Mike Phillips leaves Curry and Farrell out of his British & Irish Lions XV

Tuesday, 02 March 2021 at 08:28

byRugby Rucker

Former Lions and Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips is the latest rugby legend to have a crack at picking his XV to face South Africa this summer.

An aggressive, powerful scrum-half, Phillips made his international debut in 2003 and went onto win 98 international caps before stepping down from Wales duty in 2015.

A double Wales Grand Slam winner, he also played in five Tests for the British & Irish Lions.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Phillips picked his XV along with his captain for the upcoming tour.

DID YOU KNOW? 6ft 3in Mike Phillips spent his late teenage years as both a blind and open side flanker before becoming a scrum-half

MIKE PHILLIPS LIONS XV:

BACK THREE:

15 Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
14 Anthony Watson (England)
11. Josh Adams (Wales)

Phillips said: "At full-back I've gone with Stuart Hogg as he's been outstanding. At 14, Anthony Watson has had a couple of great games so far, then I've got Josh Adams on the other wing, who's a real finisher."

CENTRES:

13 Garry Ringrose (Ireland)
12 Manu Tuilagi (England)

Phillips said: "Garry Ringrose gets the outside centre role and at 12 I've put in Manu Tuilagi. Obviously, he's injured at present, but I think it's shown when he's not there how good a player he is and England have really struggled without him."

HALFBACKS:

10 Finn Russell (Scotland)
9 Tomos Williams (Wales)

Phillips said: "I've picked Finn Russell at fly-half. I want to be entertained in my old age and he's very entertaining, so I look forward to watching him play. Tomos Williams goes in at scrum-half and although he got injured, he should be back. I think Kieran Hardy has a chance of going as well."

FRONT-ROW:

1 Cian Healy (Ireland)
2 Ronan Kelleher (Ireland)
3 Kyle Sinckler (England)

Phillips said: "In the front row, I've gone for Kyle Sinckler at tighthead and Ronan Kelleher at hooker. He looks a machine for Ireland, although you could put Ken Owens in there as well. Cian Healy has been a Lion before and I'll go with him at loosehead."

SECOND-ROW:

4 Maro Itoje (England)
5 Alun Wyn Jones (Wales, captain)

Phillips said: "Alun Wyn Jones and Maro Itoje are my two second rows, and I'd probably pick Alun Wyn as my captain. He's pretty inspiring and how he's still going it's phenomenal. He's so prominent as well and he's got massive respect from everyone, and Maro Itoje is a great athlete and he's a pain on the field."

BACk-ROW:

6 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)
7 Justin Tipuric (Wales)
8 Taulupe Faletau (Wales)

Phillips said: "Taulupe Faletau is my No 8. He's had a season or two with injuries, but I played with him in his first game for Wales and he's absolutely class. Justin Tipuric is a multi-skilled guy who gets in at No 7 and at No 6 I've gone for Tadhg Beirne, who is great around around the park and good over the ball."