British paper picks eight Irish in their Lions XV

The competition for places is heating up.

Here at SportsJOE, we had a go at picking our own after the Autumn Nations Series finished in November.

Opta Sports used their rugby stats database to also pick a team based off the November tests, with only four Irish making the cut.

However, the Guardian have been much more favourable in their selection, with nine Irish in their team.

While Jamison Gibson-Park is the only back in their starting XV for the first test against Australia, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, and Caelan Doris all make the cut.

James Ryan and Bundee Aki feature on the bench, while Marcus Smith is the out-half replacement, with Scottish maestro Finn Russell starting.

Given Ireland's Six Nations dominance over the past two seasons - which saw them win the 2023 Grand Slam and a regular title in 2024 - and the fact that Andy Farrell is head coach, seven to nine starters is a fair assessment at this moment in time, injury permitting.

However, the 2025 Six Nations commences at the beginning of February, and this will provide a much clearer picture of the likely test XV.

The Guardian's Lions 23:

Blair Kinghorn (Scotland); Manny Feyi-Waboso (England), Huw Jones (Scotland), Sione Tuipolotu (Scotland), Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland); Finn Russell (Scotland), Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland); Andrew Porter (Ireland), Dan Sheehan (Ireland), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Maro Itoje (England), Joe McCarthy (Ireland), Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), Josh van der Flier (Ireland), Caelan Doris (Ireland, capt).

Replacements: Dewi Lake (Wales), Pierre Schoeman (Scotland), Zander Fagerson (Scotland), James Ryan (Ireland), Ben Earl (England), Tomos Williams (Wales), Marcus Smith (England), Bundee Aki (Ireland).