- 1270 Comments
The setting is different.
The 1,800-seater Indigo, a side room to London’s O2 Arena, usually hosts concerts, comedy and podcast shows. On Friday, finalists from Indian Idol will play there. On Saturday, a George Michael tribute act has the floor.
On Thursday, it will be decked out with giant screens and hundreds of fans. The aim is to create something akin to the NFL draft or a Uefa draw, with tension, intrigue, a touch of speechifying and some social media moments.
Whatever the warm-up though, the headline act is the same as ever, unchanged for more than a century: a roll-call of the best rugby union players from Britain and Ireland.
The captain apart, no-one knows at this stage who will emerge from the coaches’ conclave. There are no tip-offs or advance warnings. The Lions’ class of 2025, who will play a three-Test series away to Australia this summer, hear their fate along with the rest of us.
We don’t even know how many Lions there will be either. Somewhere between 37 and 41 is the best guess.
That void of solid information is filled with speculation and conjecture: how will the team dynamics mesh, which players can deputise where, who is a coach’s favourite, styles, systems, conditions, and ultimately who is in and out?
Soon enough, there will be clarity.
Itoje set to be the Lion king
Maro Itoje was set to be confirmed as the Lions captain on Thursday.
Ireland number eight Caelan Doris had been the other contender, but picked up a shoulder injury in Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final defeat by Northampton this weekend, putting his touring hopes in danger.
Itoje may well have earned the accolade ahead of Doris regardless, but now the 30-year-old, who had not been either his club or country’s regular skipper until the start of this season, will be completing a captaincy clean sweep on his third Lions tour.
“I would agree with it going to Maro,” former England and British and Irish Lions scrum-half Matt Dawson told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“There are a couple of absolute fundamentals with Lions tour captains – first and foremost they have to be in the team and for me he is, without a shadow of a doubt.
“Secondly, he has to be held in that regard, not just by the coaches, but also by his team-mates as well. The players have to look at their captain and think ‘this guy is the man’.
“Thirdly, for Maro specifically, he has blossomed beautifully this season for England.
“He has gone from being a player who was a certainty to be in the team, but was a bit short of the form of his early 20s and a little bit too ill disciplined, to being right in the groove.
Russell puzzle at 10
Finn Russell is the man in possession of the British and Irish Lions number 10 jersey.
Four years ago, he was ushered into the fray early in the deciding third Test against the Springboks and, although the tourists lost, Russell’s dexterity and daring stood out.
However, after a modest Six Nations campaign with Scotland and the appointment of Russell sceptic Johnny Sexton as one of the Lions coaches, doubt has been cast over whether the 30-year-old could even make the squad.
Former Ireland hooker and Scarlets coach Bernard Jackman believes Russell should be straight into the team.
“For me, Russell is the starting 10,” he told Scrum V.
“I think the stuff around Johnny joining the coaching staff – I think that will be done.
“The area Andy Farrell is most comfortable in coaching is attack.
“When you think of Ireland’s attack going into the last Rugby World Cup in 2023, it was so patterned and intricate. Someone with Russell’s instinct, with his passing, running and kicking game, could be unbelievably strong in that.
“I would be shocked if he wasn’t on the plane. I think it is the job of the coaches to set the team up to bring the best out of him because that would bring the best out of everybody else.”
Horgan agrees, adding that Russell’s Lions credentials have been proven.
“Given Scotland have won just one of their past 16 meetings against his Ireland team, it will be hard for Andy Farrell to eliminate some of the doubts he may have about some of their players,” he told BBC 5 Live.
“But, I don’t think that counts for Finn. If there was ever any doubts about Finn, they were blown out of the water by his performances on the tour in 2021.
Prendergast stock sinks in semi shock
Twenty-nine minutes into Northampton’s shock win against Leinster in the Champions Cup semi-final on Saturday, Henry Pollock took a short ball off Alex Mitchell, punched a hole and pinned back his ears.
The ease with which he rounded Leinster fly-half Sam Prendergast to scorch in for a try set tongues wagging among those on the lookout for Lions.
