Sam Warburton goes rogue with British and Irish Lions selection as ex-captain names ‘exceptional’ bolter in his XV
Sam Warburton has named Blair Murray in his British and Irish Lions XV
Former British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton has named a left-field Test XV for this summer’s tour, which includes bolter Blair Murray at fullback.
The Scarlets and Wales ace only made his Test debut during the autumn, but after some strong showings in the Six Nations, he has put himself in contention for the Lions.
Sam Warburton names bolter in Lions XV
Warburton, who captained the Lions to a series win over the Wallabies in 2013 and a drawn series against the All Blacks in 2017, has also made bold calls in the centres and in the front-row by including the injured Scotland skipper Sione Tuipulotu and Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong – who only returned from injury in Ireland’s final Test against Italy
Speaking on the BBC’s Six Nations Rugby Special, Warburton explained the thought process behind the calls: “I’ve gone Furlong, I would never on form on this latter part of the domestic season but players with credit in the bank deserve that.
He added: “There’s a lot of rugby from now until the tour, so if he gets five games for Leinster and three (mid-week) tour games, he’ll have eight games under his belt. If he does get fit, his ceiling is higher than any other tighthead.”
His thought process was also the same for Tuipulotu: “If he gets back and has any sort of game time, that’s enough.”
The boldest call of all is, of course, Murray at fullback, but Warburton explained his attributes will make him a quality Lion.
“Before the tournament, someone asked me who my best newcomer would be and I said Blair Murray. I just think he’s an exceptional athlete, got that counter-attacking ability, good under the high ball and brave in defence.”
“Him and Blair Kinghorn is a toss of a coin. Kinghorn has been excellent and has got better as the tournament went on, but that’s my curveball at 15.”
At the time of writing, Murray has won eight Test caps for Wales.
Sam Warburton’s British and Irish Lions XV in full
15 Blair Murray, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 James Lowe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Ellis Genge
