The Lions Team has been leaked...

[hopwood]

.... before the announcement tomorrow.

Gatland has once again raised a few eyebrows, but i like this selection.

S Hogg; A Watson, E Daly, R Henshaw, D van der Merwe; D Biggar, A Price;
W Jones, L Cowan-Dickie, T Furlong, A W Jones (c), M Itoje, C Lawes, T Curry, J Conan.

Replacements: K Owens, R Sutherland, K Sinckler, T Beirne, H Watson, I Henderson, C Murray, O Farrell.


All Tests now being played in Cape Town.

Thoughts?

[Wombles]

IF true: The only risk for me is AWJ, I would of placed Beard ahead of him. Hogg/Williams was always 50/50. Adams is a surprise, however Watson is absolute world class and VDM has more than earnt his chance. Will the leak reflect the reality...we will see.

[Heathen]

And Daly in his best position.

[Wombles]

And Daly in his best position.

The weird thing I keep seeing is the surprise from the commentators and other fans who are not Wasps. They seem to forget his best position has always been 13. Putting him in the back 3 was the worst error that coaches made for him. When you have a player with the balanced running of Jeremy Gusgott and the kicking boot like Paul Thorburn the only place he can truly thrive is at 13.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPQ1zdy_UOc

[JonnyD]

Daly has been very good at 13 - I just wonder how good he could now be in terms of all time 13s if he had gathered all of his England caps at 13 instead of messing around at 15.

Liam Williams and Adams must have been close and Hamish Watson is unlucky not to start.
Pleased to see he’s been brave benching Farrell but not sure about all the locks in the squad - not sure about the 6-2 split (like Eddie) yes we need the physicality but no way to change the game if we want and doesn’t cover any injuries to outside backs

[hopwood]

I think Gats has got this spot on.
You don’t want to get into an arm wrestle with the Boks.
You want some added pace and attack them around the edges.
And I think this squad reflects that.

Adams scored his tries against very weak opposition.
Price has been far zippier.
Daly has great kicking ability and can ping the boks into the corners.
And in the forwards he’s picked on form...other than AWJ, who he obviously implicitly trusts.

I think it’s setup for a cracking game.

[hookender]

Willie le Roux to start for SA

https://www.talkingrugbyunion.co.uk/siya-kolisi-starts-for-south-africa-in-series-opener-against-lions/31141.htm

[DGP Wasp]

If true... (and I'm mindful that Gats may have allowed this leak as something of a red herring)

I like the look of that.  No Mako V or Jamie George in the 23 a surprise, but LCD has definitely earnt his spot.

AWJ starting is a risk for sure, but in Gatland's view (and hard to argue) a risk worth taking, mitigated by having Lawes starting at 6 with Beirne and Henderson on the bench all more than capable in 2nd row.

Daly's been looking very good at 13.  Who knew?! I too have been laughing at supposedly knowledgeable, "expert" commentators who have expressed surprise at his selection in unquestionably his best position.  2 fingers from Gats to Eddie, along with the selection of Simmonds and Smith.  The 6/2 bench split means he's also there to cover back 3 if needed I guess.

Agree with the comment above re Adams.  Scoring hatfuls against weak opposition proves nothing.  Although, I still have an issue with a South African playing for rather than against the Lions, but that's modern international rugby.

[baldpaul101]

2 fingers from Gats to Eddie

except of course Gatland played Daly at 14 in the last Lions series...
I would suspect its more to do with fewer options at 13 than in the back 3, where you have 6 or so players all fully capable of being starters.
Not that Daly doesn't deserve his starting spot

[DGP Wasp]

2 fingers from Gats to Eddie

except of course Gatland played Daly at 14 in the last Lions series...
I would suspect its more to do with fewer options at 13 than in the back 3, where you have 6 or so players all fully capable of being starters.
Not that Daly doesn't deserve his starting spot

I have far less of an issue with Daly on the wing than with Daly at FB.  Wasps tried that many years ago.  It didn't work then and it still doesn't work now.

[Heathen]

Now confirmed.

[DGP Wasp]

Now confirmed.

But with Liam Williams on the bench in place of Henderson, so back to a 5/3 split.

Last 2 names on the bench might make some "Happy".   (Sorry!)

[Chunky24]

Just watched "Chasing the Sun" for the first time now it is on Sky, makes you realise exactly what the Lions up against, I just ran through 2 brick walls for Rassie Erasmus afterwards!

[westwaleswasp]

'I had had difficulty with this idea of picking players in form in what everyone saw as their best positions. What is this spineless foolery, I thought to myself? Clearly Gatland had been influenced by the media hacks  and was not his own man. At least he picked 3 starting locks.'


Jones, Eddie 2024 memoir ' Rewriting the rules'.

[DGP Wasp]

'I had had difficulty with this idea of picking players in form in what everyone saw as their best positions. What is this spineless foolery, I thought to myself? Clearly Gatland had been influenced by the media hacks  and was not his own man. At least he picked 3 starting locks.'


Jones, Eddie 2024 memoir ' Rewriting the rules'.