Gatland has a cast of heroes to take to New Zealand

This year’s Six Nations has given Lions coach tough decisions when he finalises his squad

Test-match animals is what Sir Ian McGeechan dubs them, the type of player who can find something deep within to withstand all sorts of pressure, the sort who never shirks, never shrivels, is selfless at all times, a team man to his core.

The 2017 Six Nations championship has given us players around whom Warren Gatland can base his strategy, a squad not just for taking on the All Blacks but with a decent chance of beating them. The British and Irish Lions head coach has already indicated that there will be tough decisions to make when it comes to finalising his 37-38 man squad next month. To judge by the last seven weeks, Gatland will be spoiled for choice.

The Lions will need more than grunt and sweat to beat the Kiwis. They will need to be slick and dynamic and inventive if the back-to-back world champions are to be beaten.

The good news is that there was plenty of that sort of rugby on view, too, from the bewitching feet and quicksilver hands of Stuart Hogg to the sighting once again of George North in full flow, and on to the balance and gliding pace of Jonathan Joseph.

Scotland fly-half Finn Russell sparkled at times, the Ireland centres – burly Robbie Henshaw and the young pretender, Garry Ringrose – showed promise, while the likes of 2013 tourists Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell suggested that they have the wherewithal to provide the Lions with a hardbitten axis. There are good options at scrum-half, with Rhys Webb making a persuasive case for starting, although the more experienced Conor Murray, in tandem with his Ireland half-back, Sexton, is a nose in front.

The Lions are well aware that they need to generate a sophisticated attacking game. At the very least, the players themselves who might deliver that are in the right head-space to bring that about. Attack is about attitude and awareness as much as basic talent. The Championship gave us plenty of evidence that there is enough raw material.

There is a theory that it was the introduction of bonus points that has helped bring about an upturn in attacking play in the Championship. That measure alone does not account for it. It is more that the players themselves have realised that modern rugby demands that tries are scored if victory is to be secured.

Look at England’s bold matchwinner in Cardiff, a shot for glory that produced the goods with George Ford, Farrell and Elliot Daly all chiming perfectly to score the sort of last-gasp try that the Lions might need in a tight corner.

If there is a concern it lies in the fact that some of these skills on offer waxed and waned, that there was a lack of consistency in Scotland’s ability to hit the high notes at all time, England’s too, tailing off as they did in Dublin – although their master-class against Scotland will have given Gatland assurance that these men have the ability to produce high-octane rugby. Certainly the fitness levels in the championship have been encouraging, with England leading the way in that regard.

The forward play is where northern hemisphere sides might hope to steal a march on New Zealand, although the days when they could expect to turn the screw in the tight scrummage are long gone. No one messes with the All Blacks in that regard.

What is indispensable to the Lions cause is a fast-moving, athletic and abrasive set of forwards. England lead the way through the likes of Courtney Lawes, Maro Itoje, Joe Launchbury and the Vunipolas. There is a sprinkling of Irish to factor in, too, be it the adopted son from South Africa, CJ Stander, prop Tadhg Furlong and a heartening push into the fray of flanker Peter O’Mahony.

Even though Wales experienced disappointment in terms of results there was plenty to admire in the play of hooker Ken Owens, the application of lock Alun Wyn Jones and, tellingly, the revitalised Sam Warburton. No longer Wales captain, Warburton has once again displayed all the virtues needed of a Lions captain. As he did in 2013, Warburton should be the man to lead the Lions. He will be in good company.