Calls that may see the Lions nations
shoulder injury that only recently saw him make a return to action Owen Farrell for Johnny Sexton at outside-half... If there’s going to be an O’Driscoll-style moment this summer then it could come around the selection of Farrell or Sexton in the No.10 jersey for the first Test.
Saracens star Farrell has been named alongside Sexton and Dan Biggar as the three outside-halves on the 10-match tour despite playing most of his Test rugby these days in the England No.12 jersey.
And, though he could well slot into the centre for the Test series, there’s a welter of opinion the 53-times 25-year-old will be the starting outside-half in the land of the long white cloud, which won’t go down well across the Irish Sea with Sexton cutting cult-figure status. No CJ Stander in the back-row .... Though some have questioned the South African’s credentials to wear the green of Ireland few could argue what the 15-times capped barnstorming back-rower brings to the party.
Another who has figured strongly in people’s pre-tour Test picks and though his performances over the last season may have done little to alter most opinions, Gatland’s penchant for a bruising back-row could well tilt the balance in favour of a Peter O’Mahony or even skipper Sam Warburton filling the blindside flanker role as he did in the Six Nations.
ENGLAND
No Owen Farrell at outside-half or centre .... Whereas no Johnny Sexton in the Lions No.10 shirt could well cause consternation across the Irish Sea, over the border the same could be said if Farrell is not Gatland’s first-choice Test pick.
A key figure behind England’s back-to-back Six Nations Championship wins and an equally stellar star of Saracens being double European champions in 2016 and ‘17.
There’s plenty of quality centres in the Lions party to not make Farrell a nailed-on Test starter in the No.12 jersey which could mean a straight shoot-out with Sexton for the outside-half berth. No Maro Itoje in the second row .... Gatland has already warned he expects England’s 12-times-capped 22-year-old talisman to be a marked man in New Zealand suggesting the Saracens lock has a huge part to play in the Test series.
But his move to blindside flanker in the Six Nations clearly didn’t work as well as England coach Eddie Jones would have liked and, like his Red Rose team-mates, Itoje struggled in the Grand Slam finale against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
WALES
No Test involvement for Justin Tipuric... Has just one Lions cap after coming off the bench in the decisive third and final Test as the Lions secured an historic series win in Australia in 2013, but will meet a familiar obstacle in the shape of Wales rival Sam Warburton in nthe contest for the No.7 jersey this time around.
Tipuric and Warburton forged a potent back-row pairing in the 2017 Six Nations, eclipsing all before them, but whether Gatland would take a punt on having both his Welsh flankers put onto the Lions stage remains to be seen. Alun Wyn Jones missing out out on the Tests... A talisman for Wales and the Lions in every sense of the word and the Osprey was heavily touted as a potential skipper of this tour before his Dragons teammate Warburton got the gig.
But he, too, has had his injury issues to contend with in recent months, though that didn’t seem to stop him putting in a storming display on his comeback from a shoulder problem in the Pro12 semi-final clash with Munster in Thomond Park last weekend.
But, with Itoje and George Kruis forming one of the best second-row partnerships in world rugby for England and Saracens, the re-emergence of Courtney Lawes on the Test stage and the eye-catching display from Iain Henderson when Ireland stopped back-to-back Red Rose Grand Slams, the lock selection battle looks to be one of the most intense on tour.