Who’s your pick for Lions 2021

[JP14]

Pretty bold to assume Vunipola will be fit and/or in form.

[JP14]

I also prefer Gareth Davies to Tomos Williams as a scrumhalf option.

[WhitecapTiger]

Pretty bold to assume Vunipola will be fit and/or in form.

You could say that about any player at this stage. Could be any number of injuries (or illnesses) picked up, or loss of form between now and BIL 2021.

[Tiglon]

Brian O'Driscoll's Lions XV :

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/brian-od ... d-2-scots/

Can't argue too much with the back line, pace in the back 3 and power in the centres - although there are a couple of Irish wingers who should be in the reckoning if they rediscover their best form this year. I don't see any scrum halves as standing out, it's probably a question of what your gameplan is.

Surely, though, the second row has to be Itoje and Ryan. Arguably the two best locks int he world, why play one out of position? AWJ is a very good leader from the front, but the idea that he has some kind of superhuman leadership ability is frankly a myth. You really don't want to rely on people past their best when you're playing at altitude.

All that aside, with the amount of rugby to be played in the next 12 months, what are the odds that 50% of that lineup are injured when the tour comes around? I wouldn't worry too much about Bill V, he's got a pretty easy ride next season, but Manu being pushed to play more by Diamond? Davies? Watson? Even notwithstanding those more injury prone, there are going to be a lot of broken bodies in a years time.

[JP14]

Can’t see Jonathan Davies being selected, won’t be surprised if majority of centres are English.

To be honest, I don’t have high hopes for the Lions, but as long as they put up anywhere near as good a fight as we did last time should be still a great tour to watch,

[kk20gb30]

Can’t see Jonathan Davies being selected, won’t be surprised if majority of centres are English.

To be honest, I don’t have high hopes for the Lions, but as long as they put up anywhere near as good a fight as we did last time should be still a great tour to watch,

Agree that it could be a very watchable tour , but see the Lions , at full strength, going there with more than a decent chance of victory. Itinerary however , not favorable to the tourists.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

Can’t see Jonathan Davies being selected, won’t be surprised if majority of centres are English.

To be honest, I don’t have high hopes for the Lions, but as long as they put up anywhere near as good a fight as we did last time should be still a great tour to watch,

A fit Jonathan Davies will be on the tour, he is a player who always seems to be a bit better in every aspect of the game than you thought.

[Mark62]

Not sure about players but Gatlands chiefs loose again this morning, I think that’s now 0 from 6, not to late to change a head coach who has a dated style of play.

[JP14]

The Chiefs have struggled but in one respect I imagine it’s because Gatland has one eye on the tour planning already.

[Cardiff Tig]

The Chiefs have struggled but in one respect I imagine it’s because Gatland has one eye on the tour planning already.

It's also fine margins/momentum. IMO they should have won the first game, I thought they played the better rugby but just failed with composure in the 22 and the highlanders stole it at the end. Now the added pressure of getting a win won't be helping.

Lets be honest thought, Gatlands record is excellent and Chiefs aren't playing outdated rugby in any sense. Other than Eddie Jones there's no one else who really has a sustained level of success that could even be considered to take over from him.

[Mark62]

The Chiefs have struggled but in one respect I imagine it’s because Gatland has one eye on the tour planning already.

It's also fine margins/momentum. IMO they should have won the first game, I thought they played the better rugby but just failed with composure in the 22 and the highlanders stole it at the end. Now the added pressure of getting a win won't be helping.

Lets be honest thought, Gatlands record is excellent and Chiefs aren't playing outdated rugby in any sense. Other than Eddie Jones there's no one else who really has a sustained level of success that could even be considered to take over from him.

No matter how you wrap it up Chiefs are 6 and o, with a team of high quality players, something is not right, and it doesn’t matter 2 hoots what Gatland has done before, it matters what he is doing at present and what he is likely to do in the future.
With his limited game plan the lions are looking at the wrong end of a 3-0 series loss, especially if he persists with Winge Jones and the back bone of an average welsh side.

[Cardiff Tig]

With his limited game plan the lions are looking at the wrong end of a 3-0 series loss, especially if he persists with Winge Jones and the back bone of an average welsh side.

Have you actually watched any of the Chiefs games? They've played some good rugby and lost games in the final stages mutiple times, including some dodgy TMO calls.

I'm not arguing with the record, I'm arguing with your statement that Gatland has the Chiefs playing outdated rugby. And now your other statements that seemed based on little fact. Its funny how the rest of the rugby world view Alun Wyn Jones extremely highly - you don't get that many caps for a tier 1 nation without being an excellent player. And Gatland hardly picked a lot of Welsh players for the NZ tests did he.

I'm not suggesting AWJ should go no matter what, he's already 34 (?) and there's a lot of rugby before the tour. And Gatland's got enough credit in the bank to justify coaching the SA tour.

[Mark62]

With his limited game plan the lions are looking at the wrong end of a 3-0 series loss, especially if he persists with Winge Jones and the back bone of an average welsh side.

Have you actually watched any of the Chiefs games? They've played some good rugby and lost games in the final stages mutiple times, including some dodgy TMO calls.

I'm not arguing with the record, I'm arguing with your statement that Gatland has the Chiefs playing outdated rugby. And now your other statements that seemed based on little fact. Its funny how the rest of the rugby world view Alun Wyn Jones extremely highly - you don't get that many caps for a tier 1 nation without being an excellent player. And Gatland hardly picked a lot of Welsh players for the NZ tests did he.

I'm not suggesting AWJ should go no matter what, he's already 34 (?) and there's a lot of rugby before the tour. And Gatland's got enough credit in the bank to justify coaching the SA tour.

Just look at the league table it’s says 6 losses, history won’t record anything other than that.
By the rest of the world I assume you mean all the welsh players that are interviewed, about him. You may have noticed I used the word persist, of course you don’t win that many caps other than being an excellent player, and his professional attitude is legendary, but you yourself say he is 34, and can you honestly tell me there aren’t 4 or 5 better locks in the the 6 nations than him.
If Gatland picks on form, then fine, but credit in the bank as you put it gets you no where if you aren’t playing well at the moment. Not necessarily in the tests no but I do remember a lot of call ups for the dirt trackers.
Anyway this is my opinion you have yours.

[JP14]

Gatland picks on form? That’s new...

[Cardiff Tig]

I think you're being harsh on him - there can't be too much to complain about his test sides. He picks sides to win matches and his record his pretty damn good in that area compared to previous Lions coaches.