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Sam Warburton selects just 2 Englishmen in his British and Irish Lions XV

By Ian Cameron
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Former British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton raised some eyebrows today when he revealed a Lions XVs selection that featured just two English players.

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Despite winning both the Guinness Six Nations and the Autumn Nations Cup, Warburton didn’t see fit to reward them in this team selection, instead choosing an Irish heavy selection to face the Springboks in South Africa in 2021.

Warburton, who skippered the 2017 tour of New Zealand, revealed his selection on Twitter, writing: “What a game England. Check out my Lion XV. What do you think?”

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To be fair to Warburton, although he didn’t specify it in his Tweet, his selection was in the context of their current form from the weekend’s Autumn Nations Cup finals, where England failed to fire, barely pulling themselves over the line against a third choice French outfit.

SAM WARBURTON’S LIONS XV
1. Cian Healy
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie
3. Andrew Porter
4. Maro Itoje
5. James Ryan
6. Justin Tipuric
7. Peter O’Mahoney
8. Taulupe Faletau
9. Conor Murray
10. Jonny Sexton
11. Keith Earls
12. Bundee Aki
13. Robbie Henshaw
14. Duhan van der Merwe
15. Jacob Stockdale

The Welshman’s final rugby match was the Lions’ test draw against the All Blacks in June 2017. Following the series in New Zealand, he underwent neck surgery on an ongoing injury followed by proactive knee surgery earlier in 2018. He attempted to return to full fitness but was unable to reach the heights he desired and so made the heartbreaking decision to retire at just 29.

England head coach Eddie Jones has specified that he wants 20 English players to make the tour, an endeavor he believes will stand to the players ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. There’ll be fat chance of that if Gatland picks a team anything like Warburton’s.

The 2021 British & Irish Lions Tour is nearly sold out, book your ticket-inclusive packages before it’s too late with the comfort of our Covid guarantee and be part of the ultimate rugby experience.
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Bull Shark 2 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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