Now that the waiting is over and the sides have been named for the first Lions test against South Africa, I find myself reflecting on what might have been. Players who seemed dead certs for the Test side not so long ago have missed out completely, whilst others have come from left field to force their way into contention.

Just twelve months ago, Ryan Jones was hot favourite to skipper the tourists after successfully leading Wales to Grand Slam glory in the 2008 Six Nations, yet now he is nowhere to be seen. A sharp decline in form from the back end of 2008 onwards limited his participation on the tour to a mere 24 hours after being called up as injury cover, before a humiliating return home after he was deemed unfit to play. Yet he isn’t the only man who will be licking his wounds right now.

Current IRB player of the year Shane Williams also missed out on selection, unable to ignite himself sufficiently into producing the sparkling performances which wowed the crowds in the not so distant past. It’s hard to pinpoint where it has all gone wrong for the Ospreys man on this tour. It’s certainly not been through a lack of effort on his part, indeed it may be that fact which has done for him after all; desperate to make an impression in the warm up games, Williams has too many times run down a blind alley and become isolated, frantically trying to produce the moment of genius to kick start his trip.

Of course one man’s misfortune opens the door of opportunity for another. England winger Ugo Monye has certainly been one of the revelations of the tour thus far. Something of a surprising selection at the outset, the Harlequins man has produced a string of quality performances, along with scoring four tries, to make it impossible for the selectors to leave him out of the Test side. This is all the more remarkable given that a year ago he was a nobody in international rugby terms, just a good player at domestic level; he, more than any other member of the squad, must truly feel that he is living the dream right now. The combination of him and Tommy Bowe at 11 and 14 looks a mouth-watering one.

Englishmen coming into form at just the right time appear to be a theme of this years Lions party. Phil Vickery is one such player who has seemingly come back from the dead. The Wasps prop had been written off by many over the last few years, but his performances so far have proved this to be a mistake. Always a strong scrummager, his all round game has been equally impressive in SA, to the extent that the ‘Raging Bull’ has challenged Gethin Jenkins in terms of capability away from the set-piece. His reward for this is a first appearance in a Lions test since facing Australia in 2001.

Hooker Lee Mears completes a strong looking front row. His throwing in throughout the tour has been immaculate, which allied to his footballing skills around the park, made him the obvious choice for Lions number 2 early in the trip. Tom Croft plays on the blindside, whilst scrum-half Harry Ellis also completes his return from a serious knee injury by taking a place on the bench.

Elsewhere in the backs, there are no real shocks; messrs Byrne, Bowe, O’ Driscoll and Roberts all being thoroughly deserving of their places. The fly-half shirt could quite easily have been decided with the toss of a coin though. Stephen Jones gets the nod over Ronan O’ Gara in the end, but there really isn’t much in it, with both of them being highly experienced test match players.

All in all, the Lions 22 looks a competitive one, capable of taking on the South Africans in their backyard. Come Saturday afternoon we’ll see which way the result goes, but regardless of what has been said in the build-up, all that matters now is what the fifteen chosen men in red can do when they run out onto the ABSA Stadium pitch.

Good luck boys, our hopes and dreams go with you.