The Lions squad has been quite a difficult one to pick this time round as competition for places has been extremely intense in some of the key positions on the field, not least the battle in the backrow and on the wing.

We’ve even still got quite a battle going on for the captaincy, however if you believe the bookies then Sam Warburton is completely nailed on as they have suspended betting on the Welsh leader.

So, without further ado, here is our take on who should be touring with the British & Irish Lions to Australia:

Props:
Dan Cole, Cian Healy, Paul James, Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones

Hookers:
Rory Best, Ross Ford, Tom Youngs

Locks:
Ian Evans, Ritchie Gray, Joe Launchbury, Paul O’Connell, Alun Wyn Jones

Back Row:
Johnnie Beattie, Dan Lydiate, Sean O’Brien, Chris Robshaw, Justin Tipuric, Sam Warburton, Tom Wood

Scrum Half:
Grieg Laidlaw, Conor Murray, Mike Phillips

Fly Half:
Owen Farrell, Johnny Sexton, Jonny Wilkinson

Centres:
Brad Barritt, Brian O’Driscoll (c), Jamie Roberts, Manu Tuilagi

Wingers:
Chris Ashton, Tommy Bowe, Alex Cuthbert, George North, Tim Visser

Full Backs:
Leigh Halfpenny, Stuart Hogg

English:  10
Irish: 8
Scottish: 6
Welsh: 13

Total: 37

There’s a lot to discuss in there and some controversial picks no doubt!  Firstly, let us stress that this is what we would LIKE the Warren Gatland to pick and not what we think he will actually go with.

So, let’s leave aside the more obvious picks in the front row, hooker and at centre and focus on the more controversial fringe players.

We’ve gone for Joe Launchbury at lock.  Despite his form tailing off a little towards the end of the Six Nations, his impact in the first half of the tournament was promise enough to bring him along to learn from the likes of Alun Wyn Jones and Paul O’Connell.  He is young and hungry enough to really get the bit between his teeth on a short Lions tour and we can see him starting on tour as fifth choice and pushing his way right up and into the test side.

In the back row, Dan Lydiate and Johnnie Beattie just about make the cut ahead of Toby Faletau and Jamie Heaslip and Ben Morgan.  It suggests a shortage of Numbers 8′s with those strong names being left out, but we just think the versatility of O’Brien, Wood and Beattie gives them the nod.

At scrum half we’ve gone for a completely opposing set of skills in our three picks.  All three and completely different and will provide the Aussies will provide a completely different set of challenges whoever plays.  It gives the Lions the option to mix it up at any point and change their style of play to suit the game.

Selecting Wilkinson at fly half will be derided and celebrated in equal measure, but here’s our logic.  There’s no doubt that Wilkinson is the form fly half at the moment.  You only need to look at the game yesterday for Toulon against Saracens to see how well he is playing at the moment.  When Wikinson plays it’s like starting with a 20 point lead.  That said however, we don’t think he would actually make the test side but what he will do is raise the games of Sexton and Farrell to greater heights.  Those two will have to play some of their best rugby to keep Wilkinson out of the test side and if they are doing that then we will have a real threat and game changer on our hands.

On the wing we’ve also picked the controversial Chris Ashton despite some recent poor performances.  The thing with Ashton is that he is a big game finisher.  He has a desire and will to score tries and although he has his weaknesses in defence, if the Lions are on the front foot then Ashton is absolutely lethal.  Ashton will relish the short term nature of the Lions and we can see him quite easily reaching the end of the tour as top scorer.

Lastly, the selection of Hogg over Kearney was a real tough one.  Not much to call between the two  and Kearney has the experience of a Lions tour in his locker already, but we just felt that the Scot had such a good Six Nations that we couldn’t leave him out.

Some controversial picks in there I’m sure.  Let us know what you think of our picks on our forum, or our Facebook page.

Tomorrow morning ahead of the official announcement, we’ll let you know who we think Warren Gatland will actually pick, and of course, don’t forget to follow us live here on Lions-Tour.com for all the news and reaction as it happens at 11am tomorrow.

The post Lions-Tour.com Squad Selection appeared first on Lions-Tour.com.

The launch event is a fantastic British & Irish Lions Test Preview Dinner to be held at The May Fair Hotel, London on Thursday 20^th June 2013.  Very special guests will be present to review the warm up matches and tour so far, and share their views on the Test Series ahead.  Spaces at this dinner are extremely limited, so to register your interest please contact the Fund at info@robinsfund.co.uk.  For more details about the tour check out the Robin’s Fund web site.

Robin’s Fund has been set up in memory of a great lifelong friend of rugby, Robin Edward Nicholson, who sadly passed away in November last year.  Robin’s Fund has been set up to help out grass roots and start-up rugby clubs throughout the UK and Ireland, with a special focus on clubs in underprivileged areas.

