Pride of Lions - 1st Test Selection Prediction
So, it's make your mind up time. This is my prediction for the selection for the first test. We'll know soon enough. I reckon 1-15 is mostly nailed on. If there are changes, I reckon they'll Hines or Shaw at 4, Williams at 7 and an outside possibility of ROG at 10. I've been in a quandary for over a week regarding 7. In the end, I've decided that while it's the most hotly contested shirt in the team, Wallace will start because he adds more to the breakdown. The Lions breakdown has been their weakness to date and Wallace will help tighten this up. If Telfer was impassioned about 'their weakness is the scrum' back in '97, come Saturday, the line will be 'their weakness is the breakdown'. For this reason, I believe though he has impressed less Wallace will start over Williams. Late on we'll see Martyn Williams off the bench to link with the forwards and take advantage of tiring opposition. I'm going to stick to my guns on the starting XV though, I reckon this will be pretty much the team.
The bench is a much trickier customer. While there has been someone stick up their hand for most positions, there hasn't been a great deal of direct competition in a lot of areas. For this reason it tends to be more of a toss-up between two players who haven't done a huge amount. Adam Jones could be Andy Sheridan, Matthew Rees could be Ross Ford. You get the idea. The replacement backs are relatively clear compared to the forwards. Ellis has been better than Blair, O'Gara is the only other fit fly-half and while Luke Fitzgerald may not have performed quite as well as Rob Kearney, he offers the cover - which in the absence of James Hook - is neccessary.
Everyone has their own selection, but with an hour to go, I though it was time to finally lay my cards on the table!
British & Irish Lions - 1st Test
1. Gethin Jenkins
2. Lee Mears
3. Phil Vickery
4. Alun-Wyn Jones
5. Paul O'Connell (c)
6. Tom Croft
7. David Wallace
8. Jamie Heaslip
9. Mike Phillips
10. Stephen Jones
11. Ugo Monye
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Brian O'Driscoll
14. Tommy Bowe
15. Lee Byrne
Replacements
16. Adam Jones
17. Matthew Rees
18. Nathan Hines
19. Martyn Williams
20. Harry Ellis
21. Ronan O'Gara
22. Luke Fitzgerald
Tony Hart - Thursday 18th June 11.30AM
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