A dark day for Lions selectors, today. I am sure that, like me, they had pinned all
their hopes onto the messiah of English rugby, Danny Cipriani. But they, and everyone else, will have been
humbled by the news that Danny-boy, whilst on a pub crawl in Leeds, decided to
tackle his defensive frailties head-on by taking on a bus. He lost.
What would be merely 'practice' to one of the Tuilagi brothers left our
hero in a crumpled heap with a pretty sore bonce and some severely indented
pride (you would hope). He's emerged
otherwise unscathed with only minor concussion, but it is probably time to
accept that this particular genius (Kelly Brook dated him, so he must be good)
won't be in Australia this summer. And
so, with our options suitably diminished and our hopes of a Lions victory
massively deflated, let's take a look at who is in the frame to "fill in"
for Cipriani in the 10 shirt this summer.
Fly half
OK, in all seriousness, the Lions need a great fly
half. Whether they've had an attacking
maverick, like Gregor Townsend in 1997, or boot-loving general like Rob Andrew
in 1989, all successful Lions tours have a fly half who dictates proceedings
and sets things in motion around him.
Personally, I think against this Australian team we need the best of
both worlds – someone with a decent boot to play territory but an aggressive
playmaker who isn't afraid to stand flat and hit his power runners on the
gainline. Whoever the Wallabies pick at
10 themselves won't be the biggest defender, so his channel has to be exploited
mercilessly – and it all starts with who the Lions pick in their 'quarterback'
role. RuckedOver takes a look at who
will (in all likelihood) be stealing all the glory this summer.
TEST STARTER: JOHNNY
SEXTON. I think it's pretty hard to
pick anyone else. He may not have played
since towards the beginning of the Six Nations (aside for 65 minutes against
Zebre), but this man is a class act for Leinster and for Ireland – it's no coincidence
that their Six Nations campaign imploded after he got crocked.. A real general with a humdinging-howitzer of
a boot, he's got a wonderful range of passing and the aggressive mindset to
attack the gainline and take the ball up himself if the opportunities are
there. I think he'd really enjoy playing
alongside my selected 9, Ben Youngs, and would find some real change in hitting
lines off the darting runs the scrum half likes to go on. Are there any drawbacks? Well, very occasionally, he gets a little
flakey under pressure – but there aren't many fly halves who don't and I
haven't seen it happen for a fair while.
His eyes are also unnervingly close together, but even that doesn't stop
me from putting the Leinsterman in at 10 for my Lions team.
BENCHER: OWEN FARRELL. Jeremy Guscott, who usually gets on my goat anyway, has been banging on about him being the "Ice-Man" – which seems to be overdramatizing the fact that this bloke is simply a very good goalkicker and a strong all-round fly half. His kicking game gets all the plaudits but this season I've been impressed with his ambition – again, often with the boot – to try and attack different areas, and because he's so accurate, 90% of the time the risks that he takes come off. His crossfield kicks have yielded some great tries for Saracens and a fizzing 20 metre beauty of a pass was the highlight of the game against Scotland – it's all part of an increasingly impressive all-round game the young fly half is producing. Strong and aggressive in defence as well, he certainly has a shout at getting into a starting jersey, but he still has some questions to answer about his decision making (which can be iffy at times, as it was against France) and his temperament – the Aussies love a friendly word or two on the pitch, and the Lions don't want their 10 introducing his forehead to his opposite number's nose.
DIRT TRACKER: JONNY WILKINSON. There I said it. I'd take him. Firstly, who else is there? See below for my thoughts on that. And secondly, he can still produce the goods. His performance against Leicester in the Heineken Cup quarter final was masterful. Under the cosh, he calmly played for territory until his forwards got into the game, and then he brought in his power runners out wide to hammer home the advantage. Couple that with his phenomenal strike rate with the boot, and you have a fly half who not only does a good job but also has the experience to inspire those around him. I can think of no better player to lead the line for the mid-week side and his presence in the squad can only be of benefit to those around him. All the noises from various camps suggest that Jonny won't be going, but when the chips are down and/or there's disgruntled grumblings within the camp, I can't think of anyone I'd rather have around.
So who misses out? In my opinion, Sexton and Farrell are nailed on and a third choice (if taken) is the best the others can hope for. Dan Biggar is solid and a very decent option, but I don't think he'll have enough to get into the test team and therefore doesn't bring anything really different. James Hook is certainly capable of something different and is wonderfully versatile, but we haven't seen him excel for Wales for a while and he hasn't got a struggling Perpignan backline to fire this season. Paddy Jackson? Ronan O'Gara? Too young, too old. Toby Flood or Charlie Hodgson? Flood is similar to Sexton in how he plays but has more 'off days', whilst Hodgson has faded this year and can't get into his club team after a magnificent start to the season. Whilst I think it's unlikely, I'd like to see Jonny lace his boots for one last hurrah.
Who would you pick at 10 for the Lions?
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