Joey Carbery suffers nightmare start to Bordeaux career

I also don’t think ‘tier one to tier two only’ is an enforceable rule, Theree is to much fluctuation in the world rankings if that is the guide. If say, Tonga suddenly rise to number 6 in the world they cannot reverse course in selection policy!

Don’t you feel any sense of awkwardness that KT has won 6 Tonga caps and now wants to rep the ABs?

I don’t thnik there is any chance of WR demanding specilaist back off the pine though. It’s up to opoonents to upset the strategy and expose the risks being taken!

I’m glad you cite White’s form, I think he has looked sharp this year. Tizanno must be pushing hard for a bench spot against the Lions. Wouldn't be surprising if Lions feature Van de Flier and at least one Curry and one Willis so it could be as much a speed as a grunt battle against the loosies.

Having Skelton in the squad for the Lions series is a must. Yes he’s a 2nd rower who's a lineout lifter instead of a lineout jumper but his mongrel is essential as displayed against Wales in November.

As for the 7-1 bench split, I flip flop between praising Rassie Erasmus and Fabien Galthie for playing to their team’s strengths and being willing to embrace the trade-off that comes with a 7-1 bench composition but also believing World Rugby should stipulate that a bench must have at least 2 specialist backs.