Guess what Geech is thinking with the Lions
Roar Guru
By pothale, 16 Apr 2009 Pot Hale is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- British Lions, Ian McGeechan, Rugby Union
333 Have your say
In five days time, the Lions management team, led by head coach, Ian McGeechan, will announce the squad that will travel to South Africa in late May. 35 players will be announced.
Apparently, there’s a chance that an extra player, for a squad of 36, may be added.
So here’s a little tipping comp for you all.
Rather than give a selection of players who you think will travel or would like to travel, or you absolutely insist must travel, you’ve got to step inside Geech’s mind (and by mental teleportation Edwards, Gatland et al) and say who you think they will pick.
So no personal favourites, no “if I was picking the team.” Just stick with what you believe the Geech thinks.
We can do this in two stages.
First is guess the squad, and before the first midweek team is announced, we can reprise this to make your picks for that.
Ditto the test team.
2 points are awarded for each correct name. Put in your 35, and nominate an extra one in case it’s 36. You won’t lose points if it’s only 35 players they go with, or if your 36th man is part of a 35-man squad.
A bonus five pointer if you guess the tour captain correctly, who will be announced on the same day. For clarity’s sake, I don’t mean the midweek-team captain, or leader of the pack.
So on a 35 man squad, if someone gets all names correct, and the name of the captain, the max points they’ll have after the Squad Round is 75 points (77, if it’s a 36 man squad).
The most points at the end of the competition gets bragging rights until the Tri-Nations. After that, you can shut-up and bottom-feed like the rest of us.
So for our Southern Hemisphere neighbours who mightn’t be as familiar with some of the possible names for inclusion, here’s a selection from whom the 35/36 might be picked.
But there are other names out there, so feel free to pick who you want.
Some of the players can fill a number of positions, so you just have to name the players at this point.
Gents, get your starting Geech caps on.
FBs
Lee Byrne (Wal), Delon Armitage (Eng); Rob Kearney (Irl), Geordan Murphy (Irl)
Wingers
Tommy Bowe, (Ireland), Shane Williams (Wales), Thom Evans (Scotland), Luke Fitzgerald,(Irl) Mark Cueto (Eng) Paul Sackey (Eng) Leigh Halpenny (Wal) Josh Lewsey, (Eng) Ugo Monye (Eng) David Strettle (Eng)
Centres
Brian O’Driscoll (Irl), Tom Shanklin (Wal), Riki Flutey (NZ), Jamie Roberts (Wal); Keith Earls (Irl) Jordan Turner-Hall (Eng) Gordon Darcy (Irl) Mike Tindall (Eng)
10s
Stephen Jones (Wal), Ronan O’Gara (Irl), Danny Cipriani (Eng), Toby Flood (Eng)
Scrum-halves
Dwayne Peel, (Wal) Mike Phillips (Wal), Tomas O’Leary (Irl) Mike Blair (Scot) Danny Care (Eng) Harry Ellis (Eng)
Front Rowers
Gethin Jenkins (Wal), Jerry Flannery (Irl), Rory Best (Irl), Euan Murray (Scot), John Hayes (Ire), Phil Vickery (Eng), Ross Ford (Scot), Lee Mears (Eng) A Sheridan (Eng)
Locks:
Paul O’Connell (Ireland), Nathan Hines (Scotland), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales), Donncha O’Callaghan (Irl), Simon Shaw (Eng), Nick Kennedy (Eng), Leo Cullen (Irl)
Back Rowers:
David Wallace (Irl), Martyn Williams (Wal), Robshaw (Eng) Stephen Ferris (Irl), Joe Worsley (Eng), Tom Croft (Eng), Jamie Heaslip (Irl) Ryan Jones (Wal) Ian Gough (Wal) James Haskell (Eng)
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Knives Out said | April 16th 2009 @ 5:26am | Report comment
Hopefully he’s not thinking about bringing any Wasps players..
It seems to have escaped the media that the two teams who have drastically underperformed this year are.. (drum roll).. London Wasps and Wales, who are coached by.. (drum roll).. Ian McGeechan, Shaun Edwards and Warren Gatland, who are.. (drum roll).. the three head honchos on this coming tour.
Pothale, I think the majority of the squad will pick itself. Unlike pre-05 Lions there are a lot of test players in form. Unless McGeechan decides to pick his buddies from Wasps then there’s only the occasional position that should raise debate. I don’t think Leo Cullen and JTH will be up for selection, however. The only real areas that are lacking quality, IMO, are the wing position and 10. The rest will simply come down to tour tactics and compromise. Anyway, I’ll give this crazy game a go. Here’s what I suspect that ‘Geech will go for, and not my own particular choices (I think there’s 36/37 – not sure how many 10s or locks he’ll bring. In 1997 he only brought two and three respectively.):
15. Lee Byrne, Rob Kearney
14. Mark Cueto, Tommy Bowe, D. Armitage
13. Brian O’Driscoll, Tom Shanklin, Mike Tindall
12. Jamie Roberts, Riki Flutey
11. Luke Fitzgerald
10. Jonny Wilkinson, Ronan O’Gara, Danny Cipriani
09. Dwayne Peel, Tomas O’Leary, Mike Phillips
08. Nick Easter, Ryan Jones
07. Joe Worsley, David Wallace, Martyn Williams
06. Tom Croft, Stephen Ferris
05. Alun Wyn Jones
04. Paul O’Connell, Nathan Hines, Simon Shaw
03. Euan Murray, Phil Vickery, John Hayes
02. Jerry Flannery, Rory Best, Lee Mears
01. Gethin Jenkins, Andrew Sheridan
Knives Out said | April 16th 2009 @ 5:31am | Report comment
Actually, I’m not sure he’d bring two similar no. 8′s. I’d expect him to have a quicker player to counter Spies/Kankowski, so either Heaslip or Powell and Jones or Easter. I suspect that it will be Heaslip and Jones if Gatland gets his way.
pothale said | April 16th 2009 @ 6:22am | Report comment
So I’ll go with your numbered selection or do you wanna change it, KO? I’m not gonna go wading through posts figuring out who’s changed what.
