Lions squad on current form.

[Prestwick]

And here is the Lions if picked by Will Carling right now:
15 Dempsey


14 Horgan

13 O'Driscoll

12 D'Arcy

11 Strettle


10 Hook

9 Ellis


8 Leamy

7 Wallace

6 Easterby


5 O'Connell

4 Murray


3 Murray

2 Best

1 Jenkins

I would like to take NO RESPONSIBILITY for the above squad by the way, only merely see what people think of it.

 

[St Day 3]

Doomed- thats what i think of it.

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

I don't know why you listen to that podcast sometimes.

 

[An Tarbh]

All that needs to be said is thank Christ he's not going to be picking the Lions team.

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

I think what he's done here is to try and pick a team with a lack of experience and a lack of current form.
It's a good set up...really is.

 

[Prestwick]

I don't know why you listen to that podcast sometimes.
[/b]

The podcast is awesome, it has three of the best rugby players of the 1990s and their views. I take them at face value and on occasion, I agree with them! I agree with Will that Ieuan is a PC guy who won't give a straight answer about Wales lest he step on any Welsh toes (which makes a mockery of all this "red zone" stuff I keep hearing about) and I agree with Zinzan frequently as an independent Southern idiot!

 

[Bullitt]

Pick any Irish XV, that'd be better then mixing and matching the UK atm. Much as it would be pointless if you had a 2003 Lions and picked anyone non-English.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

15 Dempsey: Rattling my brain he might be right here. Maybe it's just cause Dempsey's on form. But Paterson is his only real rival which is quite sad really.

14 Horgan: Yup

13 O'Driscoll: Yup

12 D'Arcy: Yup

11 Strettle: no!! Williams

10 Hook: :huh: O'Gara or Parks or Wilkinson even. Anyone but Hook really

9 Ellis: no!! Peel

8 Leamy: Yup

7 Wallace: Yup

6 Easterby: popham perhaps

5 O'Connell: Yup

4 Murray: Dunno really to be honest

3 Murray: : I suppose

2 Best: He's not even the best hooker in Ireland

1 Jenkins: Yup

 

[SaintsFan_Webby]

I'm suprised Carling's team is getting quite such a mauling.

Yes, his forwards are a shambles, but I doubt they are his main focus.

On current form alone, I doubt you could name a better Lions backline than the one he has picked. Yes, it's obvious players like Ellis, Hook and Strettle don't have much international experience compared to some others in the same position, but on current form I don't see anything wrong with his picks from 9-15.

 

[O'Rothlain]

He might as well said, "Screw it, we'll just send Ireland next Lions tour."
Not that I'm complaining!!! I tend to agree.

Maybe we should call them the Irish and British Lions? What do you think, Teh Mite?

 

[I cant think of a username]

15. Dempsey............unfortunately there's no-one else. We'll have to wait to see how Gareth Thomas does and Cueto if he gets his chance

14. Horgan............no question

13. O'Driscoll.........again no question

12. D'Arcy ........obviously

11. Strettle.........No experiance but looks a very exciting prospect

10. O'Gara........has to be really

9. Peel.......ellis is a joke

8. Leamy......of course

7. Wallace..........in the form of his life right now

6. Worsley......probably not on current form but he's still a class act

5. O'Connell......best 2nd row in the world

4. O'Callaghan......have to keep him in there with POC

3. Murray..........probably................there's nobody else

2. Flannery........what is eddie o'sullivan thinking playing best ahead of him???

1. Horan........everyone else is crap


God Im after picking 11 irishmen! Not biased at all!

 

[An Tarbh]

we'll see what we can come up with once this final round of the 6N is over. No doubt it'll certainly be better than what the 3 gimps came up with.

 

[FrozenInferno]

1) Jenkins

2) Best (if Flannery had gotten more time I think I'd have picked him but Best was handy)

3) Murray (not a great range to pick from, Vickery hasn't really impressed me)

4) Paul O'Connell

5) Donncha O'Callaghan

6) Easterby

7) Wallace (superb form)

8) Leamy

9) Ellis (narrowly pips Peel, I like his ability to break, created a great try against Wales)

10) O'Gara (in spite of the misses today he's been consistently good and his physicality and support play have come on hugely)

11) Hickie (will definitely be past it by the real lions tour, but has had a great tournament)

12) D'Arcy

13) BOD

14) Horgan

15) Dempsey (good game today, would like to have seen Thomas and maybe Robinson at 15 though)
_
16) Flannery, 17) Not sure, 18) Murray, 19) Best (would have liked to see more of him too), 20) Peel, 21) Wilkinson, 22) Robinson

An apparently quite biased selection.. Dave Strettle and James Hook are both superb talents but at the moment I think their Irish counterparts are significantly better. This will probably not be the case in 2 years time though. Robinson's finishing was great in this tournament (after his drop in form after 2004 I thought he was past it) but Hickie's intelligence and skill level, and Horgan's power and height make them more valuable IMO.

 

[SecondRow04]

the lions squad has changed, apparently french and italian players can now be picked for the next tour...

European Lions?

so that surely should change it abit?

 

[FrozenInferno]

If only.. With Italian front rowers, Irish 2nd row, back row and backs we could conquer the world..

 

[Ballymena Man]

the lions squad has changed, apparently french and italian players can now be picked for the next tour...

European Lions?

so that surely should change it abit?
[/b]

Read the N.B at th bottom!!

 

[SecondRow04]

oh yeah, i never saw that .... LOL!

 

[An Tarbh]

No, stick with tradition, Lions has always been the 4 home nations, that's the beauty, no need to change it just cause we got a doing in NZ.

 

[shtove]

oh yeah, i never saw that .... LOL!
[/b]

I always fall for April Fool's spoofs, but this time I twigged it about half way through when I saw the awful 'management speak'.

Anyway - why does everyone write 'Dempsey' followed by 'unfortunately'? He's as solid a defender as you'll get, and has finished off many of Ireland's best moves in the last three years. What do these people want - Serge Blanco?? :%#%#:

Carling's frontrow isn't going to frighten anyone.

 

[An Tarbh]

well it's a good thing the tour isn't this year cause there's a few positions where we're quite weak at the moment, scrum half being the most worrying of all, Peel's form hasn't been up to much internationally and it's frightening to think that Harry Ellis looks the best bet out of the home nation scrum halves. Hooker is another problem position, last year Flannery would have been a shoe in but since he's not getting a look in with Best he can't really be considered on 20 minutes of gametime. Best has some serious problems with his game that have consistently popped up throughout the championship but again like Ellis he's the best of a bad lot. In form Peel and Flannery would be shoe ins for the Lions but at the moment we'd probably be stuck with Best and Ellis.