibbard and Tom Youngs...we opt for the dynamic youngster.
On standby: Richard Hibbard, Sean Cronin, Matthew Rees, Richardt Strauss
Best make other plans next June: Ross Ford, Mike Sherry, Ken Owens
PROPS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: After yet another punishing display for Leinster over the weekend in the Heineken Cup, Cian Healy has to be the first front-rower on the plane. Dan Cole isn't far behind after dismantling many a scrum, and keeping Martin Castrogiovanni warming pine for Leicester. Gethin Jenkins has been on and off for Toulon, but should feature more often than not for Wales come the Six Nations which makes it tough to leave him at home. The same goes for Adam Jones, whilst Mike Ross also keeps his place.
On standby: Ryan Grant, Alex Corbisiero, Mako Vunipola
Best make other plans next June: Paul James, Euan Murray, Andrew Sheridan, Tom Court, Joe Marler, Dave Kilcoyne
Comments
banky says...
it will be interesting to see how some of the players who originaly you would of picked to play for the lions and now are dropping down the list will react over the six nations.we will see what sort of character these players have as there is a lot at stake.there can not be a better feeling to represent the lions than your own country. what ever team is picked i will be out there to support them ,lets bash the aussies come on the lions can not wait.
Posted 13:32 30th January 2013
Heart_of_oak says...
PatrickH
Not a bad team though for me warburton has gone off the boil while robshaw is playing exceptionally well. I also think a place will be found for Steffon armitage. No to Ashton for me even though I'm English. I'd much rather see Tom Varndell on the wing. He's in great form right now but he always is yet never gets selected. I think Lawes ought to go too. I'm wondering if they will select heaslip as captain. Would t be a bad move if they did. Heaslip is playing great stuff right now like robshaw.
Big issue for me is what's happening to Scottish rugby. In the northern hemisphere we need all our leagues to be strong. But Scotland seems to be getting worse. I hope the new coaching setup can improve things for them though not at England's expense.
Posted 14:20 26th January 2013
Rosbif says...
new_j4a, you are indeed a gentleman, I would expect nothing less of you :-)
(...and you're right, froggy73 seems a totally decent fellow...)
Posted 19:37 25th January 2013
new_j4a says...
@Rosbif...froggy73 seems like a very decent human being...I never want to insult decent human beings...just tease a bit maybe. (I posted the same apology on another thread just in case he wasn't coming back here)
Posted 15:34 25th January 2013
PatrickH says...
@markpat
Apart from the Easter bit.. He's so anonymous when it comes to internationals / Lions that I even missed him in your comment the first time round!
Posted 10:41 25th January 2013
PatrickH says...
@ markpat
I agree with everything you've said. Especially Wilko as 3rd choice 10.
As for BOD's form. He was outstanding in the match against Exeter (along with O'Brien & a few others) and if he keeps that up it's a no-brainer.
Posted 10:33 25th January 2013
leinster_goy says...
as long as Sexto, Robbo, Seany and Church are in the starting 15, i'll be one happy goy
Posted 10:18 25th January 2013
PatrickH says...
If I was picking my starting team based on current form it would look a little something like this;
15: Kearney / Halfpenny. Not much in these 2 at all. Kearney might just get the nod as he always gets the basics right & cause i'm Irish & a Leinster supporter.
14: Zeebo. The guy is on fire and oozing confidence.
13: BOD. See previous comment.
12: Tuilagi / Roberts. The BOD/Roberts combo tore SA to shreds. BOD and a big man is what we need here.
11: Take your pick! Ashton, Visser, Cuthbert, Gilroy, Fitzy and and and
10: Sexton (C). He's one of the best all round 10's in the game atm, has proved himself a leader when it counts (H-Cup final 2011) and he's a guaranteed starter.
9: P Marshall. I think Lions managers fancy themselves at picking out players other national coaches are overlooking. Marshall is playing brilliantly and there's debate in Ulster whether he should start instead of Pienaar. Pienaar would only move to 10 mind. Wouldn't it be great if he was Irish!
