Andrew Sheridan to start for the Lions?

Sheridan seems to be being overlooked as a potential tourist but I believe he deserves to be seriously considered.

Jenkins is being tipped as a potential starter yet can’t hold down a starting place with Toulon due to Sheridan which speaks volumes of his performance levels- surely he must be a viable candidate?
Obviously Cian Healy offers another option and is a cracking player.

Adam Jones appears to have the No. 3 jersey sown up due to his work at scrum time (I believe Dan Cole to be a more rounded player but not at the level of Jones in the set-piece). If we aim to target the Aussie scrum with the selection of Jones then why not go the full hog and select the most devastating loose head scrummager available by picking Sheridan?

His lack of 6 nations games is likely to count against him but there is every chance that Toulon could make it to the HC final- i.e. proving himself in top level matches.

Comments please

Purely on scrummaging ability I agree with you. But Gatland has already indicated that players involved in the French final (same day as Lions v Baabaas)
those players wouldn't be available & he doesn't look as though he is considering them.
Confirmed perhaps by the fact he isn't even going to see Toulon v Tigers quarter final in the HC!

Quite where that leaves Melon I have no idea. I guess it depends if he is picked on the bench or ignored by Toulon given he is back at the Blues next season.

If I had a choice though I agree I would play Sheridan.

If you want an all out powerful destroy them type scrum then Sheridan has to be considered which is why Jenkins is getting overlooked at Toulon because thats the type of style Toulon have chosen.

Have you guys suggesting Sheridan watched much of Toulon this season?

If he was that good wouldn't he be in the England set up

Very stupid to not even consider him, especially as due to the attritional nature of the Lions there will be a number of people flown out who weren't involved at the start of things. I would still start cian healey due to his cardio, alongside great scrummaging and work in the lose, but when the ozzie tighthead is tired and/or replaced by someone nowhere near as good who better to bring on with 20 minutes to go than andy sheridan.

"who better to bring on with 20 minutes to go than andy sheridan."

Gethin Jenkins far more dynamic when the game breaks up

I understand the view of Sheridan, but he's been out of the int game for such a long time, the speed of the game is twice as fast as French league, and the Oz move the ball like no other team, I get the feeling he'd dominate the scrum but would be a huge passenger everywhere else!!!

RubyGuby wrote:If he was that good wouldn't he be in the England set up

Ruby,

Lancaster is sticking rigidly to the play in England to play for England policy hence why Armitage not been involved either, someone they have really been missing IMO

Thanks Bedford - Sheridan is quite an injury prone player and I just think we have better options at present - he's not the sort of player you bring off the bench when the game is breaking up

Hes def not a bench player for me starts or nothing which depends on the game plan I guess

The only player not in B&I that I would have in the squad would be Nathan Hines. Hines alongside Ian Evans would be a formidable pairing IMO

Sheridan is clearly only in the starting team for his scrumaging not for anything else lets be fair. Only rugby club this week Armitage said its about having a massive pack a big scrum and that's what Sheridan brings and Jenkins don't

Sheridan a big no....he looks good in a scrum dominant T14 alongside a world class players but shouldn't tour with the Lions.

He's always been over rated. If Corbisiero and Sheridan were both fit and playing in England, Sheridan wouldn"t get a start.

Overrated? He keeps Jenkins out of the Toulon side yet the Welsh are screaming for him to get picked over Healy (that is not a dig at the Welsh by the way!)

To me it just doesn’t add up

Sheridan has always offered more than just scrummaging. He's a good ball carrier and lineout lifter. He has reasonable hands, but England never asked him to play that kind of role.

I suspect coaches only raise "injury prone" as a concern when they aren't inclined to select a player anyway (cf Sinbad under Brian Ashton). We know why Lancaster doesn't pick Sheridan. Gatland, however, will know him directly from the last Lions tour. If he decides not to select him, then it won't be because he isn't aware of what Big Ted offers.

I'm not having a dig at the English or anyone else. I'm simply stating my opinion that Sheridan has not lived up to the hype. I have rarely seen him carry effectively. IMO Corbisiero is a far more complete prop.

Don't watch the Top 14. But if he's a solid first choice ahead of Jenkins then he has to be considered.

Sheridan starts for Toulon as he's a better scrummager, that is all.

You need to do more than just scrummage in Aus, I'd take Vuinipola ahead of Sheridan.

Sheridan is one of the most overly maligned loosehead props I have ever known. He is a destructive scrummager and when hundreds of people are choosing Adam Jones over Dan Cole it's for what precisely? Scrummaging.

Sheridan is a good carrier but his biggest problem has always been his fitness and this tendency to drift in and out of having impacts on a game at international level. If he plays for the Lions he has to start with someone like Cian Healy coming off the bench.

Lest we forget he has 50-odd caps for England despite his injury record and is a previous test Lion. He was credited with destroying the Australian scrum in 2007 RWC and paired with a SR who could dominate a line-out (Ian Evans/Joe Launchbury) would be the perfect fit for the Lions.

If the Lions can dominate at the scrum as well as line-out then there's not many teams on the planet who could have a decent chance of winning the tests against them.

Dominate a lineout.....Launchbury??? He's seldom used and option never mind dominate against the opposition.

Gethin outdid his opponents in the France, Italy and England games. Sometimes a move to another team doesn't work out for some players and I don't see how anyone can hold that against him. Never mind as he's coming home.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Dominate a lineout.....Launchbury??? He's seldom used and option never mind dominate against the opposition.

Talking rot I'm afraid Launchbury is a line out jumper for both Wasps & England.

Sgt pooly is indeed correct. I don't think launchbury could dominate a line out. Wentzel is the main jumper for Wasps and operator. Parling is the main line out man for England.

