Matt Dawson leaves Owen Farrell out of his Lions backline
Rugby NewsThursday, 04 February 2021 at 09:26
Matt Dawson has named the back-line he believes capable of defeating South Africa when the eagerly awaited Test series versus the Springboks kicks off in July.
He won 77 caps for his country in total, including nine as captain, and was instrumental as England won the 2003 Six Nations Grand Slam and triumphed at the 2003 World Cup.
The three-time Lions tourist and former captain controversially didn’t pick England captain Owen Farrell in his selection.
Matt Dawson went through who he would pick:
DID YOU KNOW? Before rugby union became openly professional in 1995 Matt Dawson worked as a security guard and coached at Spratton Hall Schoo
BACK-THREE:
- Fullback: Anthony Watson (England)
- Winger: Louis Rees-Zammit (Wales)
- Winger: Jonny May (England)
DID YOU KNOW? In 2020, Jonny May became England's second highest try scorer alongside Will Greenwood and Ben Cohen with 31 test tries.
CENTRES:
- Outside-centre: Jonathan Davies (Wales)
- Inside-centre: Manu Tuilagi (England)
HALFBACKS:
- Fly-half: Finn Russell (Scotland)
- Scrum-half: Rhys Webb (Wales)
“Owen Farrell is a tactical magician. He will kick you into the right positions and give good passes, but not in the zippy way that Russell does."
DID YOU KNOW? After secondary school, Scotland star Finn Russell pursued an apprenticeship for three years as a stonemason
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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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