Lions Squad - Who's In?

[SaintK]

I don't remember Lions selection being this open after round 4 of a 6N.

To my mind only 2 or 3 positions are nailed on:

Russell, JGP and Itoje, maybe Sheehan.

I would think Duhan is nailed on.

Curry

Which one?
Both had good games yesterday, particularly B when he came on.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

I think we can all agree that for the good of the game globally, it would be best if this was just a British Lions, yeah? No need for the and I.

We don't want any thuggery and violence, lads.

That is the Lions, the British Isles Lions. But then some people had their Trump Gulf of America moment and decided it needed to be the British and Irish Lions for convenience

[Yeeb]

I would think Duhan is nailed on.

Curry

Which one?
Both had good games yesterday, particularly B when he came on.

Being deliberately obtuse to throw the opposition off the scent. England locks and back row very handy at present and should feature heavily.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

Still think it'd be better for England if our players didn't feature heavily, didn't en masse tour Argentina, and instead had a rest when there's nowt to play for this summer. Ideally if you join the EPS you'd recuse yourself from Lions selection, because at that point you'd be accepting England was your priority

[Slick]

I would think Duhan is nailed on.

Curry

Which one?
Both had good games yesterday, particularly B when he came on.

Close no doubt, but so much competition there and, again, the coach.

[Uncle fester]

I don't remember Lions selection being this open after round 4 of a 6N.

To my mind only 2 or 3 positions are nailed on:

Russell, JGP and Itoje, maybe Sheehan.

I would think Duhan is nailed on.

Yeah, probably. Just also have to consider who the coach is.

I agree but not for the reason you think. Farrell likes "busy" wingers hence why he's ignored our more "traditional"-type wingers in Stockdale and Baloucoune.

Farrell might well look at DVDM and ask "what else does he do (or not do) besides run with the ball?"

Graham is significantly better rounded than DVDM but he's small and Farrell also likes size. Australia being physically robust is also likely to be a factor.

[Biffer]

I would think Duhan is nailed on.

Yeah, probably. Just also have to consider who the coach is.

I agree but not for the reason you think. Farrell likes "busy" wingers hence why he's ignored our more "traditional"-type wingers in Stockdale and Baloucoune.

Farrell might well look at DVDM and ask "what else does he do (or not do) besides run with the ball?"

Graham is significantly better rounded than DVDM but he's small and Farrell also likes size. Australia being physically robust is also likely to be a factor.

I think DvdM has demonstrated, in this 6Ns, a newly found ability to create. Several tries this year for Scotland where he's made the break then found the pass or offload for someone else to score.

[Slick]

I would think Duhan is nailed on.

Yeah, probably. Just also have to consider who the coach is.

I agree but not for the reason you think. Farrell likes "busy" wingers hence why he's ignored our more "traditional"-type wingers in Stockdale and Baloucoune.

Farrell might well look at DVDM and ask "what else does he do (or not do) besides run with the ball?"

Graham is significantly better rounded than DVDM but he's small and Farrell also likes size. Australia being physically robust is also likely to be a factor.

It's not a criticism of Farrell and your reasoning is why I said it. It's also true that if it's close, he goes with what he knows, which is also natural.

[Uncle fester]

Yeah, probably. Just also have to consider who the coach is.

I agree but not for the reason you think. Farrell likes "busy" wingers hence why he's ignored our more "traditional"-type wingers in Stockdale and Baloucoune.

Farrell might well look at DVDM and ask "what else does he do (or not do) besides run with the ball?"

Graham is significantly better rounded than DVDM but he's small and Farrell also likes size. Australia being physically robust is also likely to be a factor.

It's not a criticism of Farrell and your reasoning is why I said it. It's also true that if it's close, he goes with what he knows, which is also natural.

Lowe will be going on the tour if fit but not sure on Hansen. He fills a very specific role in the Irish team (extra playmaker) and Farrell might see somebody else who can do that for the lions.

Or alternatively he could pick centres who can pass but those guys are not that plentiful.

[Biffer]

I agree but not for the reason you think. Farrell likes "busy" wingers hence why he's ignored our more "traditional"-type wingers in Stockdale and Baloucoune.

Farrell might well look at DVDM and ask "what else does he do (or not do) besides run with the ball?"

Graham is significantly better rounded than DVDM but he's small and Farrell also likes size. Australia being physically robust is also likely to be a factor.

It's not a criticism of Farrell and your reasoning is why I said it. It's also true that if it's close, he goes with what he knows, which is also natural.

