Experts reveal only seven Englishmen are currently 'nailed-on' Lions

Thursday, 15 April 2021 at 09:30

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byRugby Rucker

The experts at Wales Online have identified 20 players who will DEFINITELY be in Warren Gatland's British & Irish Lions squad to face the Springboks.

Gatland will name a reduced 36-man squad early next month.

The lack of travel across multiple times zones to get to South Africa, allied with the Lions not having a midweek match leading into the first Test in July, were the reasons why Gatland said his squad number would be reduced, adding that the forwards/backs split could potentially be 20/15.

We'll look through Wales Online's selection and say whether we agree or disagree with their selections.

BACK-THREE:

Stuart Hogg (Hogg)
Liam Williams (Wales)
Anthony Watson (England)
Josh Adams (Wales)

OUR VIEW: It's hard to argue that these four guys are not 'nailed on'. Williams hasn't been in great form, but the Scarlet Speedster has credit in the bank from four years ago in New Zealand.

CENTRES:

Robbie Henshaw (Ireland)
George North (Wales)

OUR VIEW: Henshaw is arguably the first name on the team sheet, but we remain unsure whether powerhouse North did enough to be considered a certainty for the squad.

FLY-HALVES:

Owen Farrell (England)

OUR VIEW: Despite his poor Six Nations campaign, Faz probably has enough credit in the bank with Gatland to be still considered nailed-on for now.

SCRUM-HALVES:

Conor Murray (Ireland)

Our view: Agree

PROPS:

Wyn Jones (Wales)
Mako Vunipola (England)
Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
Kyle Sinckler (England)

OUR VIEW: Jones has played his way onto the plane while Furlong and Sinckler only further cemented their place on tour. Meanwhile, Mako hasn't impressed for a while and shouldn't be a certainty in our opinion.

HOOKERS:

Ken Owens (Wales)
Jamie George (England)

OUR VIEW: Ken 'the Sheriff' Owens is in, and George was a reliable lieutenant for Gatland in 2017.

SECOND-ROW:

Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
Maro Itoje (England)
James Ryan (Ireland)
Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)

OUR VIEW: Six months ago, Ryan was one of the first names on everybody's Lion's teamsheet. But, if we're being honest, he was outperformed by Iain Henderson during the Six Nations and shouldn't be a definite based on form.

BACK-ROW:

Taulupe Faletau (Wales)
Tom Curry (England)
Justin Tipuric (Wales)
CJ Stander (Ireland)
Hamish Watson (Scotland)

OUR VIEW: With the plethora of talent available for Gatland in the back-row, we'd say only Curry and Faletau could be considered a certainty at this stage.

Lions Tour 2021 fixtures and TV channel

Saturday, June 26… Japan… Murrayfield… Sky Sports… KO TBC
Saturday July 3… Stormers… Cape Town… Sky Sports… KO 7pm
Wednesday, July 7… South Africa Invitational… Port Elizabeth… Sky Sports… KO 7pm
Saturday, July 10… Sharks… Durban… Sky Sports… KO 7pm
Wednesday, July 14… South Africa A… Mbombela… Sky Sports… KO 7pm
Saturday, July 17… Bulls… Pretoria… Sky Sports… KO 7pm
Saturday, July 24… South Africa… Johannesburg… Sky Sports… KO 7pm
Saturday, July 31… South Africa… Cape Town… Sky Sports… KO 7pm
Saturday, August 7… South Africa… Johannesburg… Sky Sports… KO 7pm