Why Finn Russell 'edges' Marcus Smith in race for the Lions 10 shirt

Also this comparing SA with NZ when 1 side is retaining all their stars and the other side has had some major changes isnt a apples with apples comparison. Imagine comparing a F1 racing team where 1 team was 100% settled and the other was brand new....Just not a comparison worth doing as it proves nothing other than the blatently obvious.

1 - I don't think Pollard or Russell are bad. They are great.

2 - Marcus Smith wasn't capped by the lions. He played one game against a club side and was judged to be nowhere near good enough for the tests.

3 - you are obsessed with who gets selected for the lions because you don't actually understand rugby enough to form your own opinions about players. I guess you just ignore the 98 caps Ford has won for england because that doesn't help your narrative.

4 - you are obsessed with highlights reels because you don't understand rugby enough to know what is going on tactically.

Isn't that the problem in a nutshell? Not looking forward enough and being prepared to pick a weaker team now, so that he can pick a stronger team come 2027?

And you're kind of an example of the problem. The players didn't always thrive, someone like Aumua only really became comfortable until he was thrust into the jersey full time. He needed to be trusted despite the clear drop in standards when he came off the bench.

Your "entire season lost" hyperbole is also part of the problem. You need to be prepared for what you're asking for if you want Razor and coaches following him to change their mentality.

The structure a little more stuiable for him than Canes though I feel, where he basically invisible.

Thanks again for doing the ground work on some revealing data Nick.

This article misses some key points points that are essential to this debate though;

Razor is under far more pressure than Rassie to win

Rassie is a bolder selector than Razor, and far more likely to embrace risk under pressure than his counterpart from New Zealand.

It doesn't realise the difficulties of a country like South Africa, with no rugby season to speak of at the moment, to get full use out of overseas internationals

Neither world player of the year Pieter-Steph du Toit nor all-world second row Eben Etzebeth were automatic selections despite the undue influence they exert on games in which they play.

The last is that one coach is 7 years into his era, where the other is in his first, and is starting with a far worse blank slate than where upon South Africa's canvas could be layered onto after 2017.

The spread at the bottom end is nothing short of spectacular. Seventeen more South Africans than New Zealanders started between one and five games in 2024.

That said, I think the balance needs to be at least somewhere in the middle. I don't know how much that is going to be down to Razor's courage, and New Zealands appetite however.

Sadly I think it is going to continue and the problem is going to be masked by much better results next year, even forgotten with an undefeated season. Because even this article appears to misconstruing the..

known quantities

as being TJP and Sam Cane. In the context of what would need to change for the numbers above to be similar, it's players like Jordie Barrett, Beauden Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Sevu Reece, Ethan Blackadder, Codie Taylor, where the reality needs to be meet face on.

On Jordie Barrett at Lienster, I really hope he can be taught how to tackle with a hard shoulder like Henshaw and Ringrose have. You can see in these highlights he doesn't have the physical presence of those two, or even the ones behind him in NZ like ALB and AJ Lam. I can't really seem him making leaps in other facets if he's already making headlines now.