- To win the series: Lions 8/11, South Africa 11/10, Draw 25/1
British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has named his 37-man squad to tour South Africa with a few left-field selections and notable absentees catching the eye.
Sam Simmonds is the bolter, Bundee Aki the surprise and Jonny May the eyebrow-raising omission.
Those are three takeaways from Thursday’s British and Irish Lions squad announcement.
Ignored for the last three years by Eddie Jones., Exeter No.8 Simmonds is fully deserving his place on the plane, it coming on the back of his European Player of the Year exploits and this season’s prolific try count of 14 in the Premiership alone.
Aki is perhaps fortunate in that Manu Tuilagi, possibly the closest centre to his direct running style, has still to return from his horrific Achilles injury. Aki is trojan-like in effort but Garry Ringrose would have added a bit more guile.
But what’s the story with May?
The Gloucester flyer’s acrobatics were one of the few positives for England this season but he’ll have to watch on and admire his club team-mate Louis Rees-Zammit’s performances instead after getting snubbed by Gatland.
May’s absence is all the more strange given that Elliot Daly is picked when many consider his form to have been well below par during the Six Nations.
Daly’s ability to play a number of positions – and boot the ball a mile – has clearly worked in his favour and the same applies to Lawes and the likes of Tadgh Beirne, who can both cover lock and back-row. Even so, James Ryan of Ireland can count himself unlucky.
Nearly half of the squad has never toured with the Lions before (18 out of 37). Listed alphabetically they are: Josh Adams, Aki, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Curry, Gareth Davies, Chris Harris, Ali Price, Rees-Zammit, Beirne, Jack Conan, Zander Fagerson, Iain Henderson, Jonny Hill, Wyn Jones, Andrew Porter, Simmonds, Rory Sutherland and Hamish Watson.
Leadership
With so much inexperience around him, Alun Wyn Jones’ leadership will be crucial, and the world’s most-capped player will be looking to other prominent figures like Owen Farrell, Dan Biggar, Maro Itoje and Taulupe Faletau to rally around him and give him the support he needs if the Lions are to beat the reigning world champions, who have yet to play a game since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup aloft in Yokohama.
“We believe we’ve picked a squad capable of winning a Test series in South Africa,” said Gatland.
“Selecting a Lions squad is never easy and, in many ways, this has been the most challenging selection I have been involved in. Over the course of the last three weeks, the coaches and I have rigorously debated each position.
“We saw some outstanding performance in the recent Six Nations, so competition for places has been tough with some incredibly tight calls to make.
“However, we are very happy with the squad we have assembled and look forward to meeting up in Jersey in just over a month’s time to start our preparation to take on the World Champions. We’ve left out some very talented players which gives an indication to the strength of this squad and we know how important that stand-by list will be.”
British and Irish Lions 2021 squad
Captain: Alun Wyn Jones (Wal)
Forwards: Tadhg Beirne (Ire), Jack Conan (Ire), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Eng), Tom Curry (Eng), Zander Fagerson (Sco), Taulupe Faletau (Wal), Tadhg Furlong (Ire), Jamie George (Eng), Iain Henderson (Ire), Jonny Hill (Eng), Maro Itoje (Eng), Wyn Jones (Wal), Courtney Lawes (Eng), Ken Owens (Wal), Andrew Porter (Ire), Sam Simmonds (Eng), Rory Sutherland (Sco), Justin Tipuric (Wal), Mako Vunipola (Eng), Hamish Watson (Sco).
Backs: Josh Adams (Wal), Bundee Aki (Ire), Dan Biggar (Wal), Elliot Daly (Eng), Gareth Davies (Wal), Owen Farrell (Eng), Chris Harris (Sco), Robbie Henshaw (Ire), Stuart Hogg (Sco), Conor Murray (Ire), Ali Price (Sco), Lewis Rees-Zammit (Wal), Finn Russell (Sco), Duhan van der Merwe (Sco), Anthony Watson (Eng), Liam Williams (Wal).