All at Lions-Tour.com hope that the rugby community can come together to show their support for Robin’s Fund.  All funds raised will be used to help provide opportunities for young (and older!) people alike to take part in our great game, through funding for equipment, coaching courses, facilities and more.

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Here are the top 5 players that will be giving us Aussies some sleepless nights as the matches approach.

Manu Tuilagi

Even though he didn’t start the opening game of the 6 Nations – he was seen by some as an impact sub – Tuilagi was undoubtedly the best outside centre in the tournament. He put in perhaps the performance of the tournament as England beat France, and his power and energy constantly buoyed the English team. While the Wallabies know he can be countered – just see how the Welsh handled him – his constant menace to the opposition will have the opposition fearing both broken bones and leaked tries.

Toby Faletau

Another player with roots in the South Pacific, Faletau put in a series of performance for Wales at Number Eight to propel them towards 6 Nations glory. His ball carrying (63 metres in total) kept Welsh moves alive and always kept them heading towards the danger zone, while his constant try scoring threat was apparent for all to see. When you consider that Faletau is still only 22 years old, it is clearly apparent that Wales have unearthed a real gem.

Leigh Halfpenny

Halfpenny is possibly only one of half a dozen players to already have his ticket to Australia booked, so impressive has he been for Wales in recent times. He would form an integral part of any back three in the world, plus his kicking has become as accurate as almost any other player in the Test arena. His ability to take the high ball, and therefore regain possession for his team, is unbelievable, plus his tackling is immense – amazingly he has gone nearly two years without missing a tackle in the 6 Nations.

Chris Robshaw

The debate rumbles on as to whether Robshaw will be named captain of the Lions squad this year – the only other candidate seems to be O’Driscoll – but his performances on the field more than merit his place on the plane, even if he doesn’t get the armband. He put in 65 tackles during the 6 Nations, plus carried the ball 57 metres, and he also picked up two man of the match awards in five games. The open side flanker position is one packed with ability for the Lions though, so whether Robshaw plays, or whether it is Tipuric, O’Brien or Warburton, the Wallabies will have a problem on their hands.

Cian Healy

In the loose-head prop position, no other player managed to carry the ball further than Healy throughout the tournament. When this is coupled with his immense strength in the tackle, he could be considered the perfect player to assist with foiling Australia’s attacking intentions. His stamp on Dan Cole could go against him though, but if he does get on the plane he will be an integral part of the Lions set-up.

Article written by our Australian correspondent Ilan Hurwitz.  Ilan runs the Australian web site Football Jerseys Online where he provides soccer and rugby fans in Australia with Jerseys from the most popular teams including the British & Irish Lions and Qantas Wallabies.

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It has been a really exciting Six Nations so far for me.  With the demise of the French with them just having gotten away with it on Saturday making the whole tournament a bit more interesting.  

England without a shadow of a doubt got out of Jail on Sunday.  I thought the Italians defended for their lives in the first half and in the second half if they had a little more cutting edge they would have a least got a draw, if not the win.  England were poor, let’s thank god they’ve got it out of their system and there’s no doubt if they played that badly against France, Ireland, Scotland or Wales they’d have probably lost.  That’s not to take anything away from Italy, I just think they lacked that little bit of cutting edge when England looked very pedestrian and one dimensional, and I think it won’t make the Welsh frightened or shaking in the boots ahead of the game on Saturday

I think as far as the English performance goes, it was more of a collective disappointment in their display.  In the first ten minutes when England were at full throttle Italy were hanging on by a shoe string and I think if England could have scored a try then the flood gates would have opened, but the fact was they didn’t.  England became more and more guarded with what they did with the ball and an aggressive Italian defence made it an interesting contest.  You have to say that there was nothing between the sides at the end.

You have to say though that the hallmark of  great sides is that you don’t play well but you still win and I think there was an element of that, but I think the Welsh will be relishing England coming down and having a chance to scupper their Grand Slam bid.

On Saturday I think the Welsh performed really well to get the win at Murrayfield.  I’ve said all along in this tournament that I think the Scottish are underrated and underestimated.  They’ve got a good defence and a big pack, they’ve got a fantastic Scrum half and kicker and they just do the basics well and ask questions.  I think for Wales to have gone up there and beaten a side playing at home who have beaten France and beaten Italy, I think it was a really good win for them.

I think they ground out the victory which you’ve got to do sometimes and certainly going into this weekend they will know that with the atmosphere down on their patch and with the auld enemy back it will be a magnificent end to the Six Nations.  I also think the gane is right in the mixer now too.  Whereas before I thought England were going to cruise to this Grand Slam, you’d have to say with Wales’ performance up their in Scotland and England’s performance against the weakest side and at home, you really have to say this final game is completely up for grabs!

