Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SIX NATIONS FL P = LIONS CH P
England stars damaged by fifth place finish have final Euro chance to claim South Africa tour spot as Slade goes up against direct rival Henshaw
BRIAN O’DRISCOLL has told Henry Slade that Saturday’s Champions Cup offers a priceless opportunity to stake a late Lions claim.
O’driscoll recognises that England’s Six Nations flop will have hurt the chances of a good number of Eddie Jones’ team.
But with Exeter and Sale through to the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier competition, the Lions legend reckons there is a lifeline for their top players.
“Lions auditioning ultimately takes place in the Six Nations and you have to anticipate that nearly the whole squad is selected,” said O’driscoll (below).
“But if there are still one or two question marks, it’s this round of European ties – and certain match-ups within it – that will grab Warren’s attention.”
Lions boss Warren Gatland is set to be at Sandy Park to watch Slade go up against Robbie Henshaw in the Exeterleinster clash.
Slade missed
England’s drubbing in Ireland last month due to injury, having caught the eye in the victory over France the previous week.
O’driscoll is intrigued to see how well he goes against Henshaw, the scourge of the English in Dublin, and believes Gatland (right) will be, too.
“If somebody can get the better of another in a
50-50 call, just maybe there’ll be a little Lions subplot,” he said.
Whoever comes out on the winning side will also have a Champions Cup semifinal to showcase their skills on the very weekend the Lions squad is finalised ahead of the May 6 announcement.
A year ago, O’driscoll was asked to name a Lions XV to play South Africa and more than half his team was English.
After a Six Nations in which England lost three times and finished a lowly fifth, his team of the tournament contained not one of Jones’ side.
“I was asked to pick a Six Nations team on form
and I didn’t pick any English players,” he said.
But he still sees
Anthony Watson,
Maro Itoje and Tom Curry making the Test side.
While, away from Sandy Park, expect Curry to pull out all the stops to get Sale past La Rochelle in France.
And O’driscoll’s four semifinalists? Leinster, La Rochelle, Toulouse and Racing 92.
■ BT Sport is the home of the Heineken Champions Cup with every match live. Watch all the quarter-finals action, including Exeter Chiefs v Leinster Rugby, this Saturday and Sunday from 2.45pm on BT Sport 2.
SUNDAY