8: Heaslip. He's the form 8 and the amount unglamorous work he does is unreal.
7: Robshaw. Purely based on form. I think Warburton or (if Ferris is fit) O'Brien will start @ 7 come the series.
6: O'Brien. Ferris is a guaranteed starter if fit. O'Brien has to be on the team. Maybe move him to 8. Ferris, Warburton, O'Brien sounds fairly tasty & well balanced doesn't it??
5: Donnacha Ryan. He's a monster hard man from Munster!
4: Geoff Parling. Playing out of his skin. If Gray can throw a couple of decent appearances in during the 6N then he's the man.
3: Adam Jones, Dan Cole, Mike Ross. Nothing between them imo. If Murray shows form he'll be there or there about as well.
2: Best. Tough one this. I went for Best over Youngs purely for the experienced head. Youngs is playing brilliant as well.
1: Cian Healy. Superman! Best big game player in the world!
Lots of Irish in my starting 15...
Posted 09:13 25th January 2013
markpat says...
For my part, I'd definitely take Armitage at #7, he's been the best NH openside for a couple of seasons, I'd also take Easter as my 3rd #8. I would very possibly take Wilkinson as my 3rd #10 as well. You'd use him in the midweek games and, if we have to resort to starting our 3rd FH, I'd rather have Wilkinson in there and put a creative midfield outside him than have the inexperience of Burns, etc.
@PatrickH - the problem for BOD is that Jonathan Davies and Tuilagi are both playing outstanding rugby. If BOD's form gets anywhere near those 2, then, yes, he probably starts, due to his experience and leadership. I do agree, however, that he isn't a 12, whereas I think both Tuilagi and Davies can happily play 12.
Also, one other thing, competing against Pocock on the ground won't be the biggest concern for the Lions, as Hooper will almost certainly be th #7 for Australia and he's better on the ground than Pocock!
Outside of halfbacks, though, it's really good to see so many options this time around.
Posted 08:58 25th January 2013
PatrickH says...
@Rosbif
Good comment!
I disagree with one of your 2 points though..
Easter has always been a very good domestic league player. He got his shot at international level and was way out of his depth. I think the intensity of a Lions test would get to a player like Easter.
Heaslip is the best 8 in home nations atm but the 6N could throw up a new front runner. I think Morgan hasn't hit his potential yet and if he does he'll take 8 for the lions tests, or possibly Denton if he hits form.. or Felatu maybe...
I love the Lions!
Posted 08:34 25th January 2013
PatrickH says...
@ everybody who wants to pick BOD at 12
IMO you generally have 2 types of inside centre. Distributors / kickers or ball carriers. If you're playing a carrier like Roberts or Tuilagi or sb williams then you put a player with o'driscolls vision and ability at 13 to pick out the follow up lines and collect the offloads. If you play a distributor at 12 like giteau or for the sake of the lions lets say you start Farrell at 10 and Sexton at 12 then you put a player with o'driscolls vision and ability at 13 to see the holes in the defense and be there when the ball gets there! Talk of the greatest 13 of all times at 12 is silly! He creates space for those around him and his offloads are sublime!
Nobody can marshal a defense like BOD. His work rate at the breakdown and tackle count are second to none for a centre. Anyone who thinks he isn't going to make the plane doesn't watch much rugby. Anyone who thinks he isn't a guaranteed starter (all baring injury of course) is seriously underestimating the great man and what he does to opposing teams.
Posted 23:39 24th January 2013
Rosbif says...
As a Frenchman, admittedly living in London (who wants to pay 75% tax anyway?) might I just say 2 things:
1. The Lions is awesome
2. Steffon Armitage
Otherwise I agree with whatever APV1 says.... until I don't..... at which point I will have a massive public bust-up with him in front of all of you......
Oh, and by the way, the third thing I would have said (it's just that my teachers always said people only ever remember 1 or at most 2 things you say) was Nick Easter.