As far as the Ireland game goes, I think France did well considering they haven’t won a game yet and to come from being down at half time to scrape a draw just shows that they are class, they just haven’t shown it enough in this tournament.  They have continually shot themselves in the foot.  They should have beaten England, there’s no doubt they had England on the rack for 50-60 minutes and then all of a sudden that little French temperament came in, a luck try for England and it just went to their heads.  The coaches changed their team immediately and players started doing silly things that played into England’s hands, but you know, the French next season go on and win the Grand Slam.  That’s the way they play and that’s the way they are!

Ireland will be disappointed to have let the game go, but I will say that one of the biggest pluses for me was seeing Brian O’Driscoll perform outstandingly well again.  For me between him and Chris Robshaw we’ve now got the candidates for the Lions captaincy.  You’d have one as the captain and one as pack leader or vice versa, one as captain and one as backs or three quarters leader.  So that’s great for the Lions selectors, you’ve now got two guaranteed Lions test starters who are gunning for the captaincy as well.

I think a lot of players have now inked their names into the Lions squad, it’s whether that test team will come out as they play.  I still think it’s all up for grabs though.  I think O’Driscoll and Robshaw, I think Dan Cole has played remarkably well has been consistent over the whole tournament, I think the Scottish kicker Laidlaw has played himself into contention, Ritchie Grey got injured at the weekend but I think he will make it if he’s fit so there’s lots of people who are playing their way in, but there’s lots of thing still to happen between now and the Lions selection.

I think you’ll see all of the old faces that we all know that will be there, but’s a case of who is going to make the fringes of the squad.  I also think it will be interesting as to who essentially plays themselves out of contention.  Those that haven’t quite cemented their places.  For example I think a lot of people thought Rory Best would probably be the test hooker but his line out throwing hasn’t been great this year and all of a sudden Tom Youngs is pushing his way in, the Scots hooker is pushing in, Hibbard of Wales is putting his hand up so there’s all to play for yet.

The last thing to think about in terms of the Lions tour is of course the injury to David Pocock this weekend.  I think his loss will be huge to the Wallabies.  There’s no doubt about it, he’s a world class openside flanker, but there again Australia always produce outstanding athletes and players and they’ll have others in the wings waiting to take their opportunity to show what they can do.  It’s also important to remember that we might be missing a few players to injury as well so it’s swings and roundabouts.

He is a great player and will be missed, but I think the whole essence of this Lions tour will be to do with the preparation.   The Australians wont have a lot of time to prepare as a team and certainly wont have many games under their belt, whereas the Lions will have four or five to get themselves sorted.

Warren Gatland will want to know early on what his test side is so he can start playing them together as combinations.  The last thing the Lions want to do is mix and mingle all the way to the end and then be in the same position as Australia.

I think it’s going to be a great Lions series this summer and you’d have to say even thought it’s home for Australia, the Lions are beginning to edge as favourites. but I know from experience that you never underestimate Australians in Australia.  They are a great sporting nation and they will be busting a gut to send the Lions home with nothing!

The post Cooch’s Lions Watch – Six Nations Part 4 appeared first on Lions-Tour.com.

It’s always been the case that the French have been someone temperamental. Like the individual players, the team sometimes plays with flurries of brilliance, but easily gives up when the chips are down. Take the match versus England – a brilliant piece of individual skill by Fofana put France in the driving seat, but as soon as England regained the lead and the game closed up, heads went down and England easily gained the upper hand. This was the same against Wales and even in their most surprising loss, against the impressive Italians.

Now contrast that to the way the French played in the World Cup. Nobody can claim that they are the greatest French team to ever play, but when they went to New Zealand, they had passion and belief – a belief that increased throughout the tournament as they beat both England and Wales en route to the final. They even bounced back from a shock loss to Tonga in the group stages, which is a true indication of the belief and confidence they had just two years ago.

After five straight defeats in the 6 Nations though, the temperamental French have their heads low and don’t have the drive to bring themselves out of their rut. Going to Ireland for their next match won’t be an easy task either – the Aviva Stadium is intimidating at the best of times, and Ireland will look to pick off a weak French side. If the French manage one win during the whole tournament, they will be lucky, as even Scotland look to be steadily improving.

The French team also seem to be suffering from a chronic lack of management, with Philippe Saint-Andre coming under heavy criticism from the ravenous French media. His policy of playing certain players out of position backfired against the Welsh and Italians – when he picked a more solid lineup against the English, they looked much more effective. They simply came up against a better team on the day.

So, the French problem is two-fold. They simply don’t have the attitude to win at the moment, while the team selection has been questionable to say the least. Both of these are the fault of the coach, so don’t expect to see Saint-Andre in his position much longer if he can’t force a dramatic turnaround…

Article written by our Australian correspondent Ilan Hurwitz.  Ilan runs the Australian web site Football Jerseys Online where he provides soccer and rugby fans in Australia with Jerseys from the most popular teams including the British & Irish Lions and Qantas Wallabies.

