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Lions 2017: Hartley and Launchbury lead star-studded list of notable absentees
Warren Gatland named a 41-man British and Irish Lions squad for the tour of New Zealand, but several notable names were left out of his selection – with Joe Launchbury’s omission leaving club side Wasps “gobsmacked”.
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The Lions head to take on the All Blacks for the first time since 2005, with three Test matches scheduled across June and July.
Here, we take a look at some of the high-profile talents to have missed out on the Lions’ shot at redemption, having been whitewashed in New Zealand 12 years ago.
Dylan Hartley
The exclusion of Dylan Hartley continued a trend of disappointment for England captains, with predecessors Steve Borthwick and Chris Robshaw having missed out on the last two tours.
Having skippered England to consecutive Six Nations crowns en route to a record-equalling 18-match winning run, Hartley might consider himself hard done by.
But Gatland preferred compatriot Jamie George, Wales’ Ken Owens and Ireland’s Rory Best for the three spots at hooker.
Joe Launchbury
Wasps were unequivocal in their reaction to Joe Launchbury being overlooked, citing his two man-of-the-match displays during the Six Nations.
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Launchbury’s form also saw him nominated for the Player of the Championship award.
But the 26-year-old, who was also a Lions hope in 2013 before ultimately missing out, was left to contend with rejection once again.
All gobsmacked here that Joe Launchbury wont be with @lionsofficial. 2 motm’s in a 6 Nations winning campaign & player of the comp nominee
— Wasps (@WaspsRugby) April 19, 2017
George Ford
Competition at fly-half was always going to be fierce and George Ford missed out to three world-class 10s in Jonathan Sexton, Dan Biggar and Owen Farrell, who can also play at centre.
Those selections also kept out Scotland’s Finn Russell, while kicking options across the backs may also have been a factor in Gatland’s thinking.
Jamie Roberts
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There was a surprise in store either way when it came to Jamie Roberts.
Talk of his potential inclusion on the morning of the announcement raised eyebrows as the experienced Wales centre appeared to jump ahead of a host of rivals.
However, having looked in line for a shock call-up, Roberts – who has featured in the last two tours – was left out by a coach who has brought the best out of him on the international stage.
Jonny Gray
Only two Scotland internationals made the cut, despite impressive wins overs Wales and Ireland in the Six Nations.
Jonny Gray was perhaps not at his peak during the tournament, but the lock can still feel aggrieved at his exclusion.
It was not the only bad news for the Gray family on Wednesday…
Richie Gray
Jonny’s brother Richie Gray was also conspicuous by his absence.
The older sibling did travel in 2013 and played in the decisive final match, but will not enjoy a repeat dose this year.
With the Gray brothers left out, Scotland’s only representatives will be Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour.
Hogg and Seymour are on their way to BT Murrayfield
We’ll have player reaction across our social channels later this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/GOc9XLlNTY
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) April 19, 2017
Simon Zebo
Simon Zebo was not selected in 2013, but still managed to feature on the tour, and that is his best hope this time around.
An injury to compatriot Tommy Bowe saw Zebo flown out to Australia, where he played in three tour games.
He did not play in any of the Tests, but at 27 he does still have a shot at winning a full Lions cap.
Watch the every match of the Lions Tour to New Zealand streaming live on rugbypass.com, home of the best online rugby coverage including news, highlights, previews & reviews, live scores, and more!
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments