Eight Irishmen are picked for the Lions but Sexton misses out

Warren Gatland has picked his Lions squad for the 2021 tour to South Africa and it is the usual mix of veterans and debutants, surefire selections and wildcards, and some glaring omissions.

But Gatland has proven before that he makes the right calls.

This is his third tour as coach and he is one of the most successful Lions coaches in history, having achieved a series win against Australia in 2013 and a drawn series against New Zealand in 2017.

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Gatland has chosen 37 players in all, which includes eight from Ireland. Tadhg Furlong was one player pencilled in on everyone’s list and he will likely start all three Tests. Only possible injury will affect his chances.

Robbie Henshaw was a star for Ireland during the recent Six Nations and has a very good chance of being a Test Lion. Like Furlong, he was also a 2017 tourist but failed to make the Test side.

Conor Murray is one of the most experienced Lions in the side, having played in both the 2013 and ’17 series. He is likely to add to his Test caps. Iain Henderson is another veteran from the 2017 tour and he has shown good form for Ireland and Ulster.

Tadhg Beirne was impressive in the Six Nations and should do good things on the tour. His added versatility of being able to play at both second row and flanker increases his chances of winning a Test cap.

Jack Conan and Andrew Porter may not have made many people’s selections but were both impressive during the Six Nations and will want to build on their good form and reputations.

Bundee Aki is another surprise selection but his power in attack will be an asset against those big South African centres. Aki is also the first Connacht player to be picked for the Lions since Ciaran Fitzgerald and John O’Driscoll went on the ill-fated 1983 tour to New Zealand.

Possibly the biggest selection omission is Jonny Sexton. The Irish captain was pinged as a possible Lions captain during the Six Nations but he has suffered injury concerns in recent weeks, causing him to miss Leinster’s losing semi-final in the Heineken Cup.

The Lions will miss Sexton’s ability and experience. He featured in all of the last six Lions Tests. But it’s probably the right call to make, health-wise. The tour to South Africa is sure to be an attritional one.

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James Ryan and Gary Ringrose are two more players that would have possibly expected to get picked. Another big omission is Welsh centre Jonathan Davies, who starred in both the last two Lions series but suffered a knee injury in the 2019 World Cup and has subsequently struggled to recapture his previous form. English duo Kyle Sinkler and Billy Vunipola are two more who would have made most people’s Lions selections.

Keith Earls is another who showed great form during the Six Nations, and was actually a member of the last Lions tour to South Africa in 2009, but he’s possibly a bit too old now and there are several young players coming through.

That includes Welsh winger Louis Rees-Zammit, who was one of the stars of the recent Six Nations. At 20 he is the youngest member of the squad. Scottish winger Duhan van der Merwe, who is actually South African by birth, was the top try scorer in the recent Six Nations.

Sam Simmonds is a shock selection for the squad. The English back rower hasn’t played a Test match in a number of years but has been a star for his club Exeter. Likewise, Rory Sutherland of Scotland was facing possible paralysis three years ago, but he made an amazing comeback and has been one of the stars for his country recently.

There are several players who are already stars and should only enhance their reputations on tour. Stuart Hogg, Liam Williams, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau, Maro Itoje and Mako Vunipola have done it all before and Hamish Watson will soon join their ranks.

Leading all the players will be Alun Wyn-Jones, the only survivor from the 2009 tour to South Africa. This is his fourth successive tour and he featured in the Test series in all his previous tours.

He has a somewhat unique Lions Test record, having played nine, winning four, losing four and drawing one.

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It is a very exciting squad but what of the opposition? South Africa are the reigning world champions but they haven’t played a match since winning the World Cup in November 2019. They will be a formidable opponent at home but it’s difficult to gauge their quality.

The 2021 Lions tour is sure to be an exciting one. The 2021 Six Nations was the most exciting tournament of its kind, possibly ever, and hopefully the players can take that form to South Africa. There are always players that come back with enhanced reputations, and wildcards that become stars. They’re known as bolters.

After all, it’s doubtful that there were many who expected much from a teenager, just out of school to achieve much after being picked to tour in 1955. But that player went on to be one of the most decorated Lions players, winning ten caps over two tours and becoming the Lions’ top try scorer. That player? Tony O’Reilly.

It’s great that the date is finally here as there had been a lot of speculation around whether the tour would even go ahead, due to the pandemic. There had been discussion of playing the matches in Australia, or New Zealand, or Britain and Ireland, or even postponing the tour or scrapping it entirely.

Instead, the tour looks set to follow its planned itinerary, with eight matches in total, including three Tests against the Springboks.