Our Post Six Nations British & Irish Lions XV

So, after the climax to the 2016 Six Nations, everyone likes to pick a British & Irish Lions team if the tour were to be run this summer.  These are our choices for the Lions were the squad to be picked today.

Obviously, there’s a long way to go yet and there will be a number of injuries, drops in performance, last minute bolters etc, but we’ve selected our pick as of today.

Our selection for who we would start the first test match is as follows, with our explanations underneath.

Full Back

Stuart Hogg nailed his colours to the mast with a series of wonderful display’s capped by that superlative try against the Irish on Saturday.

Also going Mike Brown, Leigh Halfpenny

Wings

George North is back to his dangerous best after a difficult year with concussion, and Anthony Watson had a fine Six Nations.

Also going are Dave Kearney, Keith Earls, Jack Nowell

Centres

Jamie Roberts was a brutal prospect and New Zealand won’t fancy running into him.  Duncan Taylor had a fantastic Six Nations and just edges Owen Farrell based on physicality alone.  If we were looking for a bit more creativity then Farrell would easily slot in here without any trouble.

Also touring Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Jonathan Davies, Robbie Henshaw

Fly Half

Dan Biggar had another consulate series of performances taking over from where he left off at the world cup.

With Farrell selected to tour at centre, he covers both centre and fly half positions.  Therefore there is room for only one other choice.  The experience of Sexton or the youthful exuberance of Russell…  I’d probably go with Finn Russell.

Scrum Half 

Conor Murray showed his class throughout the RWC and again in the win against Scotland.  His size and guile are qualities that will serve him well in New Zealand.

There are way too many excellent candidates here and it’s a shame to have to leave some brilliant players behind, but we only have three scrum half slots open.  I’ve gone with physicality once again which means the crafty and nippy options of Rhys Webb, Greig Laidlaw and Danny Care miss out in favour of Gareth Davies and Ben Youngs.

Props

Jack McGrath and WP Nel both had exceptional Six Nations’ in sides that weren’t at their strongest this year.

Also on the plane are Mako Vunipola, Samson Lee, Joe Marler and Alasdair Dickenson.

Hooker

The brute force and sheer nastiness of Dylan Hartley makes him a certainty.

Alongside Dylan will be places for Jamie George and Rory Best.

Second Row

George Kruis bossed England’s line out and is growing in stature with every game.  Mark Itoje can be selected either at lock or in the back row but with such a strong competition in the back three i’ve put him in the engine room.

Also travelling are Alun Wyn Jones, Luke Charteris and Jonny Gray edging out brother Richie.

Back Row

With such competition for places we could pick any number of combinations for a strong unit.  We’ve gone for Sam Warburton, CJ Stander and Toby Faletau.

Also on the plane are Billy Vunipola, John Hardie, Chris Robshaw and Stefan Armitage.  I’d be happy with pretty much any combination of players here, and there are a number of players that can feel very hard done by including Jamie Heaslip, Justin Tipuric and James Haskell.

What do you think of our squad and team?  Think you can do better?  Let us know in the comments below.