SCOTS ARE LEFT HIGH AND DRY
FEW Scottish players on the Lions tour, and no Scottish voices in the selection meeting when the final decisions were made. Warren Gatland (below) may say that was unimportant, but it can’t be coincidence. The last names on any squad sheet need an advocate. Who was there to speak with intimate knowledge of the Scottish group? Who was there to brush away the doubts that Gatland and others expressed? Gregor Townsend and Jason O’Halloran made their priorities clear in turning down coaching positions on Gatland’s staff. They left Scottish rugby vulnerable to unchallenged criticism, and this was the result. DISCUSSIONS have taken place about making Argentina part of the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa. Why stop there? A frequent complaint is that the road games are no longer adequate preparation. Weakened teams are put out to leave the Lions, an already scratch team, undercooked. Why not involve the nations outside the traditional tri-nations, who would relish the opportunity of a Lions fixture? Why not extend the tour to include warm-up games against one or two from Argentina, Tonga, Fiji or Samoa? If the hosts won’t play fair, find someone who will. And hard, too. ‘WE’LL be back,’ promised Leicester’s players after their Champions League exit last week. Danny Drinkwater said having got a taste of European football, they wanted more. Maybe — had they started playing with the same fight earlier than the end of February, had they not been content to let their manager Claudio Ranieri twist in the wind — they may have returned. Any team that can frighten Atletico Madrid is surely capable of challenging for the Europa League, at least. Leicester, instead, will get precisely what they deserve from this season. JUrgeN KLOPP, the Liverpool manager, will not be advertising BetVictor next season, following intervention by the Football Association. Apparently, the governing body — who have Ladbrokes as their official betting partners — did not act earlier, for fear of being accused of hypocrisy. And it is.