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Dominate a lineout.....Launchbury??? He's seldom used and option never mind dominate against the opposition.

Talking rot I'm afraid Launchbury is a line out jumper for both Wasps & England.

He's used as an occasional option but when has ever "dominated" the opposition in the lineout???

I'll tell you when....never.

Wentzal leads the line and generally makes the steals for Wasps, Parling for England.

So talking rot???? No

InBODWeTrust wrote:Overrated? He keeps Jenkins out of the Toulon side yet the Welsh are screaming for him to get picked over Healy (that is not a dig at the Welsh by the way!)

To me it just doesn’t add up

Hes keeping jenkins out of the Toulon team because Toulon want and all powerful destroy them type prop/scrum which Jenkins has never given you.

I picked Sheridan as a midweek starter with the chance to play his way into the Test team on a previous thread. If he can hit a bit of form he can be destructive in the scrums and is a player no Aussie tight head will want to see on the team sheet.

Hopefully like Wilkinson he has become less injury prone in France and with an uninterrupted run of games can rediscover himself.

Jenkins has proved himself to consistently play at a high level on lions tours and had a good finish to the 6nations so may be the man In possession at the moment!

Regardless of Toulon's selection decisions, I don't think it's necessary to put down Jenkins in order to praise Sheridan, or vice versa. We are talking about two very good props, and Jenkins showed us over the course of the championship that benchwarming hasn't dulled his skills or appetite. All the top candidates for the slot are pretty handy.

Sheridan has a lot to offer a Lions squad, not least the fact he's a good tourist. If he's left behind, however, it won't be because someone unworthy will be going instead.

If Gatland does decide on principle against selecting players who won't be able to make the flight to Hong Kong, I wonder whether he'll keep any in mind as potential replacements. I think they normally name some first reserves so they don't hit the pies too hard.

We will see Toulon vs tigers next week. An opportunity for Sheridan

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:Purely on scrummaging ability I agree with you. But Gatland has already indicated that players involved in the French final (same day as Lions v Baabaas)
those players wouldn't be available & he doesn't look as though he is considering them.
Confirmed perhaps by the fact he isn't even going to see Toulon v Tigers quarter final in the HC!

Quite where that leaves Melon I have no idea. I guess it depends if he is picked on the bench or ignored by Toulon given he is back at the Blues next season.

If I had a choice though I agree I would play Sheridan.

Melon was picked for RWC 2011 while still injured and i believe he even travelled injured, Namibia or not, i have never seen a prop score a try like that and i am sure WG will pick him as a player he knows is class

It's ironic that when Sheridan played for England he was derided as a prop with no technique who couldnt scrum....and the Aussie thing was a one off against a woeful Aussie pack...amazing how absence changes things...

I had a great respect for the player, but do think now people may be a bit over confident as to what he wil ldo to the aussie front row. Since the days of Baxter and Dunno, where Sheridan did dominate, when we had the 2 Bens on form, last time the wallabys and england met with Sheridan and Ben Alexander facing, Ben won the battle well enough for Sheridan to be subbed. I think as Ulster21 said, start him mid week and see how he goes, also see how the Wallaby's front row do. They are not world beater the the 1st choice will hold their own, imho, though if Alexander's injured then Sheridan can wrech havoc again maybe as he did before.

My 2c worth only

Sheridan was just a myth and the usual bunch are banging their drums and reeling off what Barnes and co say but not having a clue why they heap such praise on him.

View, I was never a Sheridan fan....nick wood was a FAR Better English prop at the time.

Corbs, Jenkins, heally will do the lions just fine in Australia this summer

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Dominate a lineout.....Launchbury??? He's seldom used and option never mind dominate against the opposition.

Talking rot I'm afraid Launchbury is a line out jumper for both Wasps & England.

Some line-out stats (matches/lineouts on own throw/steals):

Wasps (AP)
Launchbury 12/27/1
Wentzel 19/97/7


England 6Ns
Launchbury 5/6/0
Parling 5/14/2
Wood 5/12/1
Robshaw 5/7/0
Croft 2/6/2


Launchbury has shown a lot of good things, but as yet has not been prominently used in the lineout.

Corbs is class, actually seen Adam Jones struggle with him v Irish a couple of seasons ago.

Yea he's a great scrummager View, we really missed him during the 6N.

There seems to be a view - or perhaps I'm inventing a straw man - that if Sheridan didn't single-handedly destroy other team's scrums on every occasion, then he must be regarded as over-rated. I can't think of any other international prop who has been held to that standard.

I think England frequently misused him, setting him up as an all-or-nothing player. Worse still, England didn't always know how to make best use of a dominant scrum. The clearest example is a match in which he didn't even feature: the first Test against Australia in 2010, which we lost 27-17. With total scrum dominance ( through Cole, Thompson, Payne & Wilson), we gained two penalty tries in that match but sucked up far too much time in resets when we were already behind.

England missed Sheridan when he left the last World Cup injured. He was a popular squad member and even our own players seem to act as if we'd lost an edge when he left.

I see several people on this thread advocating Sheridan for the Lions but only one vote for him in the poll...???

https://www.606v2.com/t42452-loosehead-choices-for-the-lions-tour-to-australia

Never a fan. One good game against a poor Aus pack is all he has done. No he shouldn't go.

Always a bit overrated Sheridan I thought

I am a big fan of his. He offers a lot more than just scrummaging and is a great bloke to protect the gain line...a real hard yards man. His form on the last Lions tour was outstanding and he has played this season the majority of games for Toulon so must be injury free. Toulon have the ideal in starting him and bringing on Jenkins for the later stages. I think Corbs should go ahead of him but I am not sure he will be fit. With Healy and Jenkins they will have 3 great loosies to take. And if playing in the T14 final counts against him then surely he should be on stand by?