YOU SIMPLY CANNOT PICK A LION ON REPUTATION
IWAS the last coach to pick a Lions tour party for New Zealand and it was a slightly surreal experience sitting down over a cup of tea to repeat that exercise, this time for fun rather than for real. Not quite so stressful. As everybody knows, things went badly for us in 2005 against an outstanding New Zealand side and I would be the first to acknowledge that I got some selections wrong. Selection is an art not a science but it is the No1 job of the head coach. Bad injuries, bad luck and great opponents will all come into play but if you get your absolute core selection right you at least give yourself a chance at victory.
The most important criteria of all is current fitness and form. Nobody should be selected on reputation in the hope that he comes good. That was a mistake I made in 2005 with several players, including Jonny Wilkinson.
On his 2003 form, Jonny was the first name on the 2005 Lions teamsheet but he had been beset by injury and had played no Test rugby in between. Yes, when I selected him Jonny was, for that short period, injury free and healthy and had played a few games for Newcastle, but that is a million miles away from being match fit and ready take on the All Blacks.
I had this dream of a midfield of Jonny at 12 and Brian O’Driscoll at 13 which I felt was key to us really challenging the All Blacks, but it was unfair on Jonny, who really tried everything he could to be ready. We also lost Brian in the first minute of the first Test. The nearest I’ve ever got to working in earnest with this dream team was in the TV studios during the recent Six Nations.
It was a painful lesson and if I was involved 12 years on I would base the selection on the Six Nations with the recent European Cup quarter-finals as a final topup. Everybody who gets on the plane must be 100 per cent fit and ready to go. New Zealand just is not the place for anybody who is not totally on top of their game.
Having said that, we have three particular situations that need flexibility. Johnny Sexton has had a few injuries lately, but has recovered well and starts for me if fit, but he must be at 100 per cent. George Kruis is poised to return for Saracens after a long lay-off, while Sam Warburton has developed a knee ligament problem that needs six weeks’ rehab.
Kruis is absolutely the type of second row the Lions need in New Zealand and with Saracens involved at the sharp end of the European Cup and Premiership, I would leave a space for him in the squad on Wednesday, but if he doesn’t play to Warren Gatland’s satisfaction he should be withdrawn. It’s one area where the Lions aren’t exactly lacking.
After a fine Six Nations, Warburton is my tour captain and a nailed-on Test starter and if the medics are correct he would be fit to play in the tour opener on June 3, but as a back-up I would take an additional flanker, again an area of huge strength.
Warburton has shown previously that he comes back with a bang after injuries but if there is any doubt about his from during the tour you simply make the call and omit him for the first Test. In that scenario, Owen Farrell should captain the team.
The optimum size of a modernday tour party to New Zealand is a big subject which I will return to at length in the coming weeks, but for my imaginary squad I would definitely have asked the Lions committee to extend the accepted 37 to a minimum of 39 and the Warburton scenario only strengthens my thoughts on that.
Don’t forget we already know that Warren’s squad will leave minus a raft of frontline players at the start of the first week arriving later from the Premiership and Pro 12 play-off finals. It really does show rugby in a very poor light that those finals weren’t brought forward a week.
I would also emphasise the key role of the nominated reserves. History shows us that there is every chance of a reserve not only joining the squad but even making the Test team. Martin Johnson in 1993, Ryan Jones and Simon Easterby in 2005 are prime examples. That’s how it goes on Lions tours sometimes.
The reserves need to be fully motivated and I would ask them to be part of all the pre-Tour meetings and the week together before the main party departs. Psychologically that could be hard but incredible selfless teamwork is one of the things that can make this Lions squad successful.
Irealnd, England, Scotland and Wales are all touring this summer with powerful squads. Scotland in Australia and Wales in the South Pacific are particularly well placed for those immediate calls and I’m sure Warren will keep in close touch with all the coaches. Of course it’s a disruption but for a common purpose, giving the Lions every chance on the toughest tour of all.