Jonathan Joseph must be involved for the British and Irish Lions against New Zealand

The British and Irish Lions are beginning to show signs of settling into their tour of New Zealand, despite there still being an overwhelming feeling that when the serious business comes around, the All Blacks will whitewash Warren Gatland’s side – who haven’t exactly hit the ground running against the pick of the New Zealand club sides.

Gatland’s side are now four games into their tour, and have picked up two victories and suffered two defeats so far, with the first test against the All Blacks just around the corner on June 24th. As always at this stage of an international tour, team selection is the topic everybody is discussing, from the experts in the television studio, to the people on the street.

Throughout the tour so far, the Lions have not given too much away, with just about everybody second guessing the XV Gatland will pick to take on the All Blacks on June 24th – as even tour captain, Sam Warburton, is having his place debated. However, one player who has shown glimpses of the damage he could cause New Zealand in the next month is outside centre, Jonathan Joseph.

As with most, it remains to be seen whether Gatland opts to pick the Bath and England 13 for the first test, with the 26-year old facing competition for a place in the centre from Jonathan Davies, Ben Te’o and Robbie Henshaw, whilst Gatland appears to be taking serious consideration to playing Owen Farrell in the midfield, should he opt for Jonathan Sexton at fly-half.

However, Joseph is visibly growing and becoming more comfortable with his surroundings every time he pulls on the Lions jersey, and he could be the man to cause New Zealand problems in the series that the All Blacks are huge favourites to win.

There is no doubting Joseph’s quality on the international stage, with the Bath man already earning 33 caps with England, where he has scored 16 tries and impressed under both Eddie Jones and his predecessor Stuart Lancaster, which has brought him into the reckoning for the 2017 Lions.

The Lions’ recent defeat to the Highlanders was a disappointing result for Gatland, but despite a few struggles in defence, Joseph showed in attack that he could be a real handful for the All Blacks when the tests begin. His try after 30 minutes showed what the centre is all about; running at space, with the ball in both hands and making decisions difficult for defenders, but most of all, the piece of skill showed his try scoring ability.

If the Lions are to beat the All Blacks, or just avoid a whitewash, they are going to have to be more of a try-scoring threat, and one way Gatland’s side can become that, is with Joseph in the team. Other combinations are beginning to put their hands up and give Gatland a selection headache, but one thing is becoming apparent: if the Lions want to be a success in New Zealand, Joseph has to be involved somewhere in the matchday 23.