Jim Telfer picks his pack to dominate the Springboks

Tuesday, 13 April 2021 at 18:47

byRugby Rucker

When legendary Lions Jim Telfer selects his forward pack to take on the Springboks this summer – you listen.

Writing for The Offside Line, the 81-year-old has gone with two English players in his pack, with Maro Itoje and Tom Curry both included.

FRONT-ROW:

1. Wyn Jones (Wales) - " He does it all, scrummages strongly, carries and defends with aggression."
2. Ken Owens (Wales) - "Owens has been crucial to the Welsh revival in the Six Nations following that forgettable autumn series."
3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland) - "He is a big beast of a man and you need to meet and match the Springboks for power in the forwards."

SECOND-ROW:

4. Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) - "You need a strong captain and Alun-Wyn Jones has enjoyed an outstanding season for Wales."
5. Maro Itoje (England) - "Such an athletic and clever player, if you ignore the penalty count, Itoje has to be in the starting XV. He is a line-out specialist, both in attack and defence, although England probably don’t use him as much as they should."

BACK-ROW:

6. Tadhg Beirne (Ireland) - "Another supremely intelligent player whether he plays at lock or in the back-row and I have him at six to match the power that the World Champion Springboks will field in their back row."
7. Tom Curry (England) - "I have gone for Curry because he is Mr Consistency. If you saw him across the changing room you would know that you were going to get 100 percent effort from your open-side."
8. Toby Faletau (Wales) - "England number eights tend to bash the ball up but when Faletau’s picks and goes you always think something will happen."