Only the select few have ever worn the iconic Lions jersey. Who will be next?

by Paul Cook –

The rugby event of 2013 is undoubtedly the visit of the British & Irish Lions to Australia in June with almost 40,000 fans expected to make the trip Down Under to witness what is the second biggest event in the sport outside of the World Cup. Nine matches scheduled across six weeks will see the Lions pit themselves against the very best that Australian rugby has to offer, with clashes against all five Super Rugby sides, a meeting with the cream of the crop from New South Wales & Queensland country rugby and finally, three tests against the Wallabies, currently the no.2 ranked test nation in the world.

With the Six Nations starting last weekend, players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales are not only vying for the title in the oldest international competition in the game, they are also putting themselves in the shop window for Lions selection. Playing the role of Lions head coach Warren Gatland and his selection committee, Rugby News has decided to put it’s collective rugby brains together to come up with a prospective matchday 23 (starting XV and 8 replacements), based on the performances each weekend in the Six Nations tournament.

We’ll list the top three players for their position across the four sides on a 3-2-1 points basis, pick our team of the week plus a bench and accrue those points across the tournament to come up with a final squad we think would be picked on current form. Of course, we must take into account injured players such as Paul O’Connell, Tom Croft, Alex Corbisiero and Tommy Bowe etc who would also come into consideration for selection but as a bit of fun and as a hypothetical exercise, it should at the very least spark some debate!

It’s purely opinion based, some positions saw barely a hair’s breadth between players and there were enough arguments around the selection table here at Rugby News to know that Gatland’s final decision in a few weeks will cause more than a few headaches. Here’s our first team of the week:

TEAM OF THE WEEK

And here’s how we got there. The points break down from Week One:

Loosehead Prop: 3 – Cian Healy (IRE), 2 – Gethin Jenkins (WAL), 1 – Joe Marler (ENG)

Hooker: 3 – Rory Best (IRE), 2 – Tom Youngs (ENG), 1 –  Dougie Hall (SCO)

Tighthead Prop: 3 – Dan Cole (ENG), 2 – Mike Ross (IRE), 1 – Adam Jones (WAL)

No.4 Lock: 3 – Joe Launchbury (ENG), 2 – Andrew Coombs (WAL), 1 – Richie Gray (SCO)

No. 5 Lock: 3 – Donnacha Ryan (IRE), 2 – Ian Evans (WAL), 1 – Geoff Parling (ENG)

Blindside Flanker: 3 – Peter O’Mahony (IRE), 2 – Tom Wood (ENG), 1 – Justin Tipuric (WAL),

Openside Flanker: 3 – Sean O’Brien (IRE), 2 – Chris Robshaw (ENG), 1 – Kelly Brown (SCO)

No.8: 3 – Toby Faletau (WAL), 2 – Johnnie Beattie (SCO), 1 – Jamie Heaslip (IRE)

Scrum-half: 3 – Ben Youngs (ENG), 2 – Greig Laidlaw (SCO), 1 – Conor Murray (IRE)

Fly-half: 3 – Owen Farrell (ENG), 2 – Jonathan Sexton (IRE), 1 – Dan Biggar (WAL),

Left Winger: 3 – Simon Zebo (IRE), 2 – Mike Brown (ENG), 1 – Tim Visser (SCO)

Inside Centre: 3 – Billy Twelvetrees (ENG), 2 – Jamie Roberts (WAL), 1 – Keith Earls (IRE)

Outside Centre: 3 – Brian O’Driscoll (IRE), 2 – Brad Barritt (ENG), 1 – Sean Lamont (SCO)

Right Winger: 3 – Chris Ashton (ENG), 2– Alex Cuthbert (WAL), 1 – Sean Maitland (SCO)

Full-back: 3 – Stuart Hogg (SCO), 2 – Rob Kearney (IRE), 1 – Leigh Halfpenny (WAL)

So, how spectacularly wrong are we?

Tell us your thoughts on Twitter: @rugbynews1 or Facebook: Rugby News and let the debates begin!