Yes, we are aware that the Lions tour is five months away and there is a hell of a lot of rugby to be played between now and then.
But we like to generate debate here at SportsJOE so we decided to ‘attempt’ to pick a Lions starting XV if we had to play the formidable All Blacks tomorrow.
This means that any player who is currently ruled out with injury will not be picked in this XV – just wanted to get that clear before the torches and pitchforks are brought out!
Loosehead
Mako Vunipola’s injury makes this an easy decision.
Jack McGrath has been Ireland and Leinster’s starting loosehead throughout all of 2016 and played a vital part in Ireland’s victory over the All Blacks.
Cian Healy, Joe Marler and Gethin Jenkins will also be in contention to make the squad.
Hooker
Dylan Hartley is currently unable to play due to the six-week ban he received for striking Sean O’Brien. He is not eligible to play until January 23 and as a result is ruled out of our hypothetical scenario.
Rory Best, who has found a new level of consistency throughout 2016 gets the nod here, not only for his form shown throughout the past year but also for his ability to lead and interact with referees.
Tighthead
The battle for the starting tighthead position is likely to be fought between Tadhg Furlong, Dan Cole and Samson Lee.
With Samson Lee picking up a calf injury recently and sitting out Scarlets’ recent win over Ulster, it is a straight shootout between Furlong and Cole.
Although Furlong has been in incredible form for Ireland recently, we feel that more experience may be required in this position so Cole gets the start here with his 69 caps for England and three caps for the British & Irish Lions helping his cause here.
Locks
Gatland has a plethora of options in these positions and trying to choose his starting locks will likely give him a few sleepless nights.
Donnacha Ryan, Devin Toner, Iain Henderson, Maro Itoje, Alun Wyn Jones, the Gray brothers, to name but a few.
We are going to go with a partnership of Jones and Itoje for the two starting positions.
Jones adds an incredible level of experience to the engine room and he is also an excellent motivator which you can see in his pre-match speech as the Lions secured a historic series win over Australia.
Nothing like starting the week with some motivational words from 2009 & 2013 Tourist @AlunWynJones – oh, and happy birthday too… pic.twitter.com/F9gtMWro5E
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) September 19, 2016
Itoje is one of the most exciting players in world rugby at the moment. Although he is only 22, the Saracens lock is one of Jones’ first names on the team sheet and he also won World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year Award for 2016.
His skill-set and mobility offer an exciting option in this position which would also compliment Jones’ style of play quite well.
Back Row
Like the lock positions, this is another area of the team which is very competitive.
With the likes of Billy Vunipola, James Haskell and Chris Robshaw ruled out with injury, it makes the decision a little bit easier.
We are going to go with a back-row of CJ Stander at blindside, Justin Tipuric at openside and Jamie Heaslip at no.8.
This cruelly leaves out the likes of Sam Warburton, Peter O’Mahony and Sean O’Brien but what cannot be denied is the influence which Stander and Heaslip have had on Ireland’s tremendous second half to 2016. Tipuric is arguably one of the best openside flankers in the world right now and should rightfully be ahead of Warburton in that regard.
Scrum Half
Conor Murray.
Arguably the best nine in the world right now, only other realistic option would be Ben Youngs but even he got schooled by the Limerick man in Munster’s demolition job of Leicester Tigers a few weeks back.
Out Half
A lot of contenders for this position; Jonathan Sexton, Dan Biggar, Owen Farrell and George Ford.
We are simply going to go with Sexton due to his experience partnering Murray for Ireland. Not only this but Sexton was instrumental in Ireland’s victory over the All Blacks in Chicago last year.
Midfield
Manu Tuilagi’s most recent injury rules him out this selection. So we are going to go with Athlone’s very own Robbie Henshaw for the inside centre position. His sheer size, pace and physicality was a thorn in the All Blacks side as Ireland faced them twice last November.
For the outside centre position, we are going with England’s Jonathan Joseph. The 25-year-old silenced his critics during England’s tour of Australia with commanding defensive displays and he also has the ability to make something out of nothing which will prove crucial.
Elliot Daly is another contender for this spot, but he is currently undergoing HIA protocols so is ruled out of this selection.
Wings
George North, Anthony Watson, Tommy Seymour, Simon Zebo, Keith Earls, Andrew Trimble, Christian Wade, Alex Cuthbert, Jonny May….
Gatland is spoiled for choice in this department.
We are going to go for North and Zebo as our two picks.
Zebo has been in the form of his life, he is scoring tries for fun and he also answered his critics when it comes to his defensive displays. He acquitted himself excellently in the two matches against the All Blacks in November and will have no fear of facing this side again.
With North, yes his form has dipped and he is susceptible to head injuries.
But it cannot be denied that this man is one of the most physically gifted and imposing wingers in the game at the moment.
The Lions will need to utilise this as much as they can in order to gain an upper hand on the All Blacks.
He also has the experience of being on a winning Lions tour which could prove very important.
Full Back
Rob Kearney, Stuart Hogg, Mike Brown, Leigh Halfpenny and Liam Williams.
Plenty of options for Gatland to choose here.
Kearney was excellent in Ireland’s win over the All Blacks but we get the feeling that this performance was more of an outlier rather than something which Kearney is likely to consistently back up.
With this in mind, we are going to put Hogg in for full back.
Not because there hasn’t been a Scottish player named so far but because he offers an incredible attacking option with his scintillating pace and is also very competent in defence.
So there you have it.
Do you think this team has what it takes to beat the All Blacks?
