Seven Irishmen included on a cracking Lions 2021 team

Lions captain Maro Itoje to lead his side to a 2-1 Test Series win over Rassie Erasmus' Springboks. You heard it here first.

The British & Irish Lions split the 2017 Tour with hosts New Zealand but it did not take us long to gaze towards the future. The Lions XV for 2021 that we selected [below] was put together in June 2017 but we have revisited it after comments from Johnny Sexton on The Ray D'Arcy Show on RTE Radio 1. The Irish outhalf claimed:

"The World Cup and then to try to get on a third Lions tour. I'd be 35, which as an outhalf wouldn't be a crazy age to get picked. Obviously there are a lot of young guys coming through and staying ahead of them would be the big challenge."

Predicting teams and squads so far out is an inexact science but we do have some form here. A while back, we predicted that Itoje and Furlong would play key roles for the 2017 side. After the 2013 series win over Australia, we confidently looked to the future and said Sexton, Jonathan Davies, Conor Murray, Sam Warburton, Owen Farrell and both Vunipolas would be integral members of a Lions side to test the All Blacks. Last November, we also said Devin Toner was 'nailed-on' for the Lions Tour. Can't win 'em all... Looking into the future, we have selected a Lions side made up of established stars, up-an-comers, proven winners and hot, new prospects. Five players from the 2017 Test squad make our 2021 Test XV - Furlong, Itoje, Murray, Farrell and Elliot Daly. Furlong and Farrell are joined by other Ireland stars - lock James Ryan, openside Josh van der Flier, centre Garry Ringrose and winger Jacob Stockdale. While we wouldn't put it past the likes of CJ Stander, Sam Warburton, Ross Moriarty and Peter O'Mahony making the squad, we've included England's Sam Underhill and Billy Vunipola in our back row. We initially had Harlequins winger Gabriel Ibitoye, who starred for England at the 2017 Junior World Cup, as our left-field pluck but Jacob Stockdale has zoomed into pole position. We felt compelled to team up Robbie Henshaw with Garry Ringrose again too. Overall, the make-up of the team is seven Irish, five English and three Welsh. No Scots again but that might all change if Gregor Townsend does wonders with the national team [they've already beaten Australia on his watch]. As for the coach, either Townsend or Joe Schmidt to take the reins. LIONS 2021 What do you make of our XV? Let us know your Lions 2021 team on Twitter and Facebook.