A difficult decision.
Brian O’Driscoll is arguably Ireland’s greatest ever Lion, playing in four tours from 2001 to 2013, and eight tests in total.
As such, he is in a good position to make a few Lions selection calls.
Following the announcement of the 38-man squad, BOD has gone and picked his preferred first-choice XV to face Australia in the opening test.
He has selected seven Irish, four English, and four Scots.
While there are a few tight calls, such as not picking Will Stuart, Jack Conan, or Huw Jones, one in particular sticks out, with O’Driscoll opting for Scotland’s Blair Kinghorn over Ireland’s fullback maestro Hugo Keenan.
Kinghorn has been excellent for Toulouse over the past few seasons, as Leinster fans know all to well after his starring performance in the 2024 Champions Cup final, but Keenan has a knack for playing his best rugby in the biggest games.
Either way, both are superb operators and will give head coach Andy Farrell a serious selection headache.
Brian O’Driscoll’s Lions test XV:
1. Andrew Porter
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Zander Fagerson
4. Maro Itoje
5. Tadhg Beirne
6. Tom Curry
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Henry Pollock
9. Jamison Gibson-Park
10. Finn Russell
11. James Lowe
12. Sione Tuipulotu
13. Garry Ringrose
14. Tommy Freeman
15. Blair Kinghorn
