No more games. No more anyone can do. It’s up to the coaches now.
Six games into the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and now we’re into the thick of it.
The Lions have impressed in exactly 50% of those games but enough of their 45-man [up from 41] squad have done enough to stake Test claims.
At this stage, we have a very clear idea of 13 players that will be on Warren Gatland’s team-sheet. We know Owen Farrell will be there too but it is just a matter of what jersey he wears.
This is the first of the big decisions for Gatland and his coaching staff – Farrell and Sexton or Farrell and Te’o?
We were of a mind, after Farrell and Johnny Sexton teamed up so well against Crusaders, that Gatland would go with a dynamic 10/12 axis. Both men are mentally strong and have starred as playmakers for Ireland and England in respective 10 and 12 jerseys.
The Lions may well have given the pair a run-out against the Maori All Blacks but Farrell’s minor calf strain nixed that notion. Both Sexton and Ben Te’o did well in that game but Farrell is likely to get the 10 jersey if Gatland opts for something closer to his one-out runner game-plan he so often favours.
Te’o has provided the most line breaks and offloads for the Lions and is playing with confidence.
0 – No player has recorded more breaks (8), offloads (4), or defenders beaten (10) than Ben Te'o on this year's @lionsofficial tour. Threat. pic.twitter.com/SPkiLr8q0Z
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) June 16, 2017
That would leave Sexton in reserve and, even if he were to come on, Farrell may be dropped back to inside centre to provide the All Blacks with a different offensive threat.
PREDICTION: Farrell to wear No.10.
That leaves the final decision and it is by no means a minor one. It is also one that may have been pre-empted by murmurings close to the Lions camp.
Peter O’Mahony or Sam Warburton?
There have been reports from New Zealand – primarily based on ‘more than comfortable’ comments from defence coach Andy Farrell – that O’Mahony will lead the Lions from the blindside position.
O’Mahony has been immense in his two starts on tour and led the Lions superbly well against the Maori. He has been a breakdown nuisance, has shown soft hands in attack, done excellently at lineout time and has not backed down from his hosts, taking them on one or three at a time.
The latest from New Zealand is that Warburton is carrying an ankle injury. While most of the squad are coping with knocks of some form or another, after such a long season, it is clear that the Welshman has not looked 100% in all his outings to date.
PREDICTION: Captain O’Mahony to start at blindside.
All will become clear at 8pm on Wednesday [7am NZ time] when the Lions squad is named.
Funnily enough, were Gatland to go with O’Mahony and Farrell, it would mean that only four players in the Lions Text XV – Tadhg Furlong, Conor Murray, Farrell and Mako Vunipola – will have beaten New Zealand in a Test match.
OUR LIONS PREDICTION*
*We originally selected Liam Williams on the left wing but we have changed our predicted team since Williams played the full 80 minutes against Chiefs.
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