Lions squad announced

[thegreatsoprendo]

Backs: I Balshaw (England), G Murphy (Ireland), J Robinson (England), G Thomas (Wales), S Williams (Wales), J Lewsey (England), S Horgan (Ireland), D Hickie (Ireland), T Shanklin (Wales), B O'Driscoll (Ireland, capt), G Henson (Wales), O Smith (England), G D'Arcy (Ireland), W Greenwood (England), S Jones (Wales), R O'Gara (Ireland), C Hodgson (England), M Dawson (England), D Peel (Wales), G Cooper (Wales), C Cusiter (Scotland).
Forwards: G Rowntree (England), A Sheridan (England), M Stevens (England), G Jenkins (Wales), J White (England), J Hayes (Ireland), G Bulloch (Scotland), S Thompson (England), A Titterrell (England), S Byrne (Ireland), D Grewcock (England), B Kay (England), M O'Kelly (Ireland), D O'Callaghan (Ireland), P O'Connell (Ireland), M Owen (Wales), R Hill (England), N Back (England), M Williams (Wales), L Moody (England), S Taylor (Scotland), M Corry (England), L Dallaglio (England).

21 English, 10 Irish, 10 Welsh and 3 Scots.

Ian Balshaw? Andrew Sheridan? John Hayes? Neil Back? Charlie Hodgson? I'm assuming this is some kind of belated April Fool and the real squad will be announced later.

[obiwonkeyblokey]

too many engkand players in there, bearing in mind the state of their current squad.

I would ahve expected to see a lot more irish and Welsh.

[Duncan23]

The only Welshman who should have made it is Robin McBride. But I'm surprised there are so many English guys who have not played test rugbi.

[London Irish]

I count 11 Irish.........

[Tyre Smoke]

Far,far too many English in the squad.

[thegreatsoprendo]

Duncan23 said:

The only Welshman who should have made it is Robin McBride.

I'm not so sure. Here's my list of those selections I disagree with and the player(s)I would have selected in their place:

Ian Balshaw ==> Chris Patterson, Kevin Morgan, Rhys Williams, Mark Cueto
Andrew Sheridan ==> Duncan Jones
Charlie Hodgson ==> David Humphries, Andy Goode
Chris Cusiter ==> Michael Blair
John Hayes ==> Adam Jones, Phil Vickery (although apparently ruled out thru injury)
Andy Titerrell ==> Barry Williams, Robin McBryde, Mefin Davies
Donnacha O'Callaghan ==> Brent Cockbain
Neil Back ==> Johnny O Connor, Colin Charvis

[twit]

A few surprising names in there but if you look at them as individual players it is a good squad. I am a little surprised Charlie Hodgson is there, I guess he can thank the insurers, and I would have thought Will Greenwood and Richard Hill are a risk as far as fitness is concerned...

I do think SCW has nailed his colours mind you. The old England back row is there and I think they'll be asked to boss the pack. I don't think it'll be too pretty to watch!!! Also, it is easy to critise on the basis of too many this and and not enough of that, but development etc isn't the issue, they only have to win three games and that is why he has gone with that squad.

[loaf]

20 English, 11 Irish, 10 Welsh, 3 Scots.

Charlie Hodgson and Iain Balshaw are the only two I wouldn't have taken - I'd have preferred David Humphreys and Chris Paterson. Andrew Sheridan looks like the traditional inexperienced (used to be non-capped) player the Lions take with them...

[sj78]

thegreatsoprendo said:

[quote=Duncan23] Ian Balshaw ==> Chris Patterson, Kevin Morgan, Rhys Williams, Mark Cueto Andrew Sheridan ==> Duncan Jones Charlie Hodgson ==> David Humphries, Andy Goode Chris Cusiter ==> Michael Blair John Hayes ==> Adam Jones, Phil Vickery (although apparently ruled out thru injury) Andy Titerrell ==> Barry Williams, Robin McBryde, Mefin Davies Donnacha O'Callaghan ==> Brent Cockbain Neil Back ==> Johnny O Connor, Colin Charvis

Not Welsh by any chance?

Agree with most of these except the last one. O'Connor was pretty poor with Ireland and hasn't been setting the world alight with Wasps recently whilst Back has been playing well and I know who I'd rather play behind between Back and Charvis.

Cusiter is over-rated IMO and Blair would've been a better pick to bolster a pretty weak scrum-half contingent (Peel excepted).

He seems to have gone for grunt in the front row (Sheridan/Hayes). It's pretty obvious from the squad picked who are going to be in the midweekers and who in test team.

Either way, can't wait!

[anonymous-user]

Neil Back is a legend. Like the Pontpool front row of the 1970's you keep picking him until he can no longer stand up unaided. Even then you put him on the bench.

[thegreatsoprendo]

unrepentant said:

Neil Back is a legend. Like the Pontpool front row of the 1970's you keep picking him until he can no longer stand up unaided. Even then you put him on the bench.

Neil Back is a has-been who was dropped from the England squad post RWC 2003 by none other than Sir Clive Woodward, who now inexplicably considers him good enough for the Lions!

[Mon Ami Mate]

thegreatsoprendo said:

unrepentant said: Neil Back is a legend. Like the Pontpool front row of the 1970's you keep picking him until he can no longer stand up unaided. Even then you put him on the bench. Neil Back is a has-been who was dropped from the England squad post RWC 2003 by none other than Sir Clive Woodward, who now inexplicably considers him good enough for the Lions!

He was dropped by England because England needed to build a side for the next world cup. He was picked for the Lions because he remains the best open-side in the Northern Hemisphere. And this from a Leicester hating one-eyed Bath supporter...

I feel sorry for Chris Patterson, who I think should have been selected ahead of Iain Balshaw, Peter Stringer, who I think should have gone ahead of Gareth Cooper and "our" Ollie Barkley, who should have gone ahead of Will Greenwood. Other than that I reckon it's about the right shape...

[thegreatsoprendo]

sj78 said:

Not Welsh by any chance?

What gives it away?

Joking aside, those are my genuine opinions, given in as unbiased manner as possible. To be fair, you'd have to say that most neutrals would consider the Welsh players to have the biggest grievance on the basis of recent form and the make up of this squad.

[iansull]

can't wait for the lions tour its going to be awesome!!

as for the squad, i would have gommersall in there but then again i think sir clive woodward knows his stuff a little bit better than any armchair critics

[thegreatsoprendo]

Mon Ami Mate said:

Peter Stringer, who I think should have gone ahead of Gareth Cooper

I can't wait to see your justification for that one! Put it this way, most pundits (and, notably, SCW) reckon that Dwayne Peel has the test scrum half spot pretty much nailed down. He's was also widely regarded as the outstanding scrum half in this year's 6N.

Now, there are many, including me, who are of the opinion that Gareth Cooper is the (slightly) better player. There's not much in it, admittedly, but I'd say GC has the edge in terms of pace and sniping ability. Peter Stringer on the other hand is an extremely limited one dimensional player. He never does anything other than pass, and I don't think I've ever seen him make a tackle. I'm sure I could fairly easily name 10 British scrum halves who are better than Stringer.