Lowe will be going on the tour if fit but not sure on Hansen. He fills a very specific role in the Irish team (extra playmaker) and Farrell might see somebody else who can do that for the lions.

Or alternatively he could pick centres who can pass but those guys are not that plentiful.

Part of that might come back to the FB discussion - Kinghorn is an extra playmaker and it's often more beneficial to have that function at FB, so they can come into the line at any part of the field.

[Slick]

I agree but not for the reason you think. Farrell likes "busy" wingers hence why he's ignored our more "traditional"-type wingers in Stockdale and Baloucoune.

Farrell might well look at DVDM and ask "what else does he do (or not do) besides run with the ball?"

Graham is significantly better rounded than DVDM but he's small and Farrell also likes size. Australia being physically robust is also likely to be a factor.

It's not a criticism of Farrell and your reasoning is why I said it. It's also true that if it's close, he goes with what he knows, which is also natural.

Lowe will be going on the tour if fit but not sure on Hansen. He fills a very specific role in the Irish team (extra playmaker) and Farrell might see somebody else who can do that for the lions.

Or alternatively he could pick centres who can pass but those guys are not that plentiful.

Yeah, I'd be pretty surprised if Lowe isn't pencilled in as a starter at this stage

[Blackmac]

I don't remember Lions selection being this open after round 4 of a 6N.

To my mind only 2 or 3 positions are nailed on:

Russell, JGP and Itoje, maybe Sheehan.

I would think Duhan is nailed on.

And Kinghorn. Probably in the seat for 15 but also his versatility.

[Blackmac]

I would think Duhan is nailed on.

Curry

Which one?
Both had good games yesterday, particularly B when he came on.

Yeah both played well. I think JvdF was nailed on at the start of the tournament but is now clinging on for dear life with a few others stepping up.

[Big D]

I think the Tuipulotu injury is quite big for the Lions. He's a dual threat of being able to run over someone or spin a quality ball wide.

[Lobby]

I agree but not for the reason you think. Farrell likes "busy" wingers hence why he's ignored our more "traditional"-type wingers in Stockdale and Baloucoune.

Farrell might well look at DVDM and ask "what else does he do (or not do) besides run with the ball?"

Graham is significantly better rounded than DVDM but he's small and Farrell also likes size. Australia being physically robust is also likely to be a factor.

It's not a criticism of Farrell and your reasoning is why I said it. It's also true that if it's close, he goes with what he knows, which is also natural.

Lowe will be going on the tour if fit but not sure on Hansen. He fills a very specific role in the Irish team (extra playmaker) and Farrell might see somebody else who can do that for the lions.

Or alternatively he could pick centres who can pass but those guys are not that plentiful.

Agree that Lowe and DVDM are probably the first picks, but Tommy Freeman is having a very good championship with scores in each game so far (4 in total) and also fits the mould of a busy winger that Farrell likes. He won't be first choice, but I think Freeman is much more likely to be in the larger squad than Feyi-Waboso or any other of England's outside backs.

[Biffer]

I don't remember Lions selection being this open after round 4 of a 6N.

To my mind only 2 or 3 positions are nailed on:

Russell, JGP and Itoje, maybe Sheehan.

I would think Duhan is nailed on.

And Kinghorn. Probably in the seat for 15 but also his versatility.

Unfortunately I think Kinghorn is nailed on for the bench because of his versatility. 11,14,15 and at a push, 10.

[Paddington Bear]

Still think it'd be better for England if our players didn't feature heavily, didn't en masse tour Argentina, and instead had a rest when there's nowt to play for this summer. Ideally if you join the EPS you'd recuse yourself from Lions selection, because at that point you'd be accepting England was your priority

Increasingly think touring Argentina is dumb - we can’t be far off world cup seedings coming out and their full strength side ought to be favourites if we’re missing a whole bunch of starters

[Biffer]

Still think it'd be better for England if our players didn't feature heavily, didn't en masse tour Argentina, and instead had a rest when there's nowt to play for this summer. Ideally if you join the EPS you'd recuse yourself from Lions selection, because at that point you'd be accepting England was your priority

Increasingly think touring Argentina is dumb - we can’t be far off world cup seedings coming out and their full strength side ought to be favourites if we’re missing a whole bunch of starters

At least the RFU have deigned to visit a tier 2 country for a change.

[Uncle fester]

I think the Tuipulotu injury is quite big for the Lions. He's a dual threat of being able to run over someone or spin a quality ball wide.

Yeah, I'm looking at the available centres and unless I'm missing somebody I'm not seeing a great combo of skillz + bosh. We have the centres to play Gatlandball so skillz are going to have to come from the back 3.

