With the Lions squad set to be announced in less than a week, it seems that every man and his dog has chosen their preferred XV to face the mighty All Blacks.
Positions such as tighthead, the half-backs and inside centre have almost universal consensus.
However, in areas of the team like the back-three and the back-row, Warren Gatland has a plethora of in-form and experienced players to choose from.
So it is really difficult to predict who the Kiwi head coach will go with when the first Test against the All Blacks gets underway in Auckland on June 24.
On the most recent episode of The Hard Yards, Ronan O’Gara chose his Test side to face Steve Hansen’s team and it contained six Irish men – Jack McGrath, Rory Best, Tadhg Furlong, CJ Stander, Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton.
Not everyone's getting on that plane #TheHardYards https://t.co/tNBVEvcxjp
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 13, 2017
It is definitely not outside the realms of possibility that six Irish players will start in the Test team but we think it would most likely be four to five.
There is serious competition for the loosehead and hooker positions so we cannot see McGrath and Best as sure things.
Brian O’Driscoll is the latest former Irish international to name their starting XV and we think it’s a little bit more realistic than O’Gara’s selection.
O’Driscoll’s team has five Irish players – Furlong, Stander, Murray, Sexton and Henshaw.
Here is the full team below, courtesy of TalkingRugbyUnion.
1. Mako Vunipola – Eng
2. Jamie George – Eng
3. Tadhg Furlong – Ire
4. Alun Wyn Jones – Wal
5. Maro Itoje – Eng
6. CJ Stander – Ire
7. Sam Warburton – Wal
8. Billy Vunipola – Eng
9. Conor Murray – Ire
10. Johnny Sexton – Ire
11. George North – Wal
12. Owen Farrell – Eng
13. Robbie Henshaw – Ire
14. Liam Williams – Wal
15. Stuart Hogg – Scot
We must admit, it’s an incredibly strong team and one which could line out in Eden Park in over two months time.
O’Driscoll also spoke about the captaincy and revealed that Sam Warburton is the man to lead the tourists in the land of the long white cloud.
“Sam Warburton has become the bookies favourite (and rightly so in my opinion) for the title after some impressive performances over the past couple of months. With some question marks over his future in the Wales team, he answered his critics in emphatic style with a big tournament, in his less favoured position of blindside flanker.”
Under a week to go, we’re nearly there!
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