With the excitement building ahead of 2013's visit to Australia, we decided to pump up the volume by introducing a regular British & Irish Lions watch!
Every three weeks or so Planet Rugby will update its leaderboard for who should pack their bags, who should keep the diary open and who should stock the fridge with a few beers, pizzas and ice creams for soaking up the tour on the couch, as the most coveted of selections fast approaches.
We must stress that long-term injuries have been taken into account for our calls. However, those nearing a return to action are accommodated.
Here we go - make sure to give your feedback.
FULL-BACKS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Mike Brown has been the form full-back during the early-season, with his ability to offer a threat in the first line of attack as well as at the back priceless. Meanwhile Leigh Halfpenny's goal-kicking makes him a certainty for boarding the plane.
On standby: Rob Kearney, Alex Goode, Lee Byrne
Best make other plans next June: Ben Foden, Stuart Hogg, Rob Miller, Delon Armitage
WINGS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Alex Cuthbert and Tommy Bowe have been in amongst the tries so far this season while Chris Ashton and Tim Visser provide power and speed for Saracens and Edinburgh respectively. George North also makes the cut right now but will need a solid November Test series and Six Nations to hold off those players on standby.
On standby: Sean Lamont, Andrew Trimble, Simon Zebo
Best make other plans next June: Ugo Monye, Keith Earls, Charlie Sharples, James Simpson-Daniel, David Strettle
CENTRES
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: These six pretty much wrote themselves into this squad as Jamie Roberts, Brian O'Driscoll, Manu Tuilagi, Brad Barritt and Jonathan Davies have been consistently top quality. Owen Farrell may be included as a 10/12/13 so he sneaks in.
On standby: James Hook, Anthony Allen, Ashley Beck, Darren Cave, Scott Williams, Dom Waldouck
Best make other plans next June: James Downey, Paddy Wallace, Gordon D'Arcy, Jordan Turner-Hall, Fergus McFadden
FLY-HALVES
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Let the comments commence. Jonathan Sexton is widely rated as the favourite to start but after Gatland's mention of Jonny Wilkinson - to go with his pain of 2001 - we bring in Toulon's form 10. Dan Biggar has overtaken Rhys Priestland.
On standby: Toby Flood, Rhys Priestland
Best make other plans next June: Ruaridh Jackson, Ronan O'Gara, Danny Cipriani, Charlie Hodgson
SCRUM-HALVES
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: 2009 saw four nines make the trip so on form we have Danny Care and Greig Laidlaw. If Mike Phillips can keep his head down in Bayonne then both he and Ben Youngs should hold off Lee Dickson and possible bolter Paul Marshall.
On standby: Lloyd Williams, Lee Dickson, Paul Marshall
Best make other plans next June: Conor Murray, Richard Wigglesworth
NUMBER EIGHTS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: A tough one here as Jamie Heaslip played his first match of the season last week but should get back to form in a few rounds. Nick Easter seems to have Conor O'Shea and also most of the English press banging his drum so these two pip David Denton, Thomas Waldrom and Ben Morgan. It will be very interesting to see who Wales go for in November as Toby Faletau has fallen down the pecking order while it was interesting to see Ulster originally name Stephen Ferris at number eight for their game with Castres. We like a possible 6 Dan Lydiate/Sean O'Brien, 7 Sam Warburton, 8 Ferris axis.
On standby: Thomas Waldrom, David Denton, Ben Morgan
Best make other plans next June: Peter O'Mahony, Jordan Crane, Toby Faletau, Andy Powell, Richard Baxter
FLANKERS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Depth aplenty here for Gatland as England captain Chris Robshaw, Wales skipper Warburton, Irish powerhouse O'Brien and the aforementioned Ferris seem to just about have the edge over Ross Rennie, Justin Tipuric and Tom Croft (who ruled out playing in the November Tests recently but should soon be back firing in club colours). Tom Wood has already made his rugby return and could make a surge this year.
