Best Lions For One Night Only Rugby Knowledgeable People

[joggerjayne]

The Guardian is doing their 50 greatest British Lions.

Today was 11-30

Tomorrow they will say who they would call the Top 10 greatest ever British Lions.

Before they do ... who do we think?

I'm a bit short of names, so I'm throwing this open to any rugby knowledgeable ABers.

I think I might pick Bill Beaumont. He must have been good.

This is a "one night only" thread, because once The Guardian give their choice in the morning, it's less interesting.

[Slapshot]

The full list is out online JJ..... can't say I agree with the top ten,...well one of them anyway!! They got the right guy at the top though

[joggerjayne]

Oh, who is it?????

Daddy would say Willie John McBride???

I Googled him. He sounds quite good.

I thought Fran Cotton, because he started Cotton Traders, so he's obviously quite switched on, but he was in today's list.

I couldn't really think of anyone else.

Oh, hang on, Will Carling?

[jno]

Mostly Celts - Martin Johnson's the only Englishman in there. (In the top 10.)

In fact mostly the Welsh backs from the glory years of 71 and 74, and rightly so.

[joggerjayne]

Oh, okay, the guy who did the amazing try?? Hang on ...

[joggerjayne]

Gareth Edwards?

He was on A Question Of Sport, too.

[jno]

The Try was in a Barbarians' match rather than for the Lions.

But as far as I'm concerned they could put the entire 71/74 vintage into the top 10, though the laws of mathematics might prove a problem.

Anyway, the top 50 are now all here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/interactive/2013/jun/04/rugby-union-50-greatest-british-irish-lions

[joggerjayne]

Oh, okay. I thinki knew that, sort of.

Willie John was 2nd. Coolio.

[jno]

I think the Baabaas that year were more or less a Lions team in disguise. These days they're full of token 20-year-old Moldovans and play like rubbish.

(I exaggerate a teensy bit.)

[Slapshot]

For me Johnson is the only one out of place in the top ten, top twenty maybe and I'd move 4 to 9 up a place as well. The Lions and an entity has diminished in the days of Professional Rugby. 71 and 74 were the greatest tours of them all everything else should take second place the players from then

[joggerjayne]

The Barbarians weren't the Lions last week, because they played the Lions.

But the were rubbish because they lost by some big score.

[joggerjayne]

Who's singing in your picture, slapshot?

[jno]

MJ's fine by me, as is anyone who beats the Boks. Tough nut but smart with it.

But the 70s teams were gods.

[Slapshot]

Her name is Sharon den Adel from a band called Within Temptation....she gorgeous and the music is brilliant as well, find Black Symphony

[joggerjayne]

I just Googled "the 99 Call" ...

LOL

[jno]

getting your retaliation in first.

[joggerjayne]

Just YouTubed them slapshot.

They look good!

[joggerjayne]

jno ... so it seems!

[DaisyNonna]

JPR Williams.

[ChillDoubt]

Not seen the list so can't agree/disagree yet, but for me some of the more obvious one's are:

Willie John McBride, nothing needs adding other than that.

Barry John, had the All Blacks running into glass walls on the 1971 tour and a points tally of 30 of the 48 scored in 4 Tests and a total of 191 for the whole tour.

Andy Irvine, fantastic international career and 274 points for the Lions.

Brian O'Driscoll, 4 times a Lion and one of the greatest outside centre's to ever grace a rugby field.

Scott Gibbs, twice a Lion and Player of the Series in 1997, when he almost single-handedly destroyed SA in attack and defence and lowered the heads of the Boks when he 'brushed aside' Os du Randt.

Martin Johnson, giant of a man and inspirational leader on the 97 winning tour, the last time the Lions won a series.

The rest would invariably as jno says be made of of the likes of Bennett, JPR, JJ Williams and Gareth Edwards, more for their exploits on the 74 tour to SA than anything else.

[ichkeria]

Two Ballymena men out of 30 is not bad :-)
Nice to see they've gone for Syd Millar as well as Willie John, a man who scored his only ever try for Ireland in the final minutes of his last ever International.
A great man.
But Gareth Edwards rightly at the very top.
And plainly all forgiven by the Guardian now for the South Africa apartheid tours ...