The excitement and anticipation ahead of a British and Irish Lions tour means the period of reflection after Andy Farrell’s squad announcement will be brief.
Barely 24 hours have passed since Maro Itoje was named captain of a 38-man squad for this summer’s tour of Australia and the sense of trust in Farrell’s selections is already palpable.
While there is some disappointment over omissions, none are glaring. No one is throwing rotten tomatoes at Farrell; instead, there’s excitement for a fabulous tour where the Lions are expected to win. The pressure is already mounting.
Now the squad is revealed, the focus shifts to the next bet: naming the Test team. But the reality is, if everyone wrote down their starting XV right now, most would only get seven or eight correct.
The likelihood is, of those 38 players named, only 36 will get on the plane. Injuries, the URC, Premiership – there’s still a lot of rugby to come, and rugby is a nasty, cruel sport.
Just ask Caelan Doris, who would certainly have been in this squad and will always wonder whether the captaincy was supposed to be his.
Given the violent sport we are, the unfortunate timing of an injury will rule some out, and those out in Australia will also pick up injuries.
There’s a history of players not in the original squad or on the initial flight ending up playing in the Test series at the end of a tough tour. Martin Corry flew out in 2001 and played in all the Tests, Ryan Jones did the same in 2005.
Players like Owen Farrell, Jamie George, Robbie Henshaw, Dave Ribbans, Darcy Graham, Jack Willis, Ben Curry, Taulupe Faletau, and Courtney Lawes need to stay fit and keep playing well.
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My message to them is to be disappointed, go kick on a door, stamp on a grape, but use that frustration to push forward.
What has brought these players to the top of international rugby is their resilience, durability, and ability to dust themselves down and bounce back. Perhaps with an injury, the door will reopen.
Coaches have their go-to players
Of those to miss out, Darcy Graham is incredibly unlucky. But who would you have left out to include him? Andy Farrell always picks Mack Hansen. There are always players a coach will say, “I trust him, I like him, I know what he does.”
In the Premier League, with Brendan McCullum in cricket and Tracey Neville in netball, certain coaches have their go-to players.
You get a bit of luck in your career. I had that luck with Sir Clive Woodward, who always picked me. Around that era, there were four coaches who could have been the England coach, and not one of them would have picked me.
You work hard all your career, and then you get a bit of luck with a coach who sees something in you that others don’t. They ignore the naysayers because they know their “horse” is going to jump The Chair and win the Grand National!
With Ireland’s dip in form and Leinster getting beaten by Northampton in the Champions Cup, some might be surprised that 15 Irish players were picked. But that Leinster and Ireland group haven’t been coached by Farrell for the last six months, and he knows that when he has them, they deliver.
Farrell believes in his players. In the case of Hansen and James Ryan, their selection is a result of the hard-earned brownie points they accumulated with Farrell, who then became the Lions coach.
They didn’t choose the Lions coach, but they are going to take full advantage of it. And good luck to them, because most players, at some stage of their career, have benefitted from a coach seeing something in them that others don’t.
Fabulous young player selected for Lions
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Henry Pollock’s journey to becoming a British and Irish Lions tourist has been nothing short of amazing. The reality is he’s been playing exceptionally well for a couple of years.
Many players have burst onto the scene throughout history, and there have been instances where players who haven’t played for their country were picked for the Lions.
We haven’t discovered a unicorn in Henry Pollock. He’s the next in a long line of players that coaches see potential in and believe can deliver at a relatively young age, rather than waiting until they are 24 or 25.
I’m not downplaying it; Pollock has been performing like a world XV player. Age and experience go out the window when you are performing like he is. You get on the tour because of the calibre of your rugby and the quality of your performances.
In the current climate, with social media and bandwagons, things can gather extraordinary momentum. The headline should be: a fabulous young rugby player, who has been playing brilliantly, gets selected for a Lions squad – end of.
Itoje has the presence to lead Lions
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Where do you start with Maro Itoje, the 47th British and Irish Lions captain?
He’s a destructive force on the field one week, and a global presence off it the next, chatting with Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street and running the show.
Proud of his history and heritage, he always acknowledges the past before defining a new future.
The boys who have played under him speak highly of him, just as those who played under Martin Johnson – England’s last Lions captain – do.
He is an incredible rugby player, a gentleman, a friend to rugby, and above all, an incredible human. The Lions are stronger under his presence and leadership.
Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.
