THE BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS stand-by list is starting to become clearer as England coach Stuart Lancaster opted to omit captain Chris Robshaw, winger Chris Ashton and scrum-half Danny Care from his squad to tour Argentina.
Lancaster has selected a 32-man squad to take on the Argentineans on 8 and 15 June. The group will be captained by back-row Tom Woods, of Northampton Saints, and will take on the Barbarians at Twickenham Stadium on 26 May before heading for South America.
The England coach said, “A few are being rested after a hard campaign but they will, of course, be considered by the British and Irish Lions should they be required.”
There was much consternation, not only in England, when Robshaw, then man that led his country to a Test match win and the brink of a Grand Slam, was left out of Warren Gatland’s 37-man squad to take on Australia this summer. Former England outhalf Stuart Barnes told Sky Sports that the Harlequins back-row was ‘the unluckiest man in the four home nations’.
Lions tours are notoriously hard on squads and an average of eight replacements have been called up for the last three tours. Gatland revealed, when he named his squad last Tuesday, that he had not drawn up an official list of stand-by players but this afternoon’s squad announcement gives a clear sign of the Englishman that are in contention if injury befalls a touring player.
Leicester Tigers outhalf Toby Flood has also been excluded from the squad that will tour Argentina. With just two outhalves selected in the Lions squad, there is a strong chance that a reliable place kicker like Flood would be called up if, as he has stated previously, Jonny Wilkinson — Gatland’s ideal late call-up — is left drained by a taxing top 14 and Heineken Cup campaign.
What do you think of the English players on stand-by? What Irish players should Gatland have as potential replacements?
England squad:
Forwards – D Attwood (Bath Rugby), R Buchanan (Harlequins), C Clark (Northampton), A Corbisiero (London Irish), P Doran Jones (Northampton), T Johnson (Exeter) M Kvesic (Worcester), J Launchbury (Wasps), C Lawes (Northampton), J Marler (Harlequins), B Morgan (Gloucester), D Paice (London Irish), E Slater (Leicester), Henry Thomas (Sale), B Vunipola (Wasps), R Webber (Bath), D Wilson (Bath), T Wood (Northampton).Backs – M Brown (Harlequins), F Burns (Gloucester), L Dickson (Northampton), K Eastmond (Bath), B Foden (Northampton), A Goode (Saracens), J Joseph (London Irish), J May (Gloucester), D Strettle (Saracens), J Tomkins (Saracens), B Twelvetrees (Gloucester), Christian Wade (Wasps), R Wigglesworth (Saracens), M Yarde (London Irish).
