Martin Johnson names his Lions second-row to dominate the Springboks - Ruck

Martin Johnson names his Lions second-row to dominate the Springboks

British & Irish Lions legend Martin Johnson has selected the second-row he’d pick to take on the Springboks.

4. MARO ITOJE (ENGLAND)

JOHNSON SAID: “”He’s got it all as a player. I could see from watching him at club level early in career that he was a fine athlete – at a level which we might not have seen in the second row before, but he’s taken that on to the next level since.”

5. ALUN WYN JONES (WALES)

Johnson said: “You are only looking at playing four or five games on the tour so if he’s got the form, no, it’s not an issue, and he’s certainly got the experience. Willie John (McBride) was what – 33, 34 when he did it?.”

EDITORS PICKS:

Lomu and Wilkinson make Johnson’s all-time XV, but other stars misses out

BACK-THREE:

Fullback: Serge Blanco (France) – “A great France full back who dominated games.”

Winger: Joe Roff (Australia) – “You’d put David Campese up there but Roff is my choice. A fantastic all-round rugby player, and old-style wing.”

Winger: Jonah Lomu (New Zealand) – “Not much difficulty in choosing one of the most awesome wings to have ever played.”


CENTRES:

Outside-centre: Philippe Sella (France) – “I used to watch him as a kid on TV and think he was brilliant; and then ten years later I played against him and he was still brilliant. He still looks as if he could play for France today. One of the best backs I’ve ever seen. If you hit him it was like running into concrete.”

Inside-centre: Danie Gerber (South Africa) – “Scored a hat-trick against England in the first half in one match in the 1980s. He didn’t play many Tests because of apartheid, but he had power and pace. I don’t know if he could pass: it seemed like he never needed to. I played against him in a charity match in 1996 when he must have been well into his 40s, he was still awesome.”

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