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Wales are beginning to gather a bit of momentum.  It’s surprising how winning just one game can give you the confidence.  They’ve got a spring in their step and they look like the old Wales side.  We all know it’s difficult to go to Italy and in the first half it was a bit of a war of attrition, but they wore the Italians down and in the end came out worthy winners.

It’s all lending itself to the this Wales v England game and for me I’m hoping that both Wales and England do keep winning to set this game up nicely.  We all like to see games that matter and to have a mini cup final at the end of the Six Nations where England will be playing for a Grand Slam and Wales will be playing for the championship and a chance to stop England winning the slam, it just gives them that little bit of spice.

So Wales are gathering a bit of momentum.  they’ve got one or two injuries but I thought it was a  good overall team performance, and one to get them back to winning ways again.

I thought the Welsh front row was very tidy.  We all talk about the vaunted Italian pack and yes they are big and difficult to play against, but the Welsh played at a bit of a pace.  Adam Jones is a potential Lions test player and it’s between him and Dan Cole.  England were a bit of an embarrassment in the scrum against France for the first 60 minutes or so, but that’s good for someone like Dan Cole. He has played really well and I still think Cole will be the Lions test tighthead prop, but it does a young prop good to be humbled occasionally and he will learn from that.  Gethin Jenkins will also be there or thereabouts although he’s had one or two injuries, but yes, the Welsh front row I can see making up the midweek side in Australia, if not one of them starting alongside Cole in the test series.

England got out of jail a bit on Saturday.  The French were the better side and they could have gone in 6-10 points up at half time, but once they didn’t you always had it in your mind that they have a bit of self destruct about them as is their way.  England came out after the break looking a bit more purposeful, we had a fortunate try that could have been offside and could have gone anywhere, but that changed the game.  Even with half hour to go you could see the French loosing patience.  Saint Andre changed his half backs and it all went wrong again.  He brought on his half backs that have been struggling all Six Nations he brought in to save the game and it didn’t work.  Why all of a sudden with thirty mins still to go they were playing like they had two minutes to go was beyond me.  England could have quite easily scored a couple of break away tries.

I was a little bit disappointed in the initial selections for England.   I thought we picked a side to match the French physicality and not a side to do what’s best for England.   I think Youngs was unlucky to be dropped and when he came on he was great.  I think putting Courtney Lawes in the back row for his size didn’t work.  There was a smack of trying to find a place for him somewhere and the difficulty is that the England second row partnership is outstanding so if Courtney Lawes cant break into that partnership then that’s the way rugby is sometimes.  The experiment didn’t work and so I think it’s back to the drawing board with that idea.

The Scotland and Ireland game was mind blowing.  For a side to have 78-80% possession and 80% odd territory to lose the game was unreal.  Although you had a feeling that the longer the game went on the more something like that was going to happen.  Ireland made three or four really good breaks that on another day they would have finished off with tries and yesterday they just didn’t.

Scotland just kept in there with Laidlaw chipping in with those penalties.  Let me just say I thought Laidlaw made up a lot of ground in terms of Lions selection.  I think people will be looking at him as a potential squad scrum half.  I thought quite a few of the Scottish boys showed willing and in the end I think they will be very happy with the result.

When we look at the Lions selection based on the three games we’ve had so far I think Warren Gatland will have an idea of his squad.  I think he’ll still be going to Australia with no idea who is going to be in his back row, test wise.  I think he’ll be seeing how the fly half’s turn out and he’ll be looking very closely at the centres.  He’ll be looking at Jamie Roberts, Brian O’Driscoll and Manu to see whether he thinks they’ll be able to play together.  I think a few of the Scots have no doubt pushed their cause this weekend, because Scotland are not that far off being a real side and they could have quite a few in there this year.

So as far as who will be captain, I think if England go on to win a Grand Slam, the way Chris Robshaw played which was immense, when England were up against it in the first 4o minutes he was just a man mountain.  He was very much a leader like the Martin Johnson’s used to.  He kept a cool head and didn’t panic.  But that’s if England won a Grand Slam.  And do we think he’ll be a guaranteed test starter with all those fantastic back row players at the moment?  I’m not sure.

The other stand out potential captain has got to be Brian O’Driscoll again.  I think everybody had doubts whether he’d make it, but some of his handling even in and Ireland side that didn’t take their advantage was sublime, he was fantastic.  He had a good game against England and a magnificent game against Wales.  I still think a fit, fired up and on form O’Driscoll is a test starter, and if he’s a test starter guaranteed, then on a swansong it could be a lovely way of making him captain and getting the best out of him.  I think Gatland may go that way!

