Sam Warburton leaves Stuart Hogg out of his Lions XV

Monday, 04 January 2021 at 10:37

byRugby Rucker

Legendary back-rower Sam Warburton has picked his stunning Lions selection to beat South Africa in his latest column for The Times.

The 32-year-old's fifteen includes 10 Englishman, three Welshman, two Irishman, and, controversially, zero Scots. Warburton also revealed who he'd pick to Captain the tourists against the Springboks.

Warburton retired in 2018 as the most successful Lions captain in history, being one of just two men to captain the invitational side twice and having an undefeated record of a series win and draw against Australia and New Zealand respectively.

Check out his full selection by reading on below.

BACK-THREE

15. Liam Williams (Wales)
14. Anthony Watson (England)
11. Jonny May (England)

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CENTRES:

13. Henry Slade (England)
12. Johnny Williams (Wales)

"My bolter is Wales’s Johnny Williams at inside centre. He impressed me with his physicality and all-round game in the autumn and if he can build on that in the Six Nations then he has a real chance. Toby Flood recently told me how good he thought Williams was when they played together at Newcastle Falcons. His potential is huge."

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HALFBACKS:

10. Owen Farrell (England)
9. Ben Youngs (England)

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FRONT-ROW:

1. Mako Vunipola (England)
2. Jamie George (England)
Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)

SECOND-ROW:

4. Maro Itoje (England)
5. James Ryan (Ireland)

"What about my captain? It is between Farrell and Itoje. It is such a close call. Both are definite starters (Farrell will be at 12 if not 10) and it makes perfect sense for an Englishman to be captain because most of the squad is likely to be English. I think it will be Farrell but, if I were making the decision, I would pick Itoje."