Legendary commentator Bill McLaren selected his all-time Lions XV

15. JPR Williams (Wales) - "He was the complete competitor whose calm assurance and unwavering confidence were vital ingredients in the test successes for the Lions against New Zealand in 1971 and in South Africa three years later."

14. Gerald Davies (Wales) - "Certainly opposing winger of his day would rate him as the player they would least enjoy marking, because not only did he possess exceptional pace, adhesive hands and an astute tactical sense, but also such gifts of running deception in jink, swerve and change of pace that likened him to an animated prairie dog and brought him an international haul of 20 tries for Wales."

11. David Duckham (England) - "He allied his physical presence as a big man with genuine pace to the subtle arts of deception and superb balance and speed. He was a prolific try-scorer."

13. Mike Gibson (Ireland) - "He was the complete all-round footballer, possessed all of the skills and of a sharp rugby brain and, whilst a slim build, he nonetheless was as tough as teak and never held back in a tackle."

12. Jeremy Guscott (England) - "He burst onto the scene with elegant, smooth acceleration, superb judgement of angle and distance, and subtle body balance in swerve and pace change, that were to decorate his career as one of the most gifted centres to ever play the game."

10. Barry John (Wales) - " He flitted like some phantom through the cluttered confines of the opposing defences, like some waif possessed hypnotic powers and skill - that surely is an apt description of the subtle modes of deception and wizardry that made John such an extraordinary talent, not to mention his mastery of flight and distance in the placement of his punts."

9. Gareth Edwards (Wales) - "He was immensely strong, especially in the upper body, possessing the barrel-chest of a shot putter as well as powerful legs, arms and wrists. He was in the highest possible echelon throughout his career,"

1. Fran Cotton (England) - "Had the build of a water buffalo. There was, of course, much more to Cotton than just size. That he was no slouch when he stepped in the accelerator and also possessed high grade handling skills that were underlined at the first ever World Sevens tournament in 1973."

2. Peter Wheeler (England) - "He was a tough, talented technician, disinclined to take a backward step even in the physically demanding environs of the front row and even against the hardest of rivals."

3. Graham Price (Wales) - "As an engineer he was naturally strong and so developed his scrummage prowess and his ball sense as to become a rounded forward of much skill, although the scrummage grinding process to which he subjected opposite number was a Price hallmark."

4. Willie John McBride (Ireland) - "Reached peaks of leadership, endeavour and courage that marked him out as one from the very top drawer."

5. Gordon Brown (Scotland) - "He had the build of a bison, revelled in scrummaging and was an artful specialist in all of the line-out roles and ruses, developing during the 1974 tour the same resolve to meet fire with fire as demonstrated by his captain and boilerhouse partner, McBride."

6. Mike Teague (England) - "The nickname 'Iron Mike' was given to world heavyweight champions Mike Tyson, but to rugby folk the man who deserved the title more was Teague, a rugged, strong man loose forward who was given 'Player of the Series' when the Lions gained Test series success in Australia in 1989."

7. Fergus Slattery (Ireland) - "His pace about the paddock and to break down, his ferocious tackling and his fitness, hardness and ball winning capability made him highly respected and feared. He was some talent. One of the greats."

8 Mervyn Davies (Wales) - "He had a gangling look about him but he was athletic with it, a very well-equipped footballer with adhesive hands, a thumping tackle, splendid timing and technique as a lineout ball winner, and with a long, loping strife that made him awkward like a torpedo."