The post Cooch’s Lions Watch – Six Nations Part 3 appeared first on Lions-Tour.com.

This weekend was the perfect way to kick off the Six Nations!   It had a bit of everything.   A bit of a shock, a bit of class, a few nerves and some tightness like the Six Nations always is!

The Wales v Ireland game was fantastic.   Wales came back into it in the second half, but Wales are really struggling.  I think they are struggling because of injuries and because of confidence.   They really need some of their senior players to start performing.   The Irish came and absolutely blitzed them in the first half and then it was always catch up from there.

Ireland came into the game looking confident and Brian O’Driscoll got Man of the Match.  He looks like he wants to go out with a bang on a last Lions tour.  I think he’ll be very thankful for that performance against a much vaunted Wales three quarter line.  I think Warren Gatland will have looked at him and thought “Perfect!  That’s just what we want, an on form O’Driscoll.”

England were fantastic.  I think you mustn’t ever underestimate this Scotland side.  On another day this Scottish side would have caused all sorts of damage to another side, but England right from the first kick off were on form and didn’t look back.  They blew away a competent Scotland side and really made them look very average so it was a great performance.  There’s a long way to go but England fans can be quietly confident that this side might be something in the making.

I think England always looked like outscoring Scotland.  I think if Scotland would have scored one try, England would have scored two, and if Scotland scored two then England three.  I think England were always in command and were always going to win the game.  I also think it makes the Scotland v Wales and Scotland v Italy games very interesting because there not much between them at the moment.

I know it’s not Lions related, but Italy had a fantastic result against France on Sunday and that really did set the scene for a fantastic Six Nations.  I must say though that I have never seen such a poor French team.  I don’t mean in terms of selection because they have got some fantastic players, but I have never seen a French team without shape, ambition or any urgency.  Even when they were one try down with seven minutes to go they just ambled up to the line as if they didn’t really care or worry about the clock ticking away.  It was a very bizarre performance from the French but all credit to the Italians.

From a Lions perspective, your stand out performers have to include Brian O’Driscoll from Ireland and Billy Twelvetrees for England, which will make next weekends game in Dublin very interesting.

Twelvetrees did remarkably well.  I think it gives England an interesting selection problem.  Do they bring Manu Tuilagi back or stick with Twelvetrees?

As I said above I think O’Driscoll was something most Lions supporters whether Welsh, England or Scottish would say thank god he’s back on form because it will be his last Lions tour and they will be looking for him to dominate in the centre.  I think as long as he keeps himself injury free I think he’s booked himself a place on the tour this summer.

Looking at the forward pack I think the second rows as a unit are making huge reputations for themselves.  They played against a Scottish second row partnership that is big  and challenging and they did remarkably well.  I think the two English boys will look at going in the Lions squad.  If they keep playing through the Six Nations like they are then they could end up starting in the tests for the Lions

As far as those who didn’t do themselves any favours, I don’t really think anyone individually played particularly badly, well the French did but that doesn’t really affect the Lions.  I think all 15 of the French shirts let themselves down but as far as the home unions goes I don’t think so.  Fortunately there’s more people playing really well than there are people having nightmares.

I think the Lions selectors eyes will all be on the game next weekend in Ireland, in particular the battle of Sexton versus Farrell.  Farrell every game is really maturing, he’s kicking his goals, he’s taking his points, he’s turning into another Jonny Wilkinson and that will really please the selectors.  But again Sexton looked fantastic on Saturday, so that little fly half battle will decide who’s the forerunner for the fly half position as well.

There’s a long way to go yet, and a lot of water to go under the bridge, but really, collectively, England and Ireland looked good and O’Driscoll was the stand out performer for me.   I think this just sets it up brilliantly for this weekend for the two in form sides Ireland against England in Dublin.

The post Cooch’s Lions Watch – Six Nations Part 1 appeared first on Lions-Tour.com.

What a weekend of contrasting fortunes!  England pull off the shock result against the World Champions and Wales gift Australia a last gasp win to take a horrible none from four statistic.  Contrasting fortunes indeed.

I’m just glad that the northern hemisphere has got a little bit of a plus out of the pre-Christmas internationals.   It was a disastrous run and everybody expected New Zealand, Australia and South Africa to run off with the honours so it was fantastic for a lot of reasons.

I think the England New Zealand game was a fantastic spectacle of running rugby.  It had everything, it had the big hits, the forward stuff and tries in abundance.  It was a fantastic game.  I was particularly impressed with the England front five.  They have really stamped their authority and it was a bit of a warning shot across the bows of the Southern Hemisphere to say “we’ve got a front five and they can compete” which will stand England in good stead for the next World Cup.

