"You can't pick Owen Farrell" - Andy Goode selects his Lions XV

Friday, 02 April 2021 at 09:17

byRugby Rucker

The latest episode of The Rugby Pod saw Andy Goode pick his Lions XV with Owen Farrell and Tom Curry both missing out on selection.

ANDY GOODE: MY LIONS TEST XV

BACK-THREE:

15. Stuart Hogg (Scotland); 14. George North (Wales), 11. Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland)

GOODE SAID: " I have gone George North and Duhan van der Merwe. North was close to going in the centres with Henshaw but I love Jonathan Davies. He is a great player."

DID YOU KNOW? Hogg's father, John, played as a championship winning full-back for Hawick before becoming a rugby referee

CENTRES:

13. Jonathan Davies (Wales), 12. Robbie Henshaw (Ireland)

GOODE SAID: "My centre pairing, and again you can’t put someone like Manu Tuilagi in as he has not played yet, on form and on what we are going to face, I am going Robbie Henshaw and Jonathan Davies."

DID YOU KNOW? His family has a lot of musical talent, with Henshaw himself playing the accordion, fiddle, guitar and piano

HALFBACKS:

10. Dan Biggar (Wales), 9. Conor Murray (Ireland)

GOODE SAID: "I don’t think you can pick Owen Farrell on any form at all. If we’re going Test match animals, this is what Eddie Jones did, he picked what he thought was the right play whether they are playing well, in form, out of form, whatever, and that got England fifth place and our worst ever Six Nations. I couldn’t pick Owen Farrell because of that. Sexton got knocked out again at the weekend. I thought about going Sexton, but I have gone for Biggar at 10 and we’re not naming our bench but I would definitely go Finn Russell on the bench. "

DID YOU KNOW? Biggar won the BBC Cymru Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2015

FRONT-ROW:

1. Wyn Jones (Wales), 2. Ken Owens (Wales), 3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)

DID YOU KNOW? Furlong comes from a farming family in the parish of Horeswood in County Wexford

SECOND-ROW:

4. Maro Itoje (England), 5. Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)

GOODE SAID: "Alun Wyn Jones, give him the armband, second row, captain of the winning Six Nations team in Wales, performed beyond expectations of most people. He has got it in his locker, he knows what the Lions is, knows how to win in a Lions jersey."

DID YOU KNOW? Jones studied part-time for a degree in law at Swansea University, graduating in 2010

BACK-ROW:

6. Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), 7. Hamish Watson (Scotland), 8. Taulupe Faletau (Wales)

GOODE SAID: " I had Sam Simmonds written next to Faletau but then I can’t pick him to start a Lions Test match because he hasn’t played in the Six Nations."