SITTING BETWEEN RUGBY journalists Sarah Mockford and Derek Foley at The Stoop as Munster won their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Harlequins was Lions head coach Warren Gatland.
The New Zealander, who will lead the combined four nations to Australia this summer, took in five European rugby matches over the weekend. If he was hoping to start this week with a clearer pitch of his Lions squad, the frantic and charged rugby he witnessed will not have helped.
More names were surely added to his list but some Ulster players, such as Rory Best and Craig Gilroy, may be shunted down to the ‘maybe’ list.
If Gatland was doodling during the Munster game, the name Paul O’Connell would have been in capital letters.
The Munster man, who captained the Lions in 2009, was immense as he drove his pack-mates forward, won and stole lineouts, carried for hard yards and tackled every ‘Quins player that dared cross his path. Gatland is set to name his provisional squad on 30 April and O’Connell’s name can’t be far away.
Will Paul O’Connell be a Lion this summer?
