Here are five 2021 Six Nations stars who need big performances in round six to fire themselves into British & Irish Lions contention…
#6. Elliot Daly (England)
Daly was at the peak of his powers in 2017 when he represented the Lions for the first time. However, he has rarely hit those heights since then.
The versatile outside back left Wasps after nine years in 2019, and his time at Saracens has been punctuated with bad luck as the club were relegated from the Premiership due to salary cap breaches, before the Coronavirus lockdown limited his chances to play club rugby at all during the current season.
However, Eddie Jones has continued to put his trust in the 28-year-old and he is set to start against Ireland this week in place of the injured Henry Slade.
Jones has explained the Sarries star’s kicking game and aerial prowess as the reason for his selection. Ireland are sure to put those skills to the test on Saturday. A strong performance in Dublin could well catch the eye of Warren Gatland and see him force his way into a Lions shirt once again in 2021.
DID YOU KNOW? It was at Whitgift that he developed his long range kicking game where he was known to take the car keys of his teacher, Bobby Walsh, to get balls for practise.