Kruis’ Lions experience will keep him in the conversation

THERE are unlikely to be many bolters from the blue, if any, in the Lions squad for the tour to South Africa because of the constraints posed by the pandemic. There have never been many anyway from 1950 onwards, but they have become increasingly rare.

England prop Kyle Sinckler, right, was one on the 2017 tour to New Zealand having been first capped that season with his eight appearances all coming off the bench and the only uncapped player chosen by the Lions in the professional era was another Englishman, Will Greenwood.

Dickie Jeeps, below, had yet to play for England when he toured South Africa with the 1955 Lions and appeared in all four

Tests and in 1977 another scrum-half, Wales’ Brynmor Williams, started the series against New Zealand before he had been capped by his country.

His compatriot, the wing Elgan Rees, played in the final Test that year but had to wait until the retirement of Gerald Davies before making his Wales debut in 1979 while Delme

Thomas, right, played for the Lions against the All Blacks in 1966 four months before pulling on the Wales jersey for the first time.

The sight of Derek Quinnell barging aside anyone in his way in the tunnel at the old National Stadium in Cardiff in his desperation to replace the injured Mervyn Davies in the final seconds of the game against France in 1972 and win his first cap is one of the sport’s enduring images, but the previous year he had played a key role in the Lions regaining the lead in the series against the All Blacks. Quinnell, right, had been a surprise selection on the tour, but the Lions coach, Carwyn James, knew all about him because the pair were both at Llanelli. Quinnell started the third Test, at blind-side flanker rather than his preferred No.8, with instructions to subdue the New Zealand scrum-half, Sid Going, which he did.

It was not a oneoff because the blindside in the other three Tests, England’s Peter Dixon, had made his Test debut a month before at No.8. It was becoming fashionable at the start of the 1970s to play wing forwards left and right rather than open and blind, but James wanted John Taylor to operate at breakaway against the All Blacks and preferred a No.8 on the other side to offer greater protection to the lineout jumpers. Warren Gatland will have been thinking about the make-up of his squad since he was appointed head coach two years ago, but because it will be the least social tour they will have made, Lions’ experience will be significant, which is why George Kruis has a trace of hope.

Gatland named 41 players four years ago and only four are not available to him this year, either because they have retired or are playing abroad. Players will have fewer opportunities to prove their Test worthiness and bonding sessions will be limited. Will players be allowed to share hotel bedrooms? It will be a test of mental as well as physical endurance, not something for the uninitiated.