Posted 19:28 24th January 2013
Rosbif says...
new_j4a, As a fellow Frenchman, it warms my heart to see you apologising to froggy73 (and I was proud of froggy73 not rising to the bait). I am impressed! New Year's resolution? Or nice bottle of Les Ormes de Pez??
Posted 18:46 24th January 2013
new_j4a says...
@froggy73, apologies! No insult intended....just gentle banter...and mild amusement at the ironic contradiction in your post. Peace. And good luck for the HC.
Posted 11:22 24th January 2013
froggy73 says...
@new_j4a: justice mon ami, no way, I never read any articles about the lions. Not my scene, though I respect your interest for it. I just felt like sharing my view about this OTT, talking about it up to 8 months before the game.
Unlike you I don't need to insult people that don't share my view.
Posted 09:17 24th January 2013
Doug84 says...
Can rugbyplanet please explain why Johnnie Beattie is not even mentioned in the number 8 section? The only other 8 playing at that level at the moment is Heaslip! Beattie's picked up four man of the match awards recently, two in France and two in the HC! Pretty hard to ignore!
Posted 20:30 23rd January 2013
TVaddict says...
This would be my lions team which focuses on competing hard at the breakdown:
1) Cian Healy- Fantastic ball carrier and effective scrummager
2) Rory Best- A poacher while also a good ball carrier and decent at the set piece
3) Dan Cole- Fantastic scrummager and means an additional poacher.
4) Richie Gray/Courtney Lawes- Ball carrier/Tackler
5) Donnacha Ryan/Geoff Parling- Need a solid lineout operator and either of these would the job.
6) Chris Robshaw (c)- With him moving to 6 we gain another poacher.
7) Ross Rennie- Always tops the stats. Great poacher, ball carrier and worker.
8) Sean O'Brien- His ball carrying skills can be utilised more at 8 plus he's yet another poacher.
9) Danny Care- His style of play will suit Sexton better.
10) Jonny Sexton- Yep.
11) Leigh Halfpenny- An all rounder with a touch of magic, who also covers 15.
12) Manu Tuilagi- Always gets you over the gainline, moved to 12 to facilitate Davies
13) Jonathan Davies- Great all round player.
14) Alex Cuthbert- Great finisher and a good worker around the field.
15) Rob Kearney- Proven already at lions level and still just as good.
16) Tom Youngs- Caries the ball hard and never takes a step back.
17) Gethin Jenkins- An all round player who provides impact.
18) Adam Jones- One of the best scrummagers in the world.
19) Joe Launchbury- Phenomenal athlete who will provide great impact of the bench as well as also covering 6.
20) Stephen Ferris(if fit)/David Denton- Both effective ball cariers who provide impact as well as covering 6 and 8.
21) Ben Youngs- Impact and pace plus experience verses the Aussies.
22) Freddie Burns/Owen Farrell- Creativity and attack/World class kicking and defence. Both cover 12 as well.
23) Simon Zebo/George North- Either of these guys coming on at 60 mins to run at tired legs can only end well!
Posted 20:08 23rd January 2013
makemehappy says...
It is hard to believe looking around the 4 nations that other than sexton, the most consistent high performing outside half is stephen jones.
Posted 19:01 23rd January 2013
new_j4a says...
@froggy73,"I have no interest whatsoever in the Lions...... But talking about it over and over since november ...... is over the top." so why did you feel compelled to read and post? Compulsive disorder? A new form of Tourette's syndrome?
Posted 17:47 23rd January 2013
Honestpom says...
I would not pick Nick Easter for England in the 6 nations but he would definatly be my first choice no. 8 for the Lions in Australia if that makes sense ( dropped by England after a run of poor games, time to look to the future but could put in 3 awesome performances in the Lions test. As and England supporter i thought i would pick a Lions test 15 without considering any England players, no bias then, it would be Healey, Best, Jones, Gray, Ryan, O'Brien, Henry, Falateu, Phillips, Sexton, Walker, Roberts, Davies, Zebo ( presuming he could do a job on the right ) and Kearney.
Posted 17:43 23rd January 2013