I think I was most impressed in the manner of the way we beat the New Zealanders.  You have to have a bit of a footnote to say that the All Blacks did look a bit tired, jaded, they had problems with health this week and they just looked out of sorts.  A New Zealand side giving away ten penalties in the first half is unheard of and a New Zealand side missing tackles in the midfield is also unheard of.

That said however, we can take an awful lot of positives from the game.   Our midfield stepped up to the plate a little bit and I thought it was a great all round performance and one that will have had the England supporters leaving the ground thinking “If we can keep this side together for a while we’ll be able to compete.”

As I said, our front five and back row really did make life very difficult for New Zealand.  They put them on the back foot.  They made this classy New Zealand side look very average.  And if we’re talking about the Lions next year, if you had to pick a Lions team now, you’d probably go for the front five of England.  Against South Africa they showed great improvement and against New Zealand even more.  The recent Australia game where they were out-scrummaged and outplayed seems to be a distant memory.  The last two games against top opposition they have shown what they can do.  There are still lots of games to go before the Lions get picked but it’s really encouraging.

It’s interesting because I think England played really well when nobody saw this coming.  I think a lot of people thought this England pack would make life awkward for New Zealand, and people didn’t think it would be a thirty, forty, fifty pointer for New Zealand like they do against most opposition, but I don’t think you could have anticipated the way we dismantled their pack and the way New Zealand fell apart towards the end of the game.   In the last ten minutes they looked a very average international side against a top international side which is great to see.

Wales were so close.  Although they’ll be disappointed their losing run continues, it does show they can compete with an Australian side that are still very hard to beat.  They will have seen an improvement in their performance, but still a hugely disappointing campaign for them.

I think Wales will be really worried about their Six Nations campaign.  They will recognise they are on a losing streak at the moment, and it’s not just these last four games, it’s the last seven games.  They will be worried about their form, but they will also be worried about their injuries too.   A lot of the welsh players were getting injured a little too easily for me.  Is that because they are playing too much rugby, or is it because they are not conditioned well enough or are they over conditioned?  I think there are a lot of little question marks around the welsh team at the moment.

And of course they’ve not really got their talisman in Warren Gatland around.  It was interesting that he comes back for the later two games and all of sudden they’ve put in some better performances and could’ve got draws and maybe won those tight games.  So their Six Nations without Gatland will be a big worry for them.

From a Lions point of view, I must admit I’m a bit concerned that Warren won’t be doing any more coaching between now and the Lions tour.  It’s like anything else, people get rusty.  He’ll be doing a lot of miles watching the Six Nations, Heineken cup and club games, he’ll be doing a lot of ground work etc, and 90% of all coaching is to do with the preparation off the pitch but he’ll not be doing much actual coaching itself.

I think he will have taken a lot of positives out of this pre-Christmas series.  He will have been very enthused by the way England’s forward have fronted up, particularly in this last game.  He will be thinking that he might have the foundations for a pack that can take on anybody and particularly in the front five.  I think he’ll be slightly worried about his ten options, he’ll be looking at the tens and midfield very closely.  He’ll be thinking that the Welsh wingers haven’t done anything to be discredited with and I think he’ll be pleased to have a good choice of candidates at nine.

I think the big thing for him will be that he will be angling towards England front five, I think in the back row he could pick anybody from any of the teams as they all performed pretty well, but Ireland have had a stand out group of back row players.  He’ll be a bit concerned about midfield and perhaps he’ll be looking at Brian O’Driscoll to see whether he has got another Lions and season in him.  I think he’ll be looking at the welsh wingers, the big boys, and I think he’ll be really analysing his options at 15, 10, 12 and 13.  He’ll be hoping someone puts his hand up and picks themselves.

As far as our oppo goes, I thought Australia looked an average side this autumn.  I thought they were poor against France, improved against England and improved again against Wales.  They’ve now got 10 months or so to get their act together.  If I was their coach I’d be saying three quarter wise whoever I pick, and remember this Australia side were without five or six top class regulars, I think we would be there or thereabouts for the Lions, it’s just a question of whether they can win enough ball.  If I was an Australia coach I would be looking at all options for the front five, I’d be looking at shortened line-outs, how we’re going to scrummage etc because certainly with their back row and three quarters, if they can win enough ball then this series is going to be very much up for grabs.

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So, where to start after another mixed weekend of performances for the home nations this weekend.  Ireland were the stand out performers with their excellent win over the Pumas, England performed better against the Springboks, Wales had a bit of a hiding from the All Blacks and Scotland were poor in losing to Tonga for which Andy Robinson paid the price.

Starting with England, I thought it was a good performance, we could’ve won it.   Forget about all the decisions at the end of the game, it could’ve gone either way.

I thought we were manful.  It was a much improved performance on the Australia game.  We scrummaged well, our two second rows did fantastically well for two young men.  They probably did enough to get themselves onto the tour and then they’d have to get themselves into the test team.  I thought we really manned up to a weakened South Africa side who weren’t particularly on song, but I thought we did well up front.

