The Lions announced

[Mick Mac]

Lions 37-man squad

Backs: Lee Byrne, Rob Kearney, Shane Williams, Leigh Halfpenny, Ugo Monye, Luke Fitzgerald, Tommy Bowe, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Brian O'Driscoll, Keith Earls, Riki Flutey, Ronan O'Gara, Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips, Harry Ellis, Tomas O'Leary.

Forwards: Jamie Heaslip, Andy Powell, David Wallace, Stephen Ferris, Alan Quinlan, Joe Worsley, Martyn Williams, Alun Wyn-Jones, Paul O'Connell (capt), Donncha O'Callaghan, Simon Shaw, Nathan Hines, Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones, Andrew Sheridan, Phil Vickery, Euan Murray, Jerry Flannery, Lee Mears, Matthew Rees.

[Mick Mac]

From Ireland missing out are Darcy, Horan, Hayes, otherwise they are pretty much all there.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Damn, I thought this was a thread about a wonderful football team.

[david_carnell]

Thanks Mick.

My first thoughts are as follows:

Is taking only two fly-halves on a physically bruising tour not folly?

Where is Tom Croft?

[Mick Mac]

Yes good point David - I guess thay have a number of kickers eg Ellis but the fly half is an important position to be left without, so yes it's a bit of a gamble. Is there not the potential to draft in another in the event of injuries - i think there might be.

[david_carnell]

Ellis is certainly a good footballer but can he place kick? I'm not sure. Lee Byrne might be a better bet in that eventuality - his left boot is monstrous. But yes, I'm sure in the event of injuries we might be able to fly someone out. Just don't let it be Charlie Hodgson!

I'm worried mainly about the forwards tbh. With the exception of Habana (and he's been a bit ropey this last year) the SA backs don't scare me, but their forwards are terrifying. Botha, Spies and Burger are probably the best players in the world in their respective positions. I'm not sure any of the Lions players can claim that.

I'll be watching closely. Hopefully, given the lack of time differences between us and SA some ED pubs should be showing matches.

[peckhamboy]

Flutey can cover fly-half, and there's a couple who can kick - Halfpenny for one. Quite a few pretty inexeperienced players there though, and surprised to see Monye get the nod over Armitage.

[bignumber5]

the place kicker concern is covered, i think, but just 2 fly halves doesn't seem enough. lions tours are becoming notorious for a spot of back-nobbling in the midweek game before the first test (par example) and one similar incident leaves us having a test game-plan that involves a no 10 wrapped in cotton wool.

the forwards appear to be a pack of bruisers, plain and simple. certainly likely to keep the traditional dirty springbok shinnanigans at bay, but if the boks decide to forget dirty fouling at the breakdown and break from the fringes, we could be in trouble. I think O'Connell and O'Callaghan can hold their own in the engine room, with a big scot on the bench if it needs more bulk, but the back row is the potential weak spot: agree that Croft is conspicuous in his absence, as is Ryan Jones, where as Worsley may have had a great 6 nations but his inclusion as a big-bosh merchant points to a gameplan not based on a mobile backrow - the same goes for Andy Powell, who I've personally never been a massive fan of. Any blind-side break of decent quality will involve simple man-for-man numbering off and then has Habana in waiting as the last man, and with any space at all I don't see lil'williams stopping him.

Still, McGeechan won the last tour to South Africa in '97 and took what looked like a strange squad at the time.

[Sam]

Only 2 specialist fly halves does seem a bit risky and I'm never keen at the idea of non-specialists covering that position (which presumably they will look to Flutey to do at a pinch). But they can always fly players out to join the tour, I suppose.

I would worry a bit at O'Callaghan starting. I like him and his physical approach but he seems to get into a lot of pointless scrapes at the moment. If he has a short fuse then he can expect to get some attention. Giving away penalties (esp at altitude) and yellow cards will be very costly. But then again I've got a soft spot for Simon Shaw and I can see him being an effective starter and then replaced at 50 mins or so. Hines and Wyn-Jones are good picks too. Second row is probably one of the few areas where the Lions have quality throughout.

I like Croft too but I don't think he is physical enough and the pack is picked to be very competitive and hard, rather than expansive. Ryan Jones' form has not been good enough of late to merit a pick, although he must have been close particularly given that Shane Williams hasn't been tearing up trees in 2009. Incidentally I can't see Williams starting, at the moment.

The squad highlights the problems in the domestic sides in that we're not blessed with a true openside other than Martyn Williams, a world class 9 or a 10 that offers a non-kicking game. It will be fairly grunty stuff, as bignumber5 says, with the pack being not particularly mobile, and the 10 kicking for territory. Can't blame the management though. In these days of professionalism chucking together 30 blokes and taking on a true Test side is not easy and certainly no place for Baa Baas style rugby.

Who would you pick in the centres and at front row? Tricky ones - Flutey was much improved during the 6 nations and he does create space in the manner that Darcy does for BOD. But arguably Roberts and Shanklin are the form centres! For the front row I think Sheridan is lucky to tour but I'd go for Gethin Jenkins and Murray propping with Flannery hooking (if he can keep his temper).

BBQs and Lions - bloody marvellous! We'll get hosed 3-0 but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless.

We should try and keep up the Lions banter through the tour.

[Brendan]

Has this all got something to do with this mishmash bunch of rugby players who are going over to SA to embarrass themselves?

[bignumber5]

afternoon, brendan - i wondered when you'd be along ;-)

not a bad idea about o'callaghan as a post-half time impact player, starting hines or shaw. only front row cert for me is gethin jenkins. will take everyone else on merit. back row seems to point towards Williams at 7 and Powell at 8, 6 up for grabs.

for the backline i'd like to see Ellis-o'gara-monye-flutey-o'driscoll-halfpenny-byrne as a link up of exceeding gas (maybe phillips for ellis) in an early provincial game. just to see. That's one of the things i love about the lions: if you agree with even part of the squad, it becomes like pub-talk fantasy-football type stuff, and you get to try all the options in the midweek games!

[matthew123]

I think this Six Nations was pretty poor - I don't think there are any players in that Lions squad that will overly worry the Springboks. I don't see any match winners in the Lions. Maybe if it was last summer with an inform Shane Williams, Gavin Henson & Co but not this year. Unfortunately, I have to forecast a 3-0 beating.

Should be Saturday afternoon kick-offs so at least the games can be enjoyed with a beer rather than an orange juice..

[BigPhil]

kick-offs are perfect timing for the pubs.

should be an interesting tour

[Help-Ma-Boab]

Big Phil

1st Test is 20th June, a week after the Barry Barry Run so injuries permitting, should be stationed in the pub for that!

Good luck - looking forward to it.

[Sam]

Bit of a bump...

So then fellas, excited about tomorrow? Almost possible to draw any conclusions from the first two or three games given the rotation that will happen. Nevertheless I am very excited. Could be a big rugby weekend with Super 14 final followed by the Lions, then Eng v Barbarians and some 7's thrown in too!

Looking forward to seeing Earls have an early chance - he's a talented lad. And hopefully Robinson will be raring to go and smashing through the gain line.

[bignumber5]

Any local establishments with skysports that won't switch to football halfway through?

[Brendan]

Hoopers.

[Sam]

I got a PM from Hoopers about the Lions. Good on them. I'll be watching tomorrow's game at home but will watch some in a pub and I'll probs head there.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

I know I haven't been to Millwall much lately but I don't recognise any of these Guys...