[charltom]

Skillz & bosh = Huwipulotu

[Rhubarb & Custard]

Still think it'd be better for England if our players didn't feature heavily, didn't en masse tour Argentina, and instead had a rest when there's nowt to play for this summer. Ideally if you join the EPS you'd recuse yourself from Lions selection, because at that point you'd be accepting England was your priority

Increasingly think touring Argentina is dumb - we can’t be far off world cup seedings coming out and their full strength side ought to be favourites if we’re missing a whole bunch of starters

At least the RFU have deigned to visit a tier 2 country for a change.

We often seem to visit Argentina during a Lions tour, the change that would be nice is taking our full side over, not one denuded of players sadly making the Lions jamboree. Not sure when we last missed a tour to Argentina when it was a Lions summer, if we discount the pandemic, and reasonably one might

I'd think there's scope for taking a development team to Romania, Georgia. Fiji and Samoa might reasonably say send us your 1sts, or we'll beat you even harder, but if we're sending some reserves to a tier 1 nation in Argentina I'm not sure they'd complain if we visited them, certainly in the first instance they should take the money and run. We used to run the development tours to the USA (and Canada), but when it finally dawned on the RFU that wasn't going to give them even a small slice of the American media market they rather lost interest

[Biffer]

Increasingly think touring Argentina is dumb - we can’t be far off world cup seedings coming out and their full strength side ought to be favourites if we’re missing a whole bunch of starters

At least the RFU have deigned to visit a tier 2 country for a change.

We often seem to visit Argentina during a Lions tour, the change that would be nice is taking our full side over, not one denuded of players sadly making the Lions jamboree. Not sure when we last missed a tour to Argentina when it was a Lions summer, if we discount the pandemic, and reasonably one might

I'd think there's scope for taking a development team to Romania, Georgia. Fiji and Samoa might reasonably say send us your 1sts, or we'll beat you even harder, but if we're sending some reserves to a tier 1 nation in Argentina I'm not sure they'd complain if we visited them, certainly in the first instance they should take the money and run. We used to run the development tours to the USA (and Canada), but when it finally dawned on the RFU that wasn't going to give them even a small slice of the American media market they rather lost interest

They’re going to the USA after Argentina.

[Uncle fester]

Skillz & bosh = Huwipulotu

More Tuipulotu really. Jones is a strike runner type centre.
But they could well be the test pairing.

[charltom]

Ha.

Jones is definitely the skillz in this skillz & bosh combo. Sione can't be a pairing on his own!

Not that he isn't blessed with skillz, of course.

[Uncle fester]

Ha.

Jones is definitely the skillz in this skillz & bosh combo. Sione can't be a pairing on his own!

Not that he isn't blessed with skillz, of course.

Jones is a more finessed version of Jiffy June, picks great lines and that works perfectly with a passer like Russell. Never really seen him as a distributor in his own right.

[Sandstorm]

Jones is a more finessed version of Jiffy June, picks great lines and that works perfectly with a passer like Russell. Never really seen him as a distributor in his own right.

Jones is a crow-bar, VERY seldom passes the ball. Like most 13s in modern Rugby....

[Uncle fester]

Centre is such a hard position to play. You need to be fast enough to exploit breaks, physical enough to bosh and deal with boshers and on top of that, you need to be able to pass and read play.

[dpedin]

Centres for Lions will be an interesting choice but it is really down to which Scottish or Irish guys you pick. Wales have had nothing to offer at centre and England's only hope would have been Lawrence and he is now crocked it seems for quite a while. If Tupilotu had been fit during 6Ns then there would be little debate now. However he is likely to be fit by end of regular season and will be available for Lions and will be 1st choice, with Aki/Henshaw as back up. If you go with Tupilotu at 12 then keeping the pairing with Jones, who has had a superb 6Ns, seems an obvious choice. Ringrose would be back up with perhaps Daly in as cover for outside centre and back 3?

Also need to consider how the Aussies will play and they will be looking for a fast and expansive game on fast pitches, they won't want to keep the ball in the pack for too long so having a mobile set of backs with pace, able to play off quick and multi phase ball will be key.

[Slick]

Jones is a more finessed version of Jiffy June, picks great lines and that works perfectly with a passer like Russell. Never really seen him as a distributor in his own right.

Jones is a crow-bar, VERY seldom passes the ball. Like most 13s in modern Rugby....

