British and Irish Lions squad: Winners and losers as ‘chosen one’ Maro Itoje ‘enters hall of rugby immortals’ while ‘golden boy’ misses out
Sam Prendergast (left) and Maro Itoje (right)
Following the announcement of Andy Farrell’s British and Irish Lions squad to take on the Wallabies, here are our key winners and losers.
Winners
Maro Itoje
The big winner in all of this is captain Maro Itoje, who becomes only the second Englishman in the professional era to lead the historic touring side into battle. The totemic figure emerged as the clear front-runner after his more than impressive Six Nations campaign, but it’s a call that feels right given his stellar career for Saracens, England and even the Lions too.
He was always touted as a future Lions captain, even in the days when he carried Bil the Lion around in New Zealand, and he has now achieved what others can only dream of. His leadership skills have always been there, but in the Six Nations he showed exactly what he can do in that role in the cauldron of Test rugby, and emerged as the chosen one.
He now enters the hall of rugby immortals, and if he can lead them to a series victory, he will go down in Lions folklore.
Itoje as the Lions captain just seems to fit perfectly.
Scott Cummings
The biggest bolter of the lot of Scotland forward Scott Cummings, who has flown under the radar in the build-up to the tour. This is the perfect call to summarise the importance of having Scottish representation in the coaching group via John Dalziel as well, given he will know exactly what he brings at the set-piece and around the park too.
Aside from that, he will add more beef to the pack and drive competition in the engine room too; which is only a good thing for the group overall.
Henry Pollock
It’s the one we were all waiting for, but yet it’s not really a surprise either. The Northampton Saints ace is arguably the form back-rower out of the lot headed on this tour, particularly given his performance against Leinster on Saturday. He might be in the early stages of his career, but this doesn’t feel like a sympathy call, he fully warrants this call-up. His brand of power, pace and general reading of the game are exactly what you want out of a Test Lion, and there’s no reason he can’t crack that 23.
We’ll all enjoy seeing him carrying Bil the Lion around Aus too.
Elliot Daly
Another potentially surprising call, but you can certainly see the merits in it too. Daly is able to cover 13, wing and even full-back if needed, and that versatility is a big tick in his box. As we saw in the Six Nations too, he is a great option to go onto the bench in a 6:2 split, but could also more than do a job in a starting role too, given both his quality and versatility.
He has also been on two Lions tours in his career and has Test match experience too, which again is a valuable asset, given this is a pretty young squad.
You can certainly see the reasons why Farrell’s picked him.
Mack Hansen
Ireland winger Mack Hansen was one of a number of players under an injury cloud ahead of this squad selection, but Farrell has backed his man to join the touring party despite that.
He has been a mainstay in Farrell’s Ireland side in the past few years and plays a significant role within their attacking shape too, and with the heavy Irish influence in the coaching group the Lions might adopt a similar gameplan.
Hansen is also the perfect tourist, which is always good for the Lions.
Luke Cowan-Dickie
Another man with previous Lions Test experience is Luke Cowan-Dickie, but this one feels a bit sweeter than last time. The Sale Sharks man has put the injury hell behind him this season to return to the England picture, and he looks back to his absolute brutal best once again, and it’s that form that’s got him in the Lions team.
Cowan-Dickie has also been on a tour before, and was arguably the best player from the 2021 tour at that too, so that experience will again be crucial.
Andy Farrell
Picking a Lions squad is never an easy task, just look at how much we in the media have debated it, but Farrell has picked his team, and it’s an incredibly strong one at that.
Itoje is a fine choice as captain, and even the bolters seem to fit in with the overall feel of the squad. Picking a slightly bigger 38-man squad also shows he’s got exactly the players he wants in the team, rather than leaving key players at home. This feels very much like his squad.
Losers
Caelan Doris
Cruel, really really cruel. Caelan Doris was all but locked in to start the Test series for the Lions this summer, if not captain the side, after his remarkable displays for both Leinster and Ireland, but he has seen his hopes ripped to shreds after a shoulder injury in his final audition.
