How the Lions will line-up against the Springboks based on the odds
Rugby NewsFriday, 07 May 2021 at 20:22
The 2021 British & Irish Lions team doesn’t pick itself, and that’s arguably a good thing for head coach Warren Gatland.
He has selection headaches all over the field, most notably within his stacked forward pack.
On Thursday, Gatland named a 37-man squad for the South Africa tour which featured 10 of the England players who finished fifth in the 2021 Six Nations.
Below we look at how the starting XV* might look based on their odds to make the squad prior to the announcement.
BACK-THREE:
- Fullback: Stuart Hogg (Scotland) – 1/20
- Winger: Josh Adams (Wales) – 1/10
- Winger: Anthony Watson (England) – 1/5
Did you know? Hogg gained 3,289 metres in his Six Nations career, more than any other player in the tournament since 2000
CENTRES:
- Outside-centre: Robbie Henshaw (Ireland) - 1/16
- Inside-centre: Owen Farrell (England) - 1/20
Did you know? Farrell has scored 1050 points during his Test career, only four men have scored more in international rugby
HALFBACKS:
- Fly-half: Dan Biggar (Wales) - 1/5
- Scrum-half: Conor Murray (Ireland) - 1/5
Did you know? The scrum-half has assisted 25 tries in the Six Nations, at least eight more than any other player
FRONT-ROW:
- Loosehead-prop: Wyn Jones (Wales) - 1/4
- Hooker: Ken Owens (Wales) - 1/7
- Tighthead-prop: Tadhg Furlong (Ireland) - 1/10
Did you know? Played the most minutes (178) of any prop across the three Tests of the 2017 Tour to New Zealand
SECOND-ROW:
- Maro Itoje (England) - 1/10
- Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) - 1/8
Did you know? The Welsh captain has won 9 Lions Test caps - more than any other player in the professional era
BACK-ROW:
- Blindside-flanker: Tadhg Beirne (Ireland) - 1/5
- Openside-flanker: Hamish Watson (Scotland)- 1/5
- Number 8: Taulupe Faletau (Wales) - 1/5
Did you know? Faletau made 76 tackles during the 2017 Lions Tour, more than any other player
EDITORS PICKS:
- Lions 2021 squad revealed: Warren Gatland picks his 37 players
- Social media reaction as Warren Gatland names his Lions squad
- Alternative Lions squad: The 37 players who missed out
- “The best captain I ever had” – Warren Gatland ranks his 5 best Lions
- ‘I was very unpopular with a farmer,’- 5 infamous Lions tour stories
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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