Lions warned over Scots duo selection
WARREN Gatland has been warned he will blow a hole in the credibility of the Lions if Scotland duo Hamish Watson and Stuart Hogg aren’t heavily involved in the upcoming tour of South Africa.
That is the view of an increasingly unimpressed Scottish media, which has hit back at what it has dubbed the “peculiar sport” of “rubbishing the credentials of Scotland’s Lions candidates”.
Watson was last week accused of being ‘too lightweight’ against the prospective test of the Springboks by one journalist, while Hogg has now found his credentials called into question by Stuart Barnes.
He launched a shock attack on the Scotland captain in his latest Times column, the headline of which branded Hogg “an accident waiting to happen in South Africa”.
Hogg is widely expected to be in the running for what would be his third tour this summer and, in the eyes of many, further cemented his credentials with an impressive showing for Exeter Chiefs against Wasps at the weekend.
Given that Hogg is also the first man to captain Scotland to victories in England and France in the same season since 1926, he appears to be shoo in for this summer’s showdown with the world champions.
However, writing for the Sunday Times, Barnes argued there is a flipside to the 28-year old’s game, one that could be seized upon and punished by the Springboks.
Commenting on the full-back’s performance at the weekend, Barnes wrote: “More is needed if he is to make the Test team.”
He argued: “The negatives of his game can outweigh his dazzling array of positives. In the European Champions Cup quarter-final loss to Leinster, twice he was caught on his heels in defence and twice the Irish side exploited this positional frailty with tries.
“Wasps’ Paolo Odogwu also beat Hogg with ease in a one-on-one by the touchline on Saturday. Against an opposition that boasts the brilliant Cheslin Kolbe, he will need to do better.”
Interestingly, Barnes has hinted that Wales star Liam Williams may well prove a better option in terms of dealing with the high ball – a potential weakness he believes South Africa may look to exploit.
“He is not one of the world’s most dominant presences beneath a high ball either. Hugo Keenan and Liam Williams are markedly superior in an aspect of the game where the Springboks will hunt for weaknesses.
“There are superior defensive full backs available to Gatland. He has been extremely shaky in the past fortnight. There is also the capacity for the Hogg howler.
“Dropped balls over the line, charged-down kicks, moments of recklessness, it is seemingly part of the make-up of the most exciting full back in Britain and Ireland. The question has to be: is Hogg more of a threat to South Africa than he is an opportunity to be taken advantage of?”
The Scottish media have, perhaps unsurprisingly taken a dim view of Barnes’ comments and insist that to overlook Hogg and Watson would undermine the integrity of the Lions as a concept.
Writing in The Scotsman, journalist Graham Bean hit back: “Last week it was Hamish Watson – too small, apparently.
“This week it’s Stuart Hogg - defensively flaky, according to Stuart Barnes, the former England fly-half.
“Neither claim stands up to much scrutiny. Both Scots enjoyed a successful Six Nations, with Watson a worthy winner of the fans’ poll for player of the tournament.
“The strangest thing about Barnes’ criticism was the timing, coming as it did on the back of a performance for Exeter Chiefs against Wasps in which Hogg scored two tries.
“The second of the scores was one of those ‘worldies’ that sends Twitter ablaze.
“Scots have long nursed a grievance over their representation in the Lions but it would be a major shock if Warren Gatland were to name a squad on May 6 without Watson and Hogg.
“Omitting either would provoke uproar; overlooking both would leave the Lions’ credibility in tatters.”