Six English, six Irish with Owen Farrell in: Bok legends pick Lions XV

South African World Cup winner Schalk Burger has picked former England captain Owen Farrell as his preferred choice to start for the British and Irish Lions against Australia later this year.

The Racing 92 fly-half was one of six England internationals selected by Burger, Jean de Villiers and Hanyani Shimange on the latest episode of RugbyPass TV’s Boks Office this week.

Burger was tasked with selecting the back-row and half-backs, and plucked his former Saracens team-mate out, who won the last of his 112 England caps at the 2023 World Cup before withdrawing from the 2024 Six Nations and moving to the Top 14 at the end of last season. The favourite to start in the Lions No.10 jersey heading into the Six Nations, Scotland’s Finn Russell, would be Burger’s selection on the bench when the team are “chasing it”.

The most problematic position for the former world player of the year was blindside flanker, but he eventually settled on Tom Curry (presumably, although he may well have meant Ben Curry).

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“Blindside flanker is a tough one,” he said. “Because I really enjoyed what [Matt] Fagerson and [Rory] Darge did for Scotland. I think [Josh] van der Flier will play a role. We’re not picking a lock at flank, that’s not happening. I’ll have to go Curry.”

De Villiers, who selected the outside backs, opted for Ireland’s Hugo Keenan at full-back over popular choice Blair Kinghorn. This opened a new question for Burger, though: “where does Marcus Smith fit in for the Lions?”

Shimange said he would deploy Smith from the bench much in the same role Beauden Barrett has been used by the All Blacks, though this muddied the waters further, with de Villiers adding: “but then there’s no place for Finn Russell or Fin Smith.”

The team differed on who would be captain of the side, with Shimange opting for England’s skipper Maro Itoje, and Burger and de Villiers, series winners against the Lions in 2009, selecting Ireland’s leader Caelan Doris.

Boks Office Lions XV
1 Ellis Genge
2 Dan Sheehan
3 Will Stuart
4 Maro Itoje
5 Tadhg Beirne
6 Tom Curry
7 Ben Earl
8 Caelan Doris
9 Jamison Gibson-Park
10 Owen Farrell
11 James Lowe
12 Sione Tuipulotu (Bundee Aki if he’s injured)
13 Huw Jones
14 Duhan van der Merwe
15 Hugo Keenan

As strong as this side is, only three members of this Lions XV made the team’s Six Nations team of the tournament, all from England’s pack.

Stuart, Itoje and Earl were the three to make the XV which included nine players from Championship winners France and one from Italy.

Boks Office team of the Six Nations
1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
2 Peato Mauvaka
3 Will Stuart
4 Maro Itoje
5 Emmanuel Meafou
6 Francois Cros
7 Ben Earl
8 Gregory Alldritt
9 Maxime Lucu
10 Romain Ntamack
11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey
12 Tommaso Menoncello
13 Huw Jones
14 Damian Penaud
15 Thomas Ramos