Dreadful news for Scotland but Tadhg Furlong is a virtual Lions shoe-in

Tadhg Furlong was Ireland's back-up to Mike Ross as recently as June 2016. Now he is top dog and hardly anyone spares a moment's thought about it.

Ireland tend to flog their tight-heads. John Hayes played 105 times for Ireland over 11 years and Ross lined out 61 times in seven after taking up the mantle from the Munster prop. Furlong is the new owner of the No.3 jersey and the entire nation is getting carried away with the lad [us included]. The 24-year-old has played 11 times for Ireland in 18 months but only has four starts to his name. Those starts were pretty damn impressive, however. He was our best player in the heart-wrenching Johannesburg loss to South Africa, had a stormer against New Zealand in Chicago, matched that performance in the Aviva Stadium a fortnight later and showed the Australians what he was all about as Ireland's year ended with a victory. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/800309650503696384 It was after that 27-24 win over the Wallabies that Furlong expertly dealt with his first question about making the British & Irish Lions squad. He commented:

"It's kind of daunting in a way, to be honest with you. Because you know, in a way, that 'Jeez, my scrum wasn't great there' or 'My entry wasn't great and if I do this against a really great scrummaging pack, I'm going to be torn apart here'. "That is your thought process. And, with people throwing that out, you get kind of embarrassed. "You know the Lions is synonymous with such a big brand and so many great players have played there. Do I see myself there at the minute? No. I think I have a long journey to go and, as I said, I've only started four games for Ireland, two Heineken Cup games for Leinster and it is a big, big step to be making those shouts."

Since that game, talk about Furlong has steadily grown. He has been excellent for Leinster in the Champions Cup and was man of the match in an away win over Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens. The toughest time he has endured this season was against a revved up Munster at Thomond Park. It was no surprise, then, to hear Lions head coach Warren Gatland name-check him as one of three Irish players to watch. https://www.instagram.com/p/BPffEhFDSUv/?taken-by=sportsjoedotie Furlong's case has been strengthened further by the unfortunate injury that befall previous Lions tighthead frontrunner Willem Nel. The South African born prop has done a fine job for Scotland since becomin internationally qualified but injured his neck in a Challenge Cup game against Harlequins last week. A Scottish Rugby statement reads:

'An MRI scan on Wednesday Spire Murrayfield Hospital revealed that the tight-head prop damaged an intervertebral disc in his neck during a significant collision at the Twickenham Stoop. 'Nel will now have a second specialist assessment on January 23 to consider his programme of recovery, including whether corrective surgery is required.'

Nel is out for the entirety of the Six Nations championship - the absolute shop window for Lions hopefuls - and he may be out for longer than that. Dan Coles is now Furlong's main rival for that red No.3 jersey so, for these two men, Ireland versus England in Dublin, this March, is more