Lovely inside pass from him to set up Jordan on Saturday

[Yr Alban]

I think we can all agree that for the good of the game globally, it would be best if this was just a British Lions, yeah? No need for the and I.

We don't want any thuggery and violence, lads.

That is the Lions, the British Isles Lions. But then some people had their Trump Gulf of America moment and decided it needed to be the British and Irish Lions for convenience

I honestly don’t understand why they don’t have a ‘SA pro teams’ moment, drop the British/Isles/B&I tag altogether and simply rebrand as The Lions.

[topofthemoon]

Jones is a more finessed version of Jiffy June, picks great lines and that works perfectly with a passer like Russell. Never really seen him as a distributor in his own right.

Jones is a crow-bar, VERY seldom passes the ball. Like most 13s in modern Rugby....

24 passes so far in the Six Nations.

He may have been a bit more explosive / quicker when he was with the Stormers and breaking through with Scotland but right now he is a fully rounded player and in the best form of his life.

[robmatic]

I think we can all agree that for the good of the game globally, it would be best if this was just a British Lions, yeah? No need for the and I.

We don't want any thuggery and violence, lads.

That is the Lions, the British Isles Lions. But then some people had their Trump Gulf of America moment and decided it needed to be the British and Irish Lions for convenience

I honestly don’t understand why they don’t have a ‘SA pro teams’ moment, drop the British/Isles/B&I tag altogether and simply rebrand as The Lions.

HSBC Lions.

[clydecloggie]

That is the Lions, the British Isles Lions. But then some people had their Trump Gulf of America moment and decided it needed to be the British and Irish Lions for convenience

I honestly don’t understand why they don’t have a ‘SA pro teams’ moment, drop the British/Isles/B&I tag altogether and simply rebrand as The Lions.

HSBC Lions.

Nah, that still has a thin veneer of respectability. Needs more overt money grabbing vibes. I'd vote for Aramco Lions just because Gazprom Lions isn't really an option just now. Tesla - the Official Team Car of the Ineos Lions. There, that's the vibe.

[Sandstorm]

Carwow Lions (Drag Race)

[Rhubarb & Custard]

I think we can all agree that for the good of the game globally, it would be best if this was just a British Lions, yeah? No need for the and I.

We don't want any thuggery and violence, lads.

That is the Lions, the British Isles Lions. But then some people had their Trump Gulf of America moment and decided it needed to be the British and Irish Lions for convenience

I honestly don’t understand why they don’t have a ‘SA pro teams’ moment, drop the British/Isles/B&I tag altogether and simply rebrand as The Lions.

Probably don't want the focus on appropriating Lions in such fashion.

But then again Tesla Lions does have a nice ring and wouldn't cause any commentary

[Uncle fester]

That is the Lions, the British Isles Lions. But then some people had their Trump Gulf of America moment and decided it needed to be the British and Irish Lions for convenience

I honestly don’t understand why they don’t have a ‘SA pro teams’ moment, drop the British/Isles/B&I tag altogether and simply rebrand as The Lions.

Probably don't want the focus on appropriating Lions in such fashion.

But then again Tesla Lions does have a nice ring and wouldn't cause any commentary

That's it. Just give the opposition even more motivation.

[Paddington Bear]

I honestly don’t understand why they don’t have a ‘SA pro teams’ moment, drop the British/Isles/B&I tag altogether and simply rebrand as The Lions.

HSBC Lions.

Nah, that still has a thin veneer of respectability. Needs more overt money grabbing vibes. I'd vote for Aramco Lions just because Gazprom Lions isn't really an option just now. Tesla - the Official Team Car of the Ineos Lions. There, that's the vibe.

I think go full South Asian cricket shameless, the Aramco in association with British American Tobacco Lions brought to you by Karachi Cement (drink Guinness responsibly)

[Sandstorm]

Lets have a Ceat Tyres Strategic 2 Minute Timeout.

[Lobby]

That is the Lions, the British Isles Lions. But then some people had their Trump Gulf of America moment and decided it needed to be the British and Irish Lions for convenience

I honestly don’t understand why they don’t have a ‘SA pro teams’ moment, drop the British/Isles/B&I tag altogether and simply rebrand as The Lions.

Probably don't want the focus on appropriating Lions in such fashion.

But then again Tesla Lions does have a nice ring and wouldn't cause any commentary

To be honest, I think the US team would be a better fit for Tesla and there would be a ready made re-branding for the Tesla Eagles

[Blackmac]

I see the Six Nations app doesn't even include Russell in the player of the tournament poll for Stand Off, only FSmith, Pendergast and Garbisi.