On standby: Justin Tipuric, Ross Rennie, Tom Croft, Dan Lydiate
Best make other plans next June: Phil Dowson, John Barclay, Alasdair Strokosch, Andy Saull, Rob McCusker, Tom Wood
SECOND-ROWS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Two guys who made it to South Africa and two newbies make our cut for lock. Paul O'Connell and Alun-Wyn Jones are likely to muscle their way in while Courtney Lawes' performance was dynamic over the weekend against Glasgow. Leicester's Geoff Parling is a real workhorse who impressed a great deal during the tail end of the Six Nations and in June. Donnacha Ryan has that lock/back-row string to his bow.
On standby: Donnacha Ryan, Richie Gray, Nathan Hines, Mouritz Botha, Ryan Jones
Best make other plans next June: Bradley Davies, Al Kellock, Donncha O'Callaghan
HOOKERS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: It doesn't look as though any rivals will budge this trio of Dylan Hartley, Rory Best and Ross Ford out of their international starting spots before Gatland sits down with his pen and paper. Tom Youngs is the possible bolter here.
On standby: Matthew Rees, Richard Hibbard, Richardt Strauss
Best make other plans next June: Sean Cronin, Tom Youngs
PROPS
Kiss the wife and kids goodbye: Good strength for the B&I Lions up front and that will be vital against a Wallabies line-up that has long been associated with weak scrummaging. There's no doubt Australia has improved in that department of late but with Dan Cole, Adam Jones, Cian Healy, Gethin Jenkins and possibly even a return for Toulon starter Andrew Sheridan, this is one area Gatland and his coaching staff will be targeting for points.
On standby: Tom Court, Andrew Sheridan, Alex Corbisiero, Mike Ross
Best make other plans next June: Euan Murray, Mako Vunipola, Allan Jacobsen
By Adam Kyriacou
@PlanetRugbyAK
Comments
scot_rsa says...
@chubbylugs - ok I'm Scottish but I disagree about Gray. He does a lot of work around the pitch, especially in defence. He's got great hands and a helluva turn of pace. Don't know many locks around like that in the UK. I would agree he is probably the only Scot in the First XV but don't agree there should be a token Scot, that's patronising at best. Remember, Scotland went to Aus and beat them, maybe they have a few players who could come off the bench when the game opens up. Particularly Rennie I think.
Posted 15:35 18th October 2012
rockman says...
@lawynd
About Ashton :"he knows where the try line is"
Surely every player that takes to the pitch knows where the try line is? Pointless them playing if they don't.
Posted 13:19 18th October 2012
chubbylugs says...
i dont think richie gray is the talent the bbc would have us believe. give him a normal haircut and he wouldnt get half the attention. he's a good lineout jumper, but he's too loose for a second row IMHO and would compromise the balance of a back row. I'd personally go for POC / lawes with Parling. token scot at best ;-)
As for the assertion that player x cant play because of their position within national set up - isnt that the point of the lions, that you can pick the best and form players, regardless of whether the play for their country in that given year. the AI/6N just gives a platform. Assuming their form remains i think easter wilkinson armitage et al should be selected
Posted 11:31 18th October 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
@jmckenna. Same reason Exeter players don't make England squad. Takes an excellent selector to find the stand out players in a cohesive no egos unit.... Like England under Lancaster. The answer however is not to ignore the team if it is performing well and higher in the rankings.
Posted 11:16 18th October 2012
PietroTravagli says...
GO THE LIONS !!!
Posted 11:13 18th October 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
Pierdelot: most knacred lifts don't go up and down at all.
Posted 11:09 18th October 2012
melkdave says...
Although its still way to early to start this ,after the aurtum internationals would be better imoHeres my full squad atm it is subject to change lol.