“That must have been the worst performance Prendergast has had this season,” said 2009 British and Irish Lions winger Ugo Monye on Rugby Union Weekly.
“You can forgive missed kicks at goal, but there was a lack of control.
“He looked like he was the fly-half playing away, he couldn’t impose himself on the game.
“No-one missed more tackles in the Six Nations this year and, as well as being ruined by Henry Pollock, he looked non-committal in defence, making tap tackles.
“He will become such a focus for an attack.”
Former Wales and Lions wing Alex Cuthbert agreed, telling 5 Live: “I don’t think you can take Sam, as great as his attacking ability is at the line.
“His defence is a real liability and Australia coach Joe Schmidt will be clued into that.
“His tackle completion is way, way too low to be chosen.
“By contrast, I think Northampton fly-half Fin Smith played his way on to the plane.
Pollock presses case
Pollock began this season with just one Premiership appearance to his name. His precipitous climb towards the top shows no sign of stopping though.
The 20-year-old has scored more tries and beaten more defenders than any other forward in the Champions Cup this season. He has made more tackles and secured more turnovers than any other player full stop.
“Previously I thought maybe the Lions had come too soon for him,” said former England scrum-half Danny Care on Rugby Union Weekly.
“But watching that win over Leinster, how can you not take him?
“He looked better, in every aspect, than one of the best Ireland back rows ever.
“He is an 80-minute player. To be at that level mentally and physically, in a Test match level environment is superb.
“I like everything this kid is about.
“I’m not sure if he would start, but how good would he be for competition on that tour?
“Lob him into a midweek team and if you picked him for the Test side, he wouldn’t look out of place.”
Horgan takes the same view, saying: “Farrell can’t not pick him. Pollock was phenomenal at the weekend. It was as good a performance as I have seen in a long time.
Williams and White face off at scrum-half
Tomos Williams’ livewire performances for Gloucester and Wales have put him in contention for a scrum-half spot, although Scotland’s Ben White – who has a ready-made understanding with Russell – could trump him in the expected race to join Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park and England’s Alex Mitchell in the squad.
“My instinct says that Ben White would better fit the way that Andy Farrell would want to play and how the Lions could play,” said Dawson.
“And that connection with Finn Russell could be quite handy.
“However, it is a valid point that the Lions organisers will want to have a healthy Wales contingent and that might count against White. That factor might edge a toss-of-a-coin decision.”
Cuthbert said: “I would be very surprised if Tomos is not on that plane, given both his form and the type of bloke he would be in that environment.
Smith falling between two stools?
Marcus Smith was called up for the last British and Lions tour while playing a summer international for England against Canada.
While halfway down Allianz Stadium’s tunnel, he was told by England support staff that he would be boarding a plane to South Africa, as well as a bus back to south London.
The 26-year-old seemed in prime position for a fly-half slot this time around after some virtuoso displays for England in the second half of 2024.
However, the emergence of namesake Fin and a positional shuffle to full-back during the Six Nations has made predicting Smith’s inclusion prospects for 2025 a lot harder.
Danny Care, who plays with Smith at Harlequins, backs him.
“Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn is likely to arrive late on the tour from Toulouse so it is a massive string to Marcus Smith’s bow being able to play 15,” Care said.
“If you have two big movers on the wings, be it James Lowe, Tommy Freeman or Duhan van der Merwe, you need someone who can link and create space for them.
“Marcus Smith is the best one-on-one attacker coming from the back. He has been for two or three years.
“Added to which I don’t think Andy Farrell will forget how well he played at 10 in the autumn. Some players have credit in the bank.”
Smith may still find that positional specialists are preferred to his versatility.
“For all his brilliance as a player, I don’t think Marcus Smith is in the top three for fly-halves who get the most out of their backline,” said Horgan.
“Finn Russell, Fin Smith and Sam Prendergast all get backlines motoring better and I don’t think you can have Marcus Smith as a starting full-back.
Related topics
- British & Irish Lions
- Rugby Union
