Warren Gatland selects his 2013 Lions for the Tour to Australia (Getty Images for HSBC)
As the SMH so eloquently put it, ‘Warren Gatland surveyed the menu and put lots of red meat in it’. We will find out what this means on the field in just seven weeks as the 2013 British Lions series kicks off in this eagerly anticipated show-down of rugby giants.
There are many enticing hors d’oeuvres to look forward to. Not least two of the games finest ambassadors, as well as world class operators, locking horns for one final time (12 years after the first). I am of course talking about Brian O’Driscoll, a legend in the British Isles, and George Smith, perhaps the greatest openside the game has seen, aside from Richie McCaw of course.
Smith, despite playing in the least forgiving of positions at openside, has shown he has lost none of his scavenging ability, slipping effortlessly back into the Super 15 with the free running Brumbies, who are sitting pretty at the top of the table. More worryingly for the Lions is that he is galloping around the rugby paddocks like a hyperactive colt.
Smith is positively champing at the bit for one last international swansong, as is a fellow legendary centurion – the iconic Brian O’Driscoll. Like Smith, like McCaw, this man would not look out of place as the three greatest rugby players of their generation. O’Driscoll is on the final lap of his incredible rugby journey this summer and how fitting it would be for this great warrior to bow out of rugby with a Lions’ series win. The only honour alongside the World Cup which has thus far eluded him.
This is of course just the starter; the main course of rugby about to be served up is simply sumptuous. The Lions leave these shores with arguably one of the strongest Lions teams ever assembled. A strong Wales contingent makes up the majority of the squad and with the Six Nations in the bag, deservedly so. A massive, intimidating backline full of pace and class awaits Australia. The Welsh juggernauts, George North and Alex Cuthbert are primed on the wings, with possibly Manu Tuilagi, the Samoan battering ram, partnering O’Driscoll in the centres. Add in the power of the feisty Mike Phillips at scrumhalf to go with Johnny Sexton in the halves and you have a backline ready to smash down walls. The only size anomaly is at fullback where the tiny but magnificent Leigh Halfpenny goes down as the first man on the team sheet.
Upfront Lions have enormous men primarily from the valleys, starting with hooker Richard Hibbard complete with surfers’ hair, and the more permed form of Adam Jones, ready to take on the Wallabies’ historically brittle front five. Back that up with the likely serving of Munster monster Paul O’Connell alongside the gangly gazelle Richie Gray in the second row and James Horwill will have his hands full.
The most competitive and most intriguing selection is in the back row. The talk of the town in both Sydney and London is how to counter the expertise of the hyperactive Michael Hooper but most likely the legend, George Smith. Bear in mind that David Pocock’s absence at number 7 has hardly been mentioned given the form of these two. Expect a Welsh duo of Captain Sam Warburton with biceps the size of Cardiff and Toby Faletau, a Tongan with a decidedly strong Welsh accent to go with possibly Irish farmer, Sean O’Brien, who has forearms the size of industrial pistons.
But, the wily Wallaby will also come to this feast more than equipped to hold its own. The Brumbies and Reds are flying high in the Super 15, not least the likes of fullback Jesse Mogg who despite having a girl’s first name is absolutely killing it in Canberra and is a likely full back. Israel Folau has quickly impressed since his disastrous stint in Aussie Rules and is perhaps the most talented footballer in either code given his age and his rugby league achievements. Familiar names like the ever dependable Adam Ashley Cooper, James O’Connor and Digby Ioane will also be in the mix. Will Genia is playing well for the Reds and is perhaps the key operator for the Wallabies if Robbie Deans can get his naughty school boys, Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale away from Twitter and the bottle respectively, and get the Wallaby backline moving. A smattering of Beale, Mogg, Folau, Ashley Cooper, O’Connor, Cooper and Genia would scare a rutting rhino let alone a pride of Lions.
The coal face of the scrum is where games are won and lost and this series will be no different. The Wallabies must have parity in the tight if they are to have a chance against the Lions. Adam Jones and Richard Hibbard decimated the English scrum to help Wales win the Six Nations and they will be licking their lips at the prospect of coming up against the Wallaby front five. Experience will be essential; therefore Stephen Moore should be accompanied by his mate Ben Alexander with teapot man Ben Robinson as the other prop. Horwill is a shoe-in alongside possibly Sitaleki Timani, who when on form is ferociously physical, important, if the Wallabies are to be successful in stopping the Lions on the gain line. Add in the irrepressible George Smith at openside with Wycliffe Palu at number eight and Brumby Ben Mowen, the Australians will have a mixture of talent, pace and power at their disposal.
One can’t help but feel that a series of this magnitude could be decided by a flash of brilliance and a calm head. I have a sneaky suspicion that Brian O’Driscoll or George Smith might just win a turnover for their team inside the opposition half which will decide the 3rd test and win the series 2-1. The question is who will win it 2-1? I, alongside all rugby fans can’t wait to find out in 9 weeks’ time at the final whistle in Sydney.
[ Source: Australian Times ]