If people want to put in selections, can they put in the full squads rather than just say I’d change X for Y, etc, etc. I ain’t wading through text/copy to pick out a single name.
KO, I love the phrase, ‘the squad will pick itself’. I can see it now on April 21, as a series of press releases roll out from individual players –
“I know I’m injured, and I haven’t played in a while, but I figured I’d give it a go: – Lewis Moody
“Actually I’m sick of playing scrum half, so I’ve picked myself in the second row to keep Paulie company” – P Stringer
“I’d picked myself months ago, but I had to wait for the glow tan to dry off before announcing it.” G Henson
“I always wanted to go to South Africa, before I headed off to France, so I picked myself. What exactly is a Lion anyway?” – R. Flutey
Knives Out said | April 16th 2009 @ 6:58am | Report comment
Crumbs, so many choices… Will McGeechan go for the lineout threat of Kennedy or the ballast of Shaw? Will Gatland enforce the selection of Jones? Oh well, I’ll go for my original selection minus Nick Easter, plus Jamie Heaslip. I’m, pretty sure I have too many players anyhow.
pothale said | April 16th 2009 @ 8:33am | Report comment
Ok – here’s my thoughts – for today anyway.
Backs (16)
Lee Byrne, Rob Kearney
S Williams, Tommy Bowe, D. Armitage, Luke Fitzgerald
Brian O’Driscoll, Tom Shanklin, Ugo Monye, Riki Flutey, Keith Earls
Ronan O’Gara, Stephen Jones
Tomas O’Leary, Mike Phillips, Danny Care
Forwards: (19)
Nick Easter, Andy Powell, Jamie Heaslip, David Wallace, Martyn Williams, Ryan Jones, Stephen Ferris
Alun Wyn Jones, Paul O’Connell, Nathan Hines, Nick Kennedy
Euan Murray, Phil Vickery, John Hayes
Jerry Flannery, Rory Best, Lee Mears, Gethin Jenkins, Andrew Sheridan
Extra 36th Man: Jonny Wilkinson
Paul O’Connell as captain.
Knives Out said | April 16th 2009 @ 10:10am | Report comment
I’d like to see Andy Powell travel, and Nick Easter too. He played club rugby in SA for a period, and he showed up very well on the ‘painters and decorators’ tour. I think you should brace yourself for the Wasps influx, I wouldn’t be surprised to see as many as: Payne, Shaw, Worsley, Haskell, Rees, Cipriani and Lewsey. I note you’ve left out Croft. If he doesn’t tour then I isn’t watching.
Untimelyzapped said | April 16th 2009 @ 10:28am | Report comment
All hail, Potso, an excellent post and a real mind tickler. You and KO have the advantage over us rubes here in Oz and NZ because most of us are stuck with watching the NH talent on TV, and you two guys can see what makes many of these players exceptional in person. So I for one am forced to consider many of the people you name based solely on what I’ve seen of them electronically in the 6N and the games against the three SH teams.
You gave us a choice of 58 possibles, which means if they take 36, then 22 don’t get to go.
Trouble is, there has to be enough representation from all four countries so that none of their unions/fans howl. That’s the hardest part, and the reason why the starting 15 in the first test won’t be the best the Lions could field.
I wish I could follow your most explicit instructions, but I can’t. Everytime I choose 22 not to make it, I get a big national imbalance.
But I can draw an historical parallel on what I suspect is in store for the Brave Thirty-seven. And for that we must put to sea and go back to 1905 when the Russian fleet sailed 18,000 miles to take on the Japanese in their squabble over Manchuria.
All the Japanese had to do was wait and oil their guns, while the Russians had a miserable trip full of wrong turns and rotten navigation (read questionable coaching). When they finally made it to the Tsushima Straits, the Russians literally blew them out of the water.
Will the Boks force the Lions to eat tsushima? Probably.
Stu James said | April 16th 2009 @ 9:25pm | Report comment
Backs (16):
Lee Byrne, Rob Kearney
Shane Williams, Tommy Bowe, Delon Armitage, Luke Fitzgerald
Brian O’Driscoll, Tom Shanklin, Riki Flutey, Darcy
Ronan O’Gara, Stephen Jones, Toby Flood
Tomas O’Leary, Mike Phillips, Harry Ellis
Forwards (19):
Nick Easter, Andy Powell, Jamie Heaslip, David Wallace, Martyn Williams, Ryan Jones, Haskill
Alun Wyn Jones, Paul O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan, Nick Kennedy
Euan Murray, Phil Vickery, Rory Best, Gethin Jenkins, John Hayes
Jerry Flannery, Ross Ford, Matthew Rees
Extra 36th Man: Keith Earls
Paul O’Connell as captain.
Stu James said | April 16th 2009 @ 9:29pm | Report comment
Either way you look at it, the Lions are going to get dusted by the Meateaters.
Knives Out said | April 17th 2009 @ 1:17am | Report comment
I’m sure some equally gifted people said that in 1997, Stu. Let’s see the squad first.