Fair play to Brian O’Driscoll for telling it like he sees it.
We are less than three weeks out from the British & Irish Lions squad announcement and this weekend’s Champions Cup games are effectively a final staging post for some player’s chances of making it to New Zealand this summer.
One area that will flummox most players, former stars and pundits is the back row. Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio feels the likes of Billy Vunipola and Sam Warburton are playing so well that they ‘pick themselves’ while head coach Warren Gatland ‘would like to take’ Toby Faletau and Sean O’Brien.
During a Facebook Live segment for Rugby Tonight, O’Driscoll addressed the back row selection quandary and had some bad news for Irish rugby fans. He said:
“Peter O’Mahony had a huge game against England but, essentially, hasn’t been playing for the national team.
“Would he do a brilliant job for the midweek team, like a lot of people are talking about? You’ve got to still pick guys that you feel are still in the Test reckoning. When you look at Pete, in the Test reckoning, I’m not sure he features in that with the best of them.”
O’Driscoll feels Gatland may only pick one from the three Irish players that started the recent Six Nations victory over England. He continued:
“I think one player gets picked between Sean O’Brien, CJ Stander and Peter O’Mahony. I don’t feel it is likely to be Pete and it would be some shock if they left Stander out.
“Sean O’Brien played seven in the Third Test in 2013 and played very well. Warren Gatland likes him. Andy Farrell really liked him. Don’t be shocked if you see Sean O’Brien in the squad, even if he is not playing the best rugby of his career.”
While it is easy to call on Gatland to name all three Ireland players and throw Jamie Heaslip into the mix too, there are only likely to be seven back row slots on offer. Warburton, Vunipola and Justin Tipuric all look set for inclusion and it gets damn tight after that.