1)D.Cole,C.Healy
2)D.Harley,R.Best,R.Hibberd
3)A.Sheriadan.J.Mahlar,G.Jenkins
A.Jones and M.Ross dont make it because they dont offer much in the lose and are slow to the breakdown.Although you can say the same about sheriadan ,theres nodought he is the best loosehead in rugby when fit
4)R.Grey,D.Toner
5)C.Lawes,G.Parling,A.W.Jones
All good lineout forwards ,and powerfull ball carriers /tacklers except for maybe D.Toner carrying,but in the lineout outstanding
6)C.Robshaw,S.Ferris,D.Lydgate
7)S.Armitage,J,Tipric,R.Rennie
8)N.Easter,B.Morgon,T.Waldroum
No Heslip,as he hasnt performed for Ireland for a few years now,or Falatua because his lost form atm,or S.Warburton for the same reason and hasnt played at all this seasonSOB just because he hasnt played a game yet,but i am considering him if his on form
9)D.Care,L.Duickinson.P.Marshal
All quick to the breakdown ,offer a running option from the base ,and the inform SHs atmM.Phiilips doesnt go because his slow to the breakdown in camparisionand recent form in the sumer and T14 hasnt been good
10)J.Sexton,T.Flood,J.Wilkinson,D.Bigger
The best inform FHs available imo.
11)C.Ashton,G.North,C.Wade-Pace ,pace and skill
12)J.Roberts,O.Farral,B.Barritt
13)M.Tulagi,J,Davies,S.Williams-Offer a good combination of power,skill,and paceand defence in the centres
14)A.Cuthbert,T.Vissier,K,Earls-As with other wingers pace ,pace ect
15)R.Kearney,M.Brown,L.Halfpenny-Good attacking and defending and offer a massive threat
Posted 11:02 18th October 2012
jmckenna92 says...
England players will not make up much of the lions squad, as a team they are playing well but individually they are not better than some of the Irish and Welsh players
Posted 10:31 18th October 2012
blametheref says...
The Lions should be binned for good...all these tours do is reinforce the Northern Hemisphere's national sides' inferiority complex about playing the Southern Hemisphere, especially when the series is lost. Not only this, key players usually lose form following a Lions tour or get injured and the country with the most Lions represenatives usually do badly in the 6 Nations following...The Lions is old hat and a throwback to the amateur days, scrap these pointless and usually humiliating tours!
Posted 10:24 18th October 2012
jenksbaj says...
Chris Ashton above George North...couldn't read anymore of this tripe after this, do you guys at PR actually watch any rugby? There is 8 months of rugby before the lions selectors make the final picks so yet again this article is worth the paper it's written on!
PS APV1....You are entitled to your own opinions no matter how STUPID they are!
Posted 10:12 18th October 2012
pierredelot1 says...
Gordon Bennet, are you really sggesting that on current form Manu should go, give me a break, he's bairly back from injury, hasn't yet done a lot this season and you're choosing based on last seasons form. Allen, forget it, all you guys ever say is that he's got potential, he's had potential for about seven years and thats as far as it goes.Joseph possible. Waldrom at 8, oh dear. Falatu may have dropped down the order but hopefully class will shine through. The rest of the back row is still up in the air. Hopefully they will pick pace allied to skills as pitches will be firm and the Aussies won't wanttight matches. Surely Lawes and Grey will work their ways back into contention, Grey hasn't had a great start to the season, but things hopefully can change. despite his great pedigree O'Connell had a fairly average season last year and seems to be getting more injury prone, question is can he perform at his best. Some of your other mentions are barely credible, stop taking the pills. As for the props department, there is no doubt that Sheridan is first choice for Toulon and that Jenkins is for the moment a regular bench starter. Jenkins hasn't yet shown anything like the form we would expect. Cole was also fairly average at Toulouse this weekend and spent more time on the floor than standing up. But hey we seem to be talking about a lot of French based players here. Interesting to see how many Gatland takes as England seem to think that they can do without theirs. The most interesting however is regarding Wilkinson, will he, won't he. Well compared to Flood there's no contest, he's up and down like a knackered lift. Priestland needs to regain confidence and form and Biggar doesn't always show it at the very top. Sexton is a shoe in, O'Gara past his sell by date, but if they play Wilkinson like Toulon do and not like Englkand do, he may well make it.
