Lions Selection: Form & Reputation

mowgli wrote:you can't take 'class' players with out any form

splenetic wrote:

mowgli wrote:you can't take 'class' players with out any form

And yet on a different post you've advocated that Phillips should start for the Lions no matter what, despite him being in poor form for some time.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:If you were to select a SH Lions equivalent, in fairness similar difficulties would arise. You need to always pick the best combinations rather than the best individuals. Sometimes you need to sacrifice the best player for someone who fits better alongside the other players selected.

Furthermore this year the ABs didn't have many injury concerns and looked largely a step above their competition. Taking the last 6N, Wales were not nearly as clear winners, despite being Grand Slam winners.

The way I see it if you make a comparison between Wales and New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, Australia and Ireland and Scotland and Argentina you have more or less similar comparisons. After all on their day Wales can beat anyone.

But who would you pick from SA, Australia and Argentina instead of the ABs. Habana, AAC on the bench, Louw on the bench or Lobbe, Timani maybe, Bekker, The Beast and no doubt I've missed out a few others who are injured.

But for the Lions it's way more difficult as Wales do not stand out nearly as much as NZ and every team has some talented individuals who warrant selection. The trouble is do they make for good combinations? It's very difficult to select on form and reputation and have balanced combinations across the park. Inevitably a nation is going to feel let down and I totally understand the sense of frustration and resentment that stirs up for some posters. It's an impossible juggling act really and some nation will inevitably feel let down.

You don’t work out who the Lions are likely to be by picking the players you think are best in their position (although that’s a diverting exercise in its own right).

Gatland will be trying to identify the best talent but he’s also going to have an idea of what kind of game he wants his Lions to play, and he’ll be thinking about what kind of players are best suited to it.

Some players might be automatic selections and the way they play will affect who else is picked. The 2009 Lions only had two specialist fly halves. That made it easier for Riki Flutey to win selection at centre because he could also cover 10, despite not featuring there at Test level.

When we talk about potential Lions centres, we often hear about Roberts, O’Driscoll, Tuilagi, Davies etc but none of those players can double up as a flyhalf. Conversely, Sexton, Farrell, Flood and Hook all play in midfield at times so you could find one of those chosen at centre even though none of them would be so far up the pecking order for that position in a straight fight.

Courtney Lawes is a lock but sometimes plays blind-side flanker. Ryan Jones plays blind-side and No.8 but can also move to lock. If Tom Croft is in your starting XV and he’s a key part of your line-out strategy, how much do you need your other back row cover to be capable of the same? None of the others in the long list of contenders for six (Lydiate, O’Brien, Ferris, Wood, Haskell, Barclay, Brown, Vernon etc) have a lineout game to match Croft. If he isn’t your first choice, however, then perhaps you just see that ability as a bonus.

You don’t go into a Lions tour with a squad full of utility players but the other options players provide may make a difference. Woodward was pilloried for taking a huge squad to New Zealand in 2005 but it’s also true that the Lions ended up starting the final Test with an untried centre pairing of Will Greenwood and Gareth Thomas, since everyone else was injured. Greenwood wasn’t even first choice for England at the time, and Thomas played virtually all his international rugby on the wing or at full back.

I always think at the beginning of every tour that calling up cover seems straightforward. As the logic of the schedule takes hold, however, you suddenly see how exposed a squad can get with injuries or players out of nick. Realization dawns that options can become far more limited than they seemed at first from your armchair at home.

Kearney, imperious in 2009, is an out-and-out 15. Halfpenny covers wing while Foden has played there too only recently and started his career as a scrum half. Ashton, Bowe, North and Visser are all wingers with more limited ability to play elsewhere. Can you afford to take only specialists on the wing or do you slip in a utility pick? If you plan on playing a kicking game, then a back line featuring, say, Tuilagi, Roberts, North and Ashton doesn’t give you a lot. Does someone unlikely such as Greig Laidlaw become a consideration because he is a scrum-half turned fly-half? It all depends where Gatland is confident he has sufficient resources and where he needs flexibility.

Then there’s the question of leadership. Current England captain Chris Robshaw is surely behind Warburton, Tipuric and Rennie as a pilfering openside and probably not even the best as a more abrasive flanker. If, however, Gatland thought he could inspire and steady others in the squad, he could make the plane with a brief to lead the midweek side.

The Lions manager isn’t looking to develop a team for the future. He needs people to do a specific job at a specific time. To a large extent, he’ll go with players in form but he might also have an idea of those who are out of the frame, but who haven’t forgotten how to win big matches. Take, for instance, Andrew Sheridan who plays for Toulon next season. He hasn’t retired from international rugby but seems unlikely to feature for England again. Who knows? If he starts looking destructive again, then Gatland might throw him into the mix if he plans to try to bully the Wallaby pack.

I suspect some of Gatland’s selections will be greeted with disbelief. Partly, that’s because a few positions have several candidates with similar ability, and supporters of those who miss out will be incredulous. Other selections will be the result of trying to strike a balance, or solve a particular problem, and that will mean giving up on some other area at the expense of a player or two.

Rugby Fan wrote:Just listened to the Talksport rugby show which went out yesterday. Andy Irvine reiterated that the Lions would be very reluctant to select anyone who wasn't able to get on the plane to Hong Kong with the rest of the squad. He did say the final decision would be Gatland's but stressed that all players knew the Lions dates, so they had the responsibility to clear up availability when signing contracts.