1
British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has named his 37-man squad for this summer’s tour of South Africa.
ADVERTISEMENT
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the hits and misses of his selection.
WINNERS
Bundee Aki (Ireland)
New Zealand-born centre Aki, who qualifies for Ireland on residency, was among the surprise selections in Gatland’s squad. He was not expected by many to challenge for a midfield berth, given the congested selection picture, but he has come through on the rails. The Connacht player offers a considerable physical presence and a direct running ability that the Lions will require when they take on not only the Springboks, but their other tour opponents. Expect him to make the most of his opportunity.
Elliot Daly (England)
Saracens back Daly toured with the 2017 Lions to New Zealand, playing his part in a memorable drawn Test series. He was barely mentioned in the build-up to squad selection this time around, though, given his general lack of form for England in the recent Six Nations. But Gatland knows what he can do, with Daly also offering considerable versatility given his ability to also perform at full-back and on the wing, while he also possesses a strong kicking game, which will be an essential ingredient on tour.
Sam Simmonds (England)
Exeter number eight Simmonds has taken the Premiership by storm this season, but he continues to be overlooked by England boss Eddie Jones. Simmonds won the last of his seven caps in March 2018, yet his sustained excellence saw him named 2020 European player of the year after Exeter won the Heineken Champions Cup, and his 14 league tries this term mean he is just three short of equalling the Premiership record held by Dominic Chapman and Christian Wade. An explosive player with an all-court game.
MISSES
Johnny Sexton (Ireland)
Ireland’s 35-year-old captain and fly-half has played 99 times for his country, amassing more than 900 points, and in six Lions Tests across the 2013 and 2017 tours. But Sexton, who is currently sidelined after failing a head injury assessment during Leinster’s European Cup quarter-final victory over Exeter almost four weeks ago, misses out on this occasion, with Gatland opting for fly-half options such as Dan Biggar, Owen Farrell and Finn Russell. It is a big call by the coach to leave at home a player of such experience.
ADVERTISEMENT
Jonathan Davies (Wales)
Scarlets centre Davies was named the Lions’ player of the series in New Zealand on the 2017 tour, and few could argue with that accolade, such was his contribution across the series. Many thought he would make the selection cut this time around, despite being sidelined for a long period after the 2019 World Cup because of injury, but Gatland has decided otherwise. Davies failed to recapture any obvious consistent form during his recent runs for Wales and the Scarlets, but the experience of 88 Wales caps and six Lions Tests might still have got him over the line.
Kyle Sinckler (England)
The Bristol and England tighthead prop was viewed in most quarters as not only a guaranteed squad selection, but also likely to make the match-day Lions Test 23, probably as back-up to Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong, but Sinckler has not made the cut. He played in all three Tests on the 2017 New Zealand tour and, with 44 England caps, he offered considerable experience and consistency of performance. He is arguably the biggest surprise omission, and one that will spark considerable debate among Lions, England and Bristol fans.
BREAKING: The full 37-man @lionsofficial squad#Lions #LionsRugby #Lions2021 https://t.co/030gVt2jXj
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 6, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 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
3 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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.
30 Go to comments