JUST ONE SCOT IN THE SQUAD?
Veteran Roberts set to tour but England’s skipper Hartley is out
Saracens’ Jamie George — will be one of three hookers alongside Ireland’s Rory Best and Ken Owens of Wales. Hartley, 31, was named in the 2013 Lions squad, only to be axed after being given an 11-match ban for abusing the Premiership final referee Wayne Barnes. This time, though, he is simply surplus to requirements. Sportsmail understands that Hartley will lead an England squad of rookies to Argentina in June and that Wales’ Sam Warburton will be unveiled today as Lions captain for the second time.
WHEN Warren Gatland’s Lions squad is officially revealed at high noon today, he will know what’s coming. Hysteria will go into over-drive. Feverish speculation will give way to frenzied reaction.
Sam Warburton will be there, as tour captain for the second time — that much has been widely expected and is hardly a source of dissent, such is his standing.
But the guessing game which was raging yesterday was a reminder of the passions stirred by this four- yearly selection process. Close calls will be dissected, debated and, in many cases, denounced.
Gatland is familiar with it all. When he dropped Brian O’Driscoll for the last Test in 2013, it unleashed a tidal wave of furious Irish indignation, the magnitude of which stunned the Kiwi.
This time, he will be ready for the inevitable onslaught. It will not trouble him so much.
England captain Dylan Hartley’s expected omission from the squad will be a primary focus for wildly polarised opinion, given the stellar impact he has made as the figurehead for Eddie Jones’ revival.
Likewise, there has already been unrest relating to the news that other stalwarts of England’s postWorld Cup purple patch, such as Joe Launchbury and Jonathan Joseph, are likely to miss the cut for the New Zealand trip.
Last night it emerged that Wales centre Jamie Roberts is likely to be included and despite his supreme pedigree from the tours in 2009 and four years ago, it was considered a shock development.
The Harlequin has been a reserve for his country this season, but seems set to be chosen ahead of Scott Williams and others.
There were late indications that Gatland and his assistants may select more than the expected 37 players — and defer the final call in some areas until today —amid rumours that Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones’s participation is in jeopardy. The veteran lock is recovering from a shoulder injury, and there are concerns over complications and the chance that surgery may be required.
Yesterday’s final selection meeting at Syon Park hotel near Twickenham was conducted against a backdrop of speculation.
One source suggested that after consulting his assistants, Gatland would delay his final decision on the hookers and centre until this morning, although Hartley is still expected to be overlooked.
The midfield equation was given added intrigue by 11th-hour talk about Roberts. There was already widespread shock regarding the revelation that Joseph — a fixture for England at No 13 — would be left out, in favour of team-mates Elliot Daly and Ben Te’o.
Jonathan Davies has been a long way off form this season too, but appears in line for another tour, while Joseph and Irish prodigy Garry Ringrose are overlooked.
There was considerable intrigue about the backthree choices, with doubts about the inclusion of another Welsh mainstay of 2013 in Australia, Leigh Halfpenny. But it is understood that the goalkicking full back will be named. Among what is expected to be a 15- strong England contingent, Exeter wing Jack Nowell is set to earn a place, along with Anthony Watson. But there will be Irish uproar if Simon Zebo misses out.
The half-back debate was less explosive. It will be a considerable surprise if Dan Biggar does not make it as the third-choice No 10 behind Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell, while Conor Murray, Rhys Webb and Ben Youngs are the likely scrum-halves.
Since it emerged that Harlequins tyro tighthead Kyle Sinckler would be a bolter among the prop ranks, there is expected to be an English dominance of this area.
Joe Marler and Mako Vunipola will be joined as the looseheads by Ireland’s Jack McGrath, and Dan Cole and Sinckler also have an Irishman for company at No 3 — Tadhg Furlong. Hartley’s absence would clear the way for Ken Owens — the form hooker in the Six Nations — to join Rory Best and Jamie George in the squad. While Launchbury’s omission has prompted near- outrage in some quarters, Courtney Lawes deserves to make it, such has been his form. Ireland’s Donnacha Ryan is perhaps the most surprising pick.
There was never much doubt that Billy Vunipola and Taulupe Faletau would be the No 8s, but Peter O’Mahony’s major hand in the defeat of England last month has helped the Ireland flanker pip Chris Robshaw. The power all around him will be complemented by the pace of Justin Tipuric.
Three nations will be happy about the number of players. But that leaves Scotland to lament their modest involvement if, as expected, full back Stuart Hogg is their only player. Several Scots have paid a heavy price for their 61-21 defeat against England.