After what feels like years of speculation Warren Gatland has named his 37-man party for the trip Down Under. Here it is…
At last all the talking is over and we have our Lions captain and squad. Today, head coach Warren Gatland named his former Welsh captain Sam Warburton as the man to lead the touring party into battle against Australia in June.
As for the rest of the squad, it features nine Irish members, including two former captains Paul O’Connell and Brian O’Driscoll. You would have to feel a little sorry for the likes of Rory Best, Simon Zebo and Peter O’Mahony, they may yet get the nod if injuries hit the squad, as they usually do.
The big ommissions are probably Jonny Wilkinson and Chris Robshaw.
Anyway, here’s the full squad:
Full-backs: Leigh Halfpenny, Stuart Hogg, Rob Kearney
Wings: Tommy Bowe, Alex Cuthbert, Sean Maitland, George North
Centre: Jonathan Davies, Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Roberts, Manu Tuilagi
Out half: Owen Farrell, Jonny Sexton
Scrum half: Ben Youngs, Conor Murray, Mike Phillips
Props: Dan Cole, Cian Healy, Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones, Matt Stevens, Mako Vunipola
Hookers: Dylan Hartley, Richard Hibbard, Tom Youngs
Second Row: Ian Evans, Richie Gray, Alan Wyn Jones, Paul O’Connell, Geoff Parling
Back Row: Tom Croft, Tobey Faletau, Jamie Heaslip, Dan Lydiate, Sean O’Brien, Justin Tipuric, Sam Warburton (C)
The full breakdown is 15 Welsh, 10 English, 9 Irish and 3 Scots.
So, what do you make of that? Let us know below.
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