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Not a single Scot has made Sam Warburton's latest Lions XV and there's no room for 3 Welsh legends

By Ian Cameron
There's no room for Scotland's Hamish Watson in Sam Warburton's latest Lions selection /Getty

Despite the viability of the British and Irish Lions tour being in serious jeopardy, it hasn’t stopped the endless production line of ‘Lions XV’ selections, and Sam Warburton’s latest effort has certainly thrown the cat among the pigeons.

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The former tour skipper hasn’t included a single Scotland player in his selection, but he has found room for three Welshman, despite their national team misfortunes. There’s no room for Finn Russell, Hamish Watson, Stuart Hogg or Jamie Ritchie, who have all been tipped to feature in the tour to South Africa, should it go ahead.

There’s also no room for long-time Welsh colleagues Alun Wyn Jones, Jonathan Davies and, and maybe most surprisingly, Justin Tipuric. Tipuric continues to shine, even in the context of a badly misfiring Welsh side.

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Which Welsh players will make the Lions?

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Which Welsh players will make the Lions?

Warburton’s major ‘bolter’ is Johnny Williams, who is just two caps into his burgeoning Test career. Williams stood out in both his Autumn Nations Cup performances, the Somerset born centre impressing on both sides of the ball.

The tour is maybe a little too soon for Williams to force his way past the established inside centre order, but a strong Guinness Six Nations could further his case for inclusion in Warren Gatland’s plans.

Other than Williams, there are no other great ‘inclusion’ surprises in the selection, although he has named a number of injured players with Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong and fullback Liam Williams both making the cut despite being in process of recovering from injuries.

Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup winners England dominate Warburton’s selection, with a total ten across the fifteen and five in the forward pack.

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Sam Warburton’s Lions Test XV :
15. Liam Williams
14. Anthony Watson
13. Henry Slade
12. Johnny Williams
11. Jonny May
10. Owen Farrell
9. Ben Youngs
1. Mako Vunipola
2. Jamie George
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Maro Itoje
5. James Ryan
6. Sam Underhill
7. Tom Curry
8. Toby Faletau

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Bull Shark 1 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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