BRITISH LIONS EXCLUSIVE
England’s Six Nations heroes to be left out of Gatland’s squad
At least five high-profile members of England’s Six Nations Championship-winning side are to miss out on selection for the British and Irish Lions squad for the tour of New Zealand, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
It is understood that the omissions will include England’s playmaking fly-half George Ford, centre Jonathan Joseph, who scored a hat-trick of tries in the record victory over Scotland, and Mike Brown, the ever-present fullback of Eddie Jones’s tenure.
At least two members of the England pack are also expected to be overlooked by Lions coach Warren Gatland, who names his squad tomorrow, with lock Joe Launchbury and flanker James Haskell likely to miss the cut.
Chris Robshaw, the former England captain who was one of the star performers for Jones during his side’s record-breaking unbeaten run of Test victories last year, is also expected to be omitted despite returning to full fitness recently after missing the entire Six Nations campaign with a shoulder injury.
It is understood that the fate of current England captain Dylan Hartley, meanwhile, is expected to be decided at Gatland’s final selection meeting with his coaches this afternoon to rubber-stamp the remainder of the squad. The hooker’s impressive performance for Northampton in the Premiership match against Saracens on Sunday, when he went head to head with England rival Jamie George, suggests the 31-year-old may yet make the squad, having missed the tour victory over Australia in 2013 because of an 11-week suspension for abusing a referee.
England, on the back of claiming successive Six Nations titles, should still provide the lion’s share of the expected 38-man squad, with a contingent of at least 12 players expected to be confirmed tomorrow.
The Sunday Telegraph revealed that Kyle Sinckler, the Harlequins prop who is yet to start a Test match for England after eight appearances from the bench since his debut last November, and Worcester centre Ben Te’o, who has started in just one of his eight appearances,
It appears that England’s defeat by Ireland may have damaged the hopes of some
will be included as two of the ‘rookie’ selections. It is also expected that Joe Marler, Sinckler’s club team-mate, who started at loosehead for England throughout the Six Nations, will be included as one of seven props, along with Saracens’ Mako Vunipola and Leicester’s Dan Cole. Te’o, who was born in New Zealand and played rugby league for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Samoa, qualifies for England via his English mother and his strong ball-carrying made an impact off the bench as Jones’s side retained their Six Nations title. However, it appears that England’s defeat by Ireland in the final Six Nations match may have damaged the hopes of the others, as it did when Stuart Lancaster’s side lost heavily to Wales in the finale in 2013.
Launchbury, who was man of the match in England’s victories over Wales in Cardiff and Italy at Twickenham, had appeared to be one of the tour certainties after playing the best rugby of his career over the past six months, but is poised to be overlooked given the stiff competition at second row.
Haskell, another starter in Dublin, was also a linchpin of Jones’s side last year, and his defensive work-rate and energetic personality also made him a strong contender for one of the back-row positions, but it seems that his injury-disrupted season – he was sidelined for six months with a toe injury followed by a head injury – has left him just short in an even more competitive area.
Ireland locks Iain Henderson and Donnacha Ryan are thought to be strong contenders for selection following their thunderous performances against England.
Joseph’s attacking prowess and acceleration are such that he made many pundits’ Test teams for the three-Test series against the All Blacks, but Gatland, as he showed by dropping Brian O’Driscoll for the third Test against the Wallabies, is not afraid to make tough decisions. Joseph was the Six Nations’ top try-scorer in 2015 and joint-top try-scorer again this season and overall has scored 16 tries in 33 caps for his country, but struggled in the game against Ireland.
Ford was considered by many to have an outside chance, while Robshaw’s omission is equally tough on the 30-year-old. A lack of international game time and the intense competition at blindside flanker looks to have caused him to miss out. Brown was another who faced tough competition.
Jones at least will have the benefit of taking a strong squad for the tour to Argentina in June and the players who miss out will know that the near certainty of injuries could yet mean they are called into action during the 10-match tour.