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LONG READ Returning duo put Ireland on pole for record Lions tally as final auditions beckon

Returning duo put Ireland on pole for record Lions tally as final auditions beckon
2 weeks ago

For any Lions tour the first kick of a ball in September is like a swallow declaring spring is at hand. Warmer days are on the way. That’s when the Lion hunt starts up. The URC, Premiership, plus the wild geese in the Top 14, all are in the shop window and all are given an added filter. It’s what occupies minds across the game at this end of the world. Storm Éowyn may have only just shifted north but you can feel a stretch in the days as we focus on the journey south in June.

There are two staging posts on the preamble: the first two laps of the track through domestic and European competition before Christmas; then the last lap, the Six Nations itself, at the end of which your audition needs to have you in the frame – unless you have enough star quality for a late pitch. Otherwise, at best, you’re down on the standby list.

If Ireland are the form team and Andy Farrell is leading the charge to Australia, then it follows their absentee head coach will lean towards what he knows best and trusts most.

As we look towards this opening Championship weekend in Lansdowne Road, the home team are still in pole position to top the Lions charts. As back-to-back Six Nations holders, with the vast majority of those who secured those titles still showing up for work, the departure is on schedule. Barring a collapse against England – like what happened in 2019 for example, when Ireland were reigning Grand Slam holders – it will stay that way. If Ireland are the form team and Andy Farrell is leading the charge to Australia, then it follows their absentee head coach will lean towards what he knows best and trusts most.

Farrell’s break-off from Ireland for this gig didn’t happen formally until the end of the November Test action, but how could you not let your mind wander when watching those other games? He has earned a reputation as being calm and event-focused, but surely he watched Darcy Graham’s four-try burst against Fiji to open the Autumn Nations Series and thought ahead to the summer.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s try-scoring talent makes the England wing one player Farrell may wait for to prove his fitness (Photo Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Wing however is not an empty room for the head coach. His problem is to get out of that space having told a few quality players they didn’t make the initial cut. Here are four men with their hands up: Graham, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Duhan van der Merwe and James Lowe. Feyi-Waboso will miss the Six Nations but his talent demands an extension until the last minute to prove his fitness, as does that of Scotland centre Sione Tuipulotu. The last named in that group of wings hit the ground at top speed for Leinster against the Stormers last weekend, after a two month lay-off. It was a good time to send a message, which was unequivocal: James Lowe is still a nightmare to play against.

Dan Sheehan was in the same boat. Medics must feel a quickening in their step when high-profile players can suffer an ACL rupture in July and make a try-scoring return to the game six months later. Small wonder he opened his post-match comments with a heap of gratitude to those who had patched him up and got him back on grass.

We take it for granted that Sheehan will have Tadhg Furlong tucked under his right wing in Australia, but the tighthead’s withdrawal from the start of the Championship, having missed the four Tests in November, reinforce the recurring nightmare of Ireland someday having to take the field without Furlong and Andrew Porter before they are ready to be replaced. If both are fit, they are up the front of Andy Farrell’s flight to Perth. Finding four other top calibre props won’t leave much left over. If there is one man you’d love to jump the queue it’s England’s young tighthead Asher Opoku-Fordjour.

Dan Sheehan
Free-scoring hooker Dan Sheehan celebrated his comeback for Leinster with two tries against Stormers (Photo Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Neither is second row overflowing with options. Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Beirne are sure to go, with Beirne offering extras to the back row. England’s Maro Itoje and the bruising George Martin would complete the unit.

In the back row Josh van der Flier is motoring. The openside was the man of the series in November and will travel in a combination that should include Jack Conan, Chandler Cunningham-South, Caelan Doris, Tom Willis, Ben Earl and Jac Morgan.

That would leave Wales – if we assume scrum-half Tomos Williams makes the cut – with just two in the squad, quite a comedown from the days when Warren Gatland was juggling the names. From an Irish perspective they are in line for a record return of 15, which would surpass the 14 chosen for the original squad in 2009. Pushing it to 16 raises the case of Garry Ringrose.

In November, when all three players were fit, Farrell was happy to bench him behind Henshaw. If the coach is unsure about picking Ringrose for Ireland, why would he be doing it for the Lions?

If South Africa’s Gary Teichmann was desperately unlucky to serve a stellar tour of duty in between the World Cups of 1995 and 1999, without ever going to the show, then Ringrose could end up in the same club. Joe Schmidt carefully managed his introduction to Test rugby but the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand came too soon for him. Then, for some reason, Warren Gatland overlooked him for the next outing, to South Africa in 2021. Here we are in 2025 and Leinster’s outside centre wouldn’t bank on Farrell’s vote over Robbie Henshaw to partner Bundee Aki with Ireland. Last year Ringrose was dominated by injury, but in November, when all three players were fit, Farrell was happy to bench him behind Henshaw. If the coach is unsure about picking Ringrose for Ireland, why would he be doing it for the Lions?

Then Leinster shunted Ringrose to the wing – where he learned his trade as a schools star – when Jordie Barrett arrived. That versatility might have given a Lions lifeline to a top-quality operator whose defence is as good as ever, despite ongoing shoulder issues.

If you were Schmidt, you’d hope Ringrose gets left behind, which is a good reason to pick him. We’ll see how Simon Easterby views it as he picks his Ireland teams through this Six Nations. Despite his excellence over the years Ringrose needs to reinforce that through Championship minutes.

Garry Ringrose
Garry Ringrose has played at the last two World Cups but will he get a maiden Lions tour aged 31? (Photo Christian Liewig – Corbis/Getty Images)

The stand-in head coach will also have a big say over the Lions number 10s. In England the impressive Fin Smith will be hoping to get enough game time – hard with Marcus Smith ahead of him – to make a case while in Ireland, whoever starts at out-half will have a very good chance of a trip south in the summer. Currently Farrell’s top three 10s would comprise Finn Russell, Marcus Smith and a three-way tie between Jack Crowley, Fin Smith and Sam Prendergast. Easterby will determine some of those odds by his selections, just as Steve Borthwick will shape the case for Fin Smith.

With the Six Nations just a few days away, Ireland’s likely contingent are making the case for a record number of 15 or 16. Coming after a November series where they looked unsure, that’s a healthy way to kick off.

Possible Lions squad, by position:

15: H Keenan (Ire), B Kinghorn (Sco)

14: D Graham (Sco), I Feyi-Waboso (Eng)

13: R Henshaw (Ire), H Jones (Sco), G Ringrose (Ire)

12: B Aki (Ire), S Tuipulotu (Sco)

11: D van der Merwe (Sco), J Lowe (Ire)

10: F Russell (Sco), M Smith (Eng), S Prendergast (Ire)

9: J Gibson-Park (Ire), T Williams (Wal), A Mitchell (Eng)

1: A Porter (Ire), E Genge (Eng), P Schoeman (Sco)

2: D Sheehan (Ire), R Kelleher (Ire), T Dan (Eng)

3: T Furlong (Ire), Z Ferguson (Sco), A Opoku-Fordjour (Eng)

4: M Itoje (Eng), J McCarthy (Ire)

5: G Martin (Eng), T Beirne (Ire)

6: J Conan (Ire), C Cunningham-South (Eng)

7: J van der Flier (Ire), B Earl (Eng), J Morgan (Wal)

8: C Doris (Ire), T Willis (Eng)

Go behind the scenes of both camps during the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021. Binge watch exclusively on RugbyPass TV now 

Comments

1 Comment
R
Roci Allan 12 days ago

Agree with most of the selections and, although I would not normally support any English additions, you may need to include Ollie Laurence.

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