The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Lions brand losing its lustre as another wholesale snub looms
The top right quarter of the badge is still a thistle in blue, so ostensibly the British and Irish Lions are still “The Power of Four” as the 21st Century marketing declares.
But when Warren Gatland today announces his squad for this summer’s tour of New Zealand – 38 strong if just one of the deluge of leaks over the last week is to be believed – it seems likely that, at most, just three Scots will again feature.
Stuart Hogg, voted the player of the Six Nations by the public for the last two seasons, is our sure thing. With another leak yesterday suggesting England’s Joe Launchbury has missed out, it seems possible that one of the Gray brothers, probably Jonny, will now tour. A third Scottish tourist is likely to be a wing, either Sean Maitland – a Gatland favourite – or Tommy Seymour.
This of course just matches the total who toured in 2013 to Australia and is one better than the modern all-time low of two originally selected for South Africa in 2009. Indeed Tom Smith in Australia in 2001 remains the last Scot to start a Lions test, and since 1993 you’ve been able to count Scottish Lions on tour using just the one hand.
Has this been justified? Probably yes, as since the turn of the century Scotland have not been very good.
Yet, even on the back of their most competitive Six Nations season since 1999 this spring, it appears likely to have made no difference at all come Lions selection.
Gatland’s antipathy towards Scottish players, with a few exceptions, is well known. In order to excuse this, we’ve had the rather spurious suggestion that Scotland “needed a voice” in selection process, someone to bat for their players.
Gregor Townsend and Jason O’Halloran from the Scottish system both turned down the chance to be assistants on this tour, and hardly surprisingly as the post they were offered was a deputy to Gatland’s perennial lieutenant Rob Howley, the attack coach for the team that scored the least tries of the home nations in the Six Nations.
However, this has been painted as the Scots disadvantaging themselves; as if Gatland can clearly not even trust himself to be even-handed when it comes to selection.
Selection is subjective, everyone gets that. There will be curious decisions and hunches taken that will annoy more than just Scottish fans. Perhaps someone pushing for Scots in selection discussions may have helped in a borderline case.
But when the Scot seems to lose out in almost every borderline case, the lack of “a voice” seems like only an excuse.
At the weekend another leak suggested three players classified as “bolters” – players who have made blindside runs at selection – were in the tour squad. Kyle Sinckler, Iain Henderson and Ben Te’o made exactly three starts in the Six Nations between them.
Henderson is an interesting case, as he started Ireland’s loss to Scotland, scored a try but performed poorly and was dropped for the next three games. He returned to play a significant but hardly pivotal role in the Irish defeat of England in Dublin.
He’s a versatile player all right, but the judgment of him seems to have come from that single game, while the judgment of, say, Scotland’s Finn Russell appears to have been the Calcutta Cup game and not his three outstanding performances in Scotland’s three wins.
The Twickenham rout – admittedly a dire afternoon for Scotland – appears to have been a sort of kangaroo court for Scottish Lions’ hopes.
In comparison Wales’ capitulation at Murrayfield, or Ireland’s in Cardiff,
or England’s in Dublin have all been largely disregarded.
But whether Scotland’s representation on this Lions Tour is accurately representative or not, the fact remains that another wholesale snub is sure to diminish further our interest in the concept.
Scots still feel some affinity with the Lions as they remember Smith, Hastings, Irvine, Calder and Gordon Brown wearing the red shirt. But when they look at the brand, where’s our connection with it these days?