It’s never nice to see a player pick up an injury like that, just a freakish one in a game, but for a player like Doris that had the world at his feet this summer, it’s especially horrible.
Hopefully, we will get to see him in the red jersey at some point this tour, but sources close to Planet Rugby have confirmed he will be out for four to six months, so it’s very unlikely.
Ben Curry
This must be a really strange day for Ben Curry, considering his twin brother was picked and he was omitted. The England flanker really impressed during the Six Nations in his own right, especially with his work around the breakdown, and would have surely been right in the discussion, but has probably fallen victim to the depth around him in the back-row.
Jamie George
Former Lions midweek captain Jamie George misses out on squad, and again it feels like he’s a victim of the depth available. But, given his experience at Test level, both England and Lions, he could have been a really valuable asset to this squad, which we’ve already mentioned is fairly young.
Maro Itoje named British and Irish Lions captain ending 24-year drought
Outside of that, he showed no signs of ageing in the Six Nations either and is still one of the best lineout throwers in the world game, so again could have really benefitted the squad.
Willis brothers
Both Tom and Jack Willis have missed out on the squad, and both could feel potentially hard done by as a result. Looking at Tom first, he felt almost a like-for-like replacement for the injured Doris both positionally and in style of play too, but with Earl and Conan both more than capable Test eights he’s probably just fallen behind them in that respect.
Brother Jack was an outside shot considering he’s not played Test rugby since the World Cup, but he was also very much in the discussion leading up to the squad announcement, given his form for Toulouse. The back-rower has been in remarkable form since making the move across the channel, even leaving Antoine Dupont thankful he wasn’t playing for England against France this Six Nations – a compliment in itself.
But, the lack of Test rugby was probably the difference in the end, which is a shame for him considering it’s not entirely his fault.
George Ford
This was possibly the last time George Ford would have been in the Lions mix, but yet again his dreams have been shattered. He might not have had the Test season he was after, with only three brief cameos to his name this season, but he is still very much the classy player he has always been. Ford has been in remarkable form for Sale since returning from the Six Nations, and no doubt will no go onto big things again with England this summer, but he again misses out on the Lions.
The best to never do it, perhaps.
Owen Farrell
It was a big call either way, but alas Owen Farrell has not made father Andy’s squad. Like Willis, and maybe a couple of the other players out in France, it’s likely the lack of recent Test rugby that allowed the others to overtake him in the pecking order.
He has also had a really tough first season with Racing due to both personal injuries and club results, and maybe the concussion this weekend was the final nail in the coffin.
Sam Prendergast
It felt almost inevitable that Sam Prendergast would get called into the Lions squad after the Six Nations, but he too has missed out on selection. Prendergast is clearly a talented player and will surely one day make a Lions tour, but it’s probably a bit too early in his career this time around. There are clearly faults in his game, as you would expect with a player his age, and they have been exposed at the most crucial times.
Again, he will likely be a Lion one day, but Ireland’s golden boy misses this one.
Wales
Just two Welsh players have been named in Farrell’s 38-man squad, the lowest since World War Two. This is yet another huge dagger in Welsh rugby after a really tough year for the national side.
Dewi Lake can certainly feel hard done by not being included, given he was arguably one of Wales’ safer bets before his bicep injury and after his return was still in many people’s predicted teams. Taulupe Faletau is another, considering he is bang in form right now and Blair Murray felt like a good bolter call as well.
But, just two players in this 38-man squad probably tells a greater story of where Welsh rugby is right now.
Tom Jordan
Again, probably many people’s outside shot of making the squad. Tom Jordan was mesmeric at times during Scotland’s Six Nations campaign, effortlessly replacing Sione Tuipulotu at 12 and arguably having just as good an impact, albeit in a different way. He was probably in direct competition with Daly for this selection, with him also able to play right across the backline, but the Englishman’s Lions experience probably just got him in the side.
