Gatland should go for Saracens core
WHEN Warren Gatland and his coaches are pondering the final group of names to be announced on Wednesday, they will be thinking about the balance of the Lions squad as a whole. They will be thinking of their potential starting team, but they will also be thinking about the teams within the team.
I’m thinking about those parts of a team that need to function as units and the benefits to a coach of having pre-existing relationships in place.
Much of the challenge of being the Lions coach is making players gel in a relatively short space of time, so there is an obvious attraction if certain combinations are already established.
For the first Test against New Zealand in Auckland on June 24, Gatland could choose both Ireland half backs, Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton, and outside them he may opt for the England centres, Owen Farrell and Jonathan Joseph.
It will be even more fascinating to see the make-up of the second row and whether he is tempted to use the combination that was so successful for Saracens and England for much of 2016.
George Kruis makes his return from injury against Northampton Saints after missing the Six Nations with a knee injury, but there’s plenty of time for him to find form and full fitness before the Lions tour and enough big club games coming up to prove himself in the showpiece occasions.
If Saracens sweep all before them in the next few weeks in the Aviva Premiership and European Champions Cup, with Kruis and Maro Itoje reunited at the core, I’d be tempted to utilise the productive relationship they’ve developed, with club and country, for the Lions against the All Blacks.
In my playing days, I packed down alongside Martin Johnson countless times for Leicester and England, and the understanding you build can buy you small advantages in different areas of the game.
When I got up from a scrum and the ball had moved on, I’d have an instinctive understanding of where Johnno would be heading next and I’d tailor my movements accordingly. It requires a show of faith from Gatland to name Kruis in his squad on Wednesday so soon after his return, but I think he’ll be worth it, in his own right and because of his partnership with Itoje.
Among the locks, I see Jonny Gray and Alun Wyn Jones as the other two certainties to be included in the squad. Both of them probably slipped back slightly in the pecking order during the Six Nations, but they each bring something different. With Gray it’s a high work rate and phenomenal defence, because he barely misses a tackle. Jones brings his sheer physical presence and, importantly, his experience and leadership on the field, even if Sam Warburton is chosen ahead of him as captain.
Gatland will have to make sure that there is enough leadership in the starting line-up, because none of the Six Nations captains are nailed-on certainties.
Jones won’t be far away and I expect Rory Best to make the tour, but Dylan Hartley and Greig Laidlaw could miss out altogether.
For the tour to Australia in 2013, Gatland picked five locks in a 37-man squad, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his squad is slightly larger this time. I’d go with 39 players, due to the concussion protocols and the greater likelihood of players missing matches. GETTY IMAGES One of those extra players would be in the second row.
Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes were two players who certainly did advance their causes during the Six Nations and, after Itoje, Jones, Gray and Kruis, Launchbury would be the next cab off the rank for me. He’s one of those hidden gems, who seems to do everything well. The final place would then be a shootout between Lawes and Iain Henderson, both of whom offer the versatility of being able to play No 6 too.
Gatland’s choices at second row could also have a knock-on effect at hooker, and here we can return to the team within a team. If Itoje and Kruis were to be pencilled in as the first-choice locks, Jamie George’s chances of starting at hooker would improve significantly as another crucial cog in Saracens’ lineout operation. However, his duel with Hartley tomorrow (Sunday) could be seen as something of a final trial. For Johnno and myself, Dorian West threw into the lineout at Leicester and I can vividly recall once when we were playing for England together and the opposition had marked me and closed off our intended lineout call. Because we’d been through that sort of thing before, it needed only a raise of the eyebrows from me for Westy to know that I wanted it throwing longer over the top instead and he put it on a plate.
When you’re putting together a Lions team in a matter of weeks, those little moments of chemistry could be worth their weight in gold to Gatland. Ben Kay is a World Cup-winning lock who played 62 times for England. THE TIMES