Murray Kinsella reports from Syon Park, London
WARREN GATLAND HAS named a 41-man squad to tour New Zealand this summer, with 11 Irish players included.
View the squad in full here.
Payne the bolter
Few expected Jared Payne to feature in Gatland’s final selection, but the New Zealand native joins fellow Ulstermen Iain Henderson and Rory Best in the squad.
It’s a sensible decision with the benefit of hindsight, given that Payne covers outside centre and fullback expertly, has huge experience of Kiwi rugby and is one of the finest defensive players in Europe.
Payne is an underrated attacking influence too, with his subtle contributions sometimes difficult to fully appreciate when not watching games live in the flesh. His work off the ball is always immense.
While the 31-year-old only played once in the Six Nations, starting at fullback against England on the final day of the championship, he clearly has done enough for Andy Farrell to fight his cause in the Lions’ selection meetings.
Gatland was also convinced and Payne could feature prominently at 13 or 15.
11 Irish travel
It’s far from the worst contingent to go on tour, with Scotland having had only two players – Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour – picked to travel. Wales have 12, while back-to-back Six Nations champions England send 16 in total.
Ireland’s party is made up of Jack McGrath, Rory Best, Tahdg Furlong, Iain Henderson, Sean O’Brien, CJ Stander, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Johnny Sexton, Robbie Henshaw and Payne.
Of those men, Henderson, O’Brien, O’Mahony and Payne were considered to be borderline in most squad predictions. In the end, it would be no surprise if all four of them have a notable impact on tour.
Sexton and Murray are currently favourites to be the starting halfbacks, while McGrath, Best and Furlong have strong starting claims in the front row.
Stander and Henshaw, meanwhile, have embraced every single step up in their careers so far and we can expect them to relish the challenge of upsetting the All Blacks.
Te’o tours
Ben Te’o was a Leinster player this time last year but he’s now an England international and he’s going to be a Lion barring any cruel injury before the tour gets underway.
He was not a first-choice player for Eddie Jones’ side in the Six Nations, but Gatland and his coaches clearly like the devastating physical impact and offloading game he brings, while Te’o has improved defensively too.
Kyle Sinckler is another Englishman who has been picked despite not being a starter for his national side, but the Harlequins man’s form is superb and he brings a dynamic, intelligent presence around the field in the front row.
With 41 players named, there aren’t too many others who could be seen as ‘surprise’ selections [Te'o and Sinkler's inclusions were well flagged], but Ross Moriarty wasn’t on many predicted squad lists in recent times. His performances for Wales in the Six Nations were consistently superb, however, and he is a deserved pick.
Omissions
It’s worth underlining that even with a 41-man Lions squad to travel to New Zealand, there are likely to be a number of injury call-ups over the course of June and before then. That’s simply the way of these tours at the end of a season.
From an Irish point of view, the likes of Cian Healy, Donnacha Ryan, Simon Zebo, Keith Earls and Garry Ringrose were thought to have been right in the mix up until the squad was named, but all of them miss out.
Previous Lions tourists Jamie Heaslip and Rob Kearney – both currently injured – are also ommitted, although there was less clamour for their inclusion.
Elsewhere, Joe Launchbury would have been in many people’s squad but misses out to a dynamic group of second rows, while England captain Dylan Hartley is rather unsurprisingly left out. His form simply doesn’t match that of the three selected hookers – Rory Best, Jamie George and Ken Owens – while he is also a divisive character.
There are many, many other Irish, English, Scottish – the Gray brothers and Hamish Watson particularly – and Welsh players who will be feeling the sting of being left out right now, though some of them might feature in New Zealand yet.
A powerful Lions squad
Personal preferences are likely to mean most people have some issue with this Lions squad, but when the disappointment subsides in that regard, it must be seen as a strong group.
Of course, New Zealand remain firm favourites for the Test series and any shock would be the greatest achievement of Gatland’s career, but they will travel with plenty of hope and even some expectation.
Picking 41 players made life a little easier for Gatland and his coaches – which four players would you have left out? – but this remains an impressive selection of Irish and British players.
There is power in the forward pack in the likes of McGrath, Jamie George, Furlong, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes and the array of quality back rows, while many of the Lions forwards are comfortable at passing and making decisions, with the playmaking Vunipola brothers the prime examples.
In the backline, the creative edge Sexton and Owen Farrell bring should prove important, while Henshaw proved in November how much damage he can do against the All Blacks.
In the back three, Stuart Hogg is capable of cutting through any defence, while Liam Williams and Tommy Seymour have fine form behind them. Anthony Watson is a potential firecracker too.
While many will still view this series as a foregone conclusion, the more optimistic will see match-winning quality in this squad.
