Revisiting the 2017 prediction of how the 2021 Lions XV would look
Rugby NewsSunday, 23 May 2021 at 16:13
Over the past few days we came across Wales Online's bold selection from four years ago...
It seems that back in 2017, they tried to predict the British & Irish Lions XV for their 2021 tour of South Africa - so now it's time to revisit their picks and look at how clever they actually were.
Eight of their picks didn't even make Warren Gatland's squad, which isn't the best of starts...
BACK-THREE:
- 15. Anthony Watson (England)
- 14. Adam Byrne (Ireland)
- 11. Keelan Giles (Wales)
The standout in this first team is the inclusion of Leinster's Byrne and Ospreys flyer Giles on the wings. Despite being uncapped at the time, they were both very exciting prospects. Few, if any, would have predicted that four years later, they'd share just one Test cap between them.
CENTRES:
- 13. Jonathan Davies (Wales)
- 12. Henry Slade (England)
HALFBACKS:
- 10. Finn Russell (Scotland)
- 9. Conor Murray (Ireland)
FRONT-ROW:
- 1. Mako Vunipola (England)
- 2. Ryan Elias (Wales)
- 3. Kyle Sinckler (England)
SECOND-ROW:
- 4. Maro Itoje (England)
- 5. Charlie Ewels (England)
BACK-ROW:
- 6. Mark Wilson (England)
- 7. Justin Tipuric (Wales)
- 8. Taulupe Faletau (Wales)
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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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