Posted 10:07 18th October 2012
leinster_goy says...
very interesting that the author left out richie gray. a year ago he seemed like a dead cert but i reckon his move to sale might have destroyed his chances of getting on the plane. he'll need to have a hell of a 6N to compensate for his poor decision
really can't see brown or halfpenny getting near the 15 shirt if Robbo is fit and in any kind of form. he's streets ahead of those two, anyway
for me, the scrum half position is the most wide-open position of all. murray is rapidly playing himself out of contention. care and youngs are both talented but flaky, to put it mildly. if Redders has a good year, it might well make sense for gatty to select him, given his familiarity with Sexto and his ability to ensure quick ruck ball. my incling unfortunately is that we'll be seeing mike phillips once again in the 9 shirt come june (an okay option admittedly, but hardly ideal)
Posted 09:46 18th October 2012
olearyc5 says...
So many things wrong, and a few right with this
15: Mike Brown over Rob Kearney? At least you didn't say Delon Armitage
12: Brad Barritt and Owen Farrell don't have a chance, Hook should be the only 10/12 cover and Barritt is useless
10: Wilkinson shouldn't be considered, agree with Biggar over Priestland
9: No need for 4. Would love to see Marshall in there, but unlikely.
8; Can't comprehend how you have 4 people ahead of Faleatau who shouldn't be there. Waldrom doesn't even start for England
4/5: Parling, are you joking? Richie Gray is one of the few certs for a test XV place? Not many second row back rows though?
2: Hartley is stupid and useless. Rees will start and Strauss is better than Ford no?
Need another prop: 5 always go, especially if there are two props on the bench these days.
Also, how many players are you bringing?
Posted 09:33 18th October 2012
lawynd says...
@liam2me - Ashton helped nil Edinburgh not more than a few days ago...is that recent enough for you? I'm no fan of the guy, even as an Englishman, but he knows where the try line is.
Posted 09:26 18th October 2012
sharkie says...
would be great to see Timbo in the mix, dutch lion added to the B& irish mix!!
Posted 09:21 18th October 2012
liam2me says...
@ArmchairGeneral,
How many years ago was that one off performance? He's done nothing since, in the HEC or the big stage against non-minnows. Doing it in the snoozership is light years behind the HEC and international level.
Posted 06:13 18th October 2012
Dafydd29 says...
Wilkinson, Ashton and Hartley - what do you guys drink at tea time?
Posted 06:04 18th October 2012
marzie says...
Rob Kearney and Richie Gray only merit standby places? Eh? Would have thought Strauss would be a definite squaddie too, offering significantly more than say, Dylan Hartley around the park. As long as he gets Ireland time of course.
Posted 00:51 18th October 2012
ScarletFever says...
Dan Biggar overtaken Rhys Preistland? Mmmmmm... NO. He hasn't.
The editor says.... Priestland has been struggling for form since June and Biggar won the personal battle in recent Scarlets v Ospreys fixture.
Posted 23:29 17th October 2012
missionary says...
From a neutral perspective (NZ): Richie Gray on standby - is PR stupid? Brad Barrit at centre - is this the best that the Lions can do? Scott Williams of Wales all day long. Owen Farrell - well I think he is average but can cover 1st Five. Lions have a lack of 10s though if Wilko is in the mix. Won't get that backline going and Pocock / Hooper / Gill will mow him down. No 8s look all wrong. Easter won't cut it down there. Not much else to pick from and Heaslip - doesn't seem to do it against the good teams (not that Aus are at the moment). Ferris might be lucky IMO. Oh and Australia will do nothing but target that idiot Hartley. I'm looking forward to this tour.
Posted 23:26 17th October 2012