Lions Squad

[grumpy01]

Some strange selections here. A captain who got himself sent off in a world cup semi-final ,arguably the best hooker and fly half available have not been selected and a prop,vunipola, who never looks fit ,has been selected.I fear the worst.

[ichkeria]

Why is Sam Warburton a strange choice as captain? Surely not because he happens to have been sent off in a previous game? He seemed one of the more obvious choices.

Personally I'm delighted to see Paul O'Connell in there.
Anyway, no doubt half of the "obvious" omissions will end up going anyway as emergency replacements.

[jno]

and one who was out for two years on a drugs ban.

A bit sorry for Wilkinson, who is plainly not past it; but he wasn't available for part fo the tour, I believe, because of commitments in France, which is a fair enough reason for excluding him.

[kayakamina]

I think Warburton is a good choice as Captain.
I thought that Laidlaw & Best would get in at Scrum half & hooker but I wasn't too surprised that Robshaw missed out.

I would have taken Wilkinson but didn't think Gatland would.

[grumpy01]

Think the choice of Warburton is subjective not objective.Surely to choose a player who has not even been on a Lions tour previously is asking a lot.Also with players like Tiperic,O'Brien and Lydiate in the squad is he 100% guaranteed a test place.Regarding Johnny Wilkinson he would only miss a week of the tour due to commitments in France,so where's the harm there.Also choosing Dylan hartley with his suspect disciplinary record is strange.Bet the Aussies can't wait.

[jno]

apparently Wilko refused the opportunity to go because of French commitments. I expect he could still be summoned to cover if Farrell breaks a leg.

[ichkeria]

Most of the choices are subjective if it comes to it :-)
No two sets of selectors will pick the same squad.

As for Wilkinson, didn't he retire from Test Rugby a couple of years back?
The clamour for his return seems based largely on his recent club rugby record for Toulon.
Still, he'll be a useful backup when the others start coming back from Australia on crutches. Probably all the Irish players including Sexton if our recent record is anything to go by :-)

[ChillDoubt]

I feel sorry for Dan Biggar, but then he's never been a favourite of Gats.

The only one of the Welsh 15 who started the game against England not to get the nod. Pretty shocking IMHO.

I find it incredulous that one half of the half-back pairing from the Championship winners won't be there. Farrell is OK but one can't help feeling he's made the trip because his Dad has too!

I also thought there might have been a place for Ryan 'Mr Utility' Jones.

And I'm still scratching my head as to how Matt Stevens and Dylan Hartley got in ahead of far better candidates!

[ichkeria]

The only thing I don't understand - given that there'll always be players one thinks should be going but aren't, and vice versa - is why pick one player fewer because Wilkinson isn't available? Either pick him to join the squad later or pick someone else.