A little after noon today the waiting was over as John Spencer formally announced 2017 British & Irish Lions squad that Warren Gatland and his coaching team have selected to go to New Zealand.
Of course this morning details had emerged about Sam Warburton taking on the role of the captain but despite the intense speculation over the past few days until other squad members’ names were read out players' nerves across the country would have been jangling. The reactions that we’ve since seen across social media are of pure elation and joy while tonight those that missed out will be hurting. All season long we’ve heard about how players weren't thinking about New Zealand yet Billy Vunipola openly shared it a few weeks ago the real story and the fact that it will have been weighing on everyone's minds therefore tonight the announcement will sink in and all should rightly be extremely happy.
So what of the squad itself? Well clearly Jared Payne and Ross Morarity are the two names that have caught so many off guard and now we all know that the Jamie Roberts rumour was a red herring as Ben Te'o will be one to provide that option of direct running in the mid-field. This time a few months ago who would have thought that Kyle Sincker's name would be announced by John Spencer? But, he's certainly going to be a key part of the mid-week plans and Graham Rowntree expanded on the prop's inclusion:
"Energetic, angry young man. I like the way he plays the game. He's got a very abrasive edge in his game -- but we need to keep it the right way. We need him doing the right things and not to get distracted. He is exactly the type of player we need to take to beat the All Blacks.”
Another head-turning area were the selections made at hooker and as we all know now England’s captain will now be available to Eddie Jones for their tour to Argentina. Dylan Hartley’s exclusion is an area that a man that knows him well - Steve Borthwick -elaborated on:
"It's one of those positions where we are absolutely spoilt for choice with the options we have. We discussed at length about it. Dylan has been a tremendous leader for England in the last period of time and is playing well, but the key for us was getting the right mix of players.
“The three we have come we believe give us the right mix of strengths. Jamie's set piece and his running game, Ken Owens' form in the Six Nations was tremendous, Rory Best's competitiveness, his leadership his work at the set piece. So we believe the three we've picked have the mix we need for what we want to do in New Zealand.”
The words that Steve used there about ‘the right mix of players’ are ones that many would do well to remember as they turn to their keyboards in rage and fire out vitriol on social media. The centres, locks and back row forwards were the areas that sparked the ‘heated and lively debates’ that Warren Gatland mentioned during the announcement and the permutations could have been cut many different which ways. Just remember that while we all have our favourites - personally I 100% would have included George Ford over Dan Biggar - now it is about providing this squad with our collective and unequivocal backing to facilitate going on the toughest tour in Lions history.
‘Led the way brilliantly in 2013 & I've no doubt that Sam Warburton will be a first-class captain again.’
It’s fair to say that this short post was slammed by quite people yet I stand by my words wholeheartedly and here’s why. Captaining the Lions is unique and leading the Lions on a tour to New Zealand requires experience as much as anything else. The Welshman knows the demands that will be placed upon in role, not just on the field but from a media perspective as well. He has the respect and trust of those around him - players that know him hail him to be a tremendous team-mate, bloke and leader - alongside this he has the trust and respect of Warren Gatland and a number of the coaches that are back from 2013. This relationship between head coach and captain in particular is vital and England's success is a prime example of this due to the relationship Dylan Hartley and Eddie Jones and the same will arrive from the Warburton and Gatland dynamic. As ever the back row forward spoke honestly and openly when asked appointment and his decision-making process:
“I said yes straight away. It was an easy decision. Obviously people are wondering why I wasn’t Welsh captain but now I’m Lions captain.It all goes back to just making sure you are playing well. I didn’t feel comfortable being Wales captain for the Six Nations. I didn’t feel I was playing my best rugby. I would find it difficult to lead a bunch boys out when you are not hitting your straps. That’s the one thing I always prioritise as captain.
“But I have been really pleased with my form and the way I am playing since the start of the Six Nations. That made the decision to say yes to the Lions captaincy a lot easier. “As a player I have to feel I deserve my place in the Lions team. If I felt deep down I wasn’t playing well and just scraping into the squad, I would have said I don’t think I am the right person to do it (the captaincy). I wouldn’t have been in the right frame of mind.”
I could continue for many more paragraphs but I'll resist doing so in this article and instead just say that this just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the reaction that I’ll be bringing you at Out On The Full to Warren Gatland’s squad. There's so much more detail that I'll be diving into in terms of the specific coaches' viewpoints, Warren Gatland's opinion and much more so watch out for it all at Out On The Full over the next few days before we dive into the Champions Cup semi-finals.
For now I’ll leave you with a little reminder of the 41-man squad and say this.. Warren Gatland’s British & Irish Lions squad is one of the strongest selected in history and while they will be facing the back-to-back world champions with a less than ideal itinerary I maintain that they can do what many people believe is impossible and return with a series victory.
2017 British & Irish Lions Squad
Backs: Dan Biggar (Wales), Elliot Daly (England), Jonathan Davies (Wales), Own Farrell (England), Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Jonathan Joseph (England), Conor Murray (Ireland), George North (Wales), Jack Nowell (England), Jared Payne (Ireland), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Tommy Seymour (Scotland), Ben Te'o (England), Anthony Watson (England), Rhys Webb (Wales), Liam Williams (Wales), Ben Youngs (England).
For now I’ll leave you with a little reminder of the 41-man squad and say this.. Warren Gatland’s British & Irish Lions squad is one of the strongest selected in history and while they will be facing the back-to-back world champions with a less than ideal itinerary I maintain that they can do what many people believe is impossible and return with a series victory.
2017 British & Irish Lions Squad
Backs: Dan Biggar (Wales), Elliot Daly (England), Jonathan Davies (Wales), Own Farrell (England), Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Jonathan Joseph (England), Conor Murray (Ireland), George North (Wales), Jack Nowell (England), Jared Payne (Ireland), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Tommy Seymour (Scotland), Ben Te'o (England), Anthony Watson (England), Rhys Webb (Wales), Liam Williams (Wales), Ben Youngs (England).
Forwards: Rory Best (Ireland), Dan Cole (England), Taulupe Faletau (Wales), Tadgh Furlong (Ireland), Jamie George (England), Iain Henderson (Ireland), Mauro Itoje (England), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales), George Kruis (England), Courtney Lawes (England), Joe Marler (England), Jack McGrath (Ireland), Ross Moriarty (Wales), Sean O'Brien (Ireland), Peter O'Mahony (Ireland), Ken Owens (Wales), Kyle Sinckler (England), CJ Stander (Ireland), Justin Tipuric (Wales), Mako Vuniopla (England), Billy Vunipola (England), Sam Warburton (Wales).