However I still have concerns about our three quarters for England.  We just don’t seem to be able to create anything apart from going straight up the middle that’s all we seem to be able to do.  My other big concern would be that we don’t seem to able to work out how to win a game, whereas the Aussies did it last week and South Africa did so again this week.  Our tactical awareness or game management just isn’t as good as it should be otherwise I think we could’ve won both of those games.

We kicked away too much ball. Our players we’ve got are good players in the midfield, but they’re not world class.  My concern would be that Owen Farrell, Toby Flood, Brad Barrett, Manu etc they’re all steady players, but haven’t set the southern hemisphere alight.  Let’s put it into perspective, if we had Dan Carter at ten in those games, we’d have won two tight games, not lost two tight games.  I think it’s interesting that they’ve brought Burns into the side for this weekend, albeit against a very hard to beat New Zealand side.

As far as the Lions midfield selection goes, I think it’s still all to play for.  I think Sexton at ten over in Ireland is in the prime position.   I would be very doubtful that somebody like Wilkinson or Hodgson would go on a Lions tour.  The Welsh have still got to improve and so have the England boys.  Sexton is certainly the man in prime position at the moment, but that can change every game.

Talking of Ireland, I thought it was a great performance from them, a real team performance.  Ireland seem to be getting back on track after a couple of hiccups.  We know how good this side are, they’ve got a bit battle hard.  When you look at the overall picture for the pre-Christmas internationals, Wales have been diabolical, England have lost two games that have set them back a little and Scotland have been so poor that their coach Andy Robinson has had to leave.  The players won’t be too happy with their form, a new coach comes in and it all changes but at the end of the day Ireland look like the only side that have been pushing forward their claims to get in that Lions squad.

It’s interesting that the people you would have penned in for Lions selection at the beginning of the month haven’t really pushed their claims whereas some new names are putting themselves into the frame.  But it’s too early to say who is going to be in the side.  Players aren’t playing for Lions selection at this stage, they are just looking to ensure their place in their respective squads pre-Christmas.  You’ll get the big head-to-heads in the Six Nations that will tell us who goes and who doesn’t.  You’ll have Flood against Sexton.  You’ll have the Welsh and Irish second rows competing against each other.  That’s when the Lions selection will really come into it’s own.  The players at the moment are just looking to get through these games without being dropped from their international sides so they can go into battle in the Six Nations and play for their Lions places.  It’s damage limitation.

The thing with the Autumn Internationals, is whether they really mean anything these days?  It’s a money making exercise.  The southern hemisphere lads come up here and want to get back home as quickly as they can.  The coaches up here are tinkering with new combinations and a chance to see players maybe on the fringe of things.  Would Warburton be dropped if it was a Six Nations game?  I doubt if he would be.  They left him out to give someone else a chance and to keep him on his mettle.  They’ve been using these occasions to bring new people into the set ups, get them used to the squad and training and atmosphere around the international camps etc.  I know it’s a huge step up from club level.   You know, if it was a cup final, would they leave their best prop and best back row out?  I’m not so sure.  So although they have been rested or dropped, it’s not as clear cut as that Pre Christmas.

As for the Wales game, New Zealand are the last side you want to play when you’re a little bit out of form, you’ve got a few injuries and you’ve got players not quite firing on all cylinders.  The last thing you want is to have to try and get back to winning ways against a New  Zealand side who are fantastic at the moment.  I think England will find the same thing this Saturday against them.

Wales will be pleased to have an opportunity to put a bit right on Saturday against Australia.  I think Wales are a fantastic side, they’ve got great players, but they have been found out a little bit.  They have flattered to deceive a bit, but Australia have also struggled.  I think it will be a very tight game on Saturday.  It could go either way, but you know, you can never underestimate the Australians as England found out last week.

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What another fascinating weekend of Autumn International rugby again this weekend.   What struck me most about the weekend’s games from a Lions point of view is how the Lions selection is changing day by day.  What these pre Christmas international have already shown is that there are some huge concerns for Lions selectors to think about.

Six or seven weeks ago if you had to name a British & Irish Lions team it would be predominantly Welsh, especially after the World Cup, but as a Lion myself I know how this changes literally overnight.  These players will be very aware that they need to keep their form, not only for club but for Heineken Cup, pre Christmas Internationals, Six Nations etc.  They need to keep themselves injury free, but also producing the goods.  These internationals already after two have shown that it’s not going to be clean cut with a predominantly Welsh side.

For example people like Gethin Jenkins who has now been dropped by Wales, he’d have been your main stay in the front row for the Lions.  There’s still time for him to regain his form and it might be Wales shaking him up a bit but these things come around.   It’s all about who’s on form at this time of year and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens.

England disappointed me on Saturday you’d have to say.   It was probably one of the weakest Australia sides I’ve seen, they were missing four or five class players, their pack looked creaky in France and England basically made them look quite good.  I think we were naïve and I think we’re still tweaking our line out, but the biggest concern for me was Australia out thinking England tactically.  At half time the game was pretty level and I can see it now, England will have gone in and said “We’re doing ok, let’s keep it going”.  Whereas Australia would have said “This is great, let’s keep it going, but let’s see how we can win the game.”  Australia changed their tactics at half time and went out to win the game by putting some kicks behind the England defence and keeping them honest, and they reaped the benefits from it.  We didn’t tactically look like we were going to win the game.

You have to question some of the decision making about the decision not to take the points when they were on offer.  There was only six points in it and plenty of time left.   It’s all about pressure in international rugby, you put a kick over and all of a sudden you’re only three points behind, they know they can’t afford to let a try in or give away another penalty.  It was players playing with white line fever, players trying to play at pace, players trying to impress.  It needed some cool heads and it didn’t happen, but you know, If it had come off they’d have been heroes!  That’s the thin line of rugby, you make a decision and you’re either a hero or a villain.

South Africa against Scotland were manful.  Scotland had a good campaign against New Zealand last week scoring three tries.   You’ve got to look at the way New Zealanders play their rugby.  They’re about the only side in the world that says if you score one we’ll score two.  New Zealand are very confident in their ability to outscore the opposition so whilst they take their defence very seriously it’s their attacking ability that sets them apart.  Scotland came up against a very different animal on Saturday.  South African’s don’t like anybody scoring against them, it’s a personal insult to the nation!   Scotland thought they could play some free flowing rugby and South Africa were having none of it.  They were bullied and manhandled.  Men against schoolboys really.

If England are not careful on Saturday, unless they front up better than they did against the Australians they are going be in exactly the same boat.  What worried me about England is that we identified Australia had weaknesses in the front five but weren’t able to capitalise on it and in fact Australia grew from strength to strength.  South Africa will be better in that respect again, it’s a slight concern to me that we may not win enough ball and be bullied out of the game.

The Ireland game had no real benefit from a Lions point of view apart from Ireland getting into the groove.   I think the most interesting game was the Wales game on Friday night.  Samoa teams have a habit of beating Wales in Cardiff or have done so on regular occasions and this was no different.

I think this Wales side are in disarray.  People in Wales are beginning to say it’s not just the players but the set up.  The most vaunted Welsh coaches are under pressure.  Great players are now struggling to find form within a collective team effort.  They are all trying to do their bit and it’s not quite coming together as a unit where the Welsh have been outstanding for recent years because of their team ethos.   It’s a real concern that all the momentum they made over the last two or three years getting the public back on their side is coming to big halt and they will need to put it right and get back to basics quickly.

I think the Welsh Rugby Union have made a mistake in not having Warren Gatland involved in these games.  He’s a very pragmatic and steadying influence on the team.  I think it’s a bit like having the headmaster not around, the kids are maybe just pushing things to the limit.  The players are not quite as focussed or single minded as they are under Gatland.

I think there’s bigger underlying problems than just saying when Gatland comes back we’ll start winning again though.  The Welsh side have been outstanding and their success has been their Achilles heel.  People now take them very seriously, Wales are a huge scalp to take.

But bringing it back to the Lions it puts selection completely back in the melting pot because after the World Cup you’d have had probably the three quarter line from Wales, their front row and everybody else would have been hoping to get one or two in the side.  The selectors for the Lions will be thinking “wow, not as easy as we thought this job!”

It’s the same situation for Sam Warburton as Gethin Jenkins, you’d have said a month ago that he’d be number one for the Lions and probably captain, but now selectors will be rubbing out his name now for a bit and waiting to see whether he regains his form and his Welsh place.

I don’t think it’s terminal for Sam, I think he’s an outstanding player.  I think he just needs a rest and refocus, and to analyse what it is to play for his country and get back into the groove.  He’s played a lot of rugby.   I thoroughly expect him to come back at some stage, maybe not next week, but it’s entirely down to how he takes his dropping.  Knowing him though, and knowing how sensible, intelligent and talented he is, he will have taken it all in good faith.  His ego will have been dented but he will want to prove himself to get back in the side so I think he’ll get his starting place back sooner rather than later.

Overall, it’s such early days for the Lions selection but I would say that everything is completely up for grabs.  A lot of people you thought would be in the Lions did themselves no favours this weekend.  For a youngster to come through and have a few good games and get themselves into the six nations and have a few more good games then it’s all to play for.  I wouldn’t pick out anybody specifically that’s let themselves down or put themselves into contention just yet, I think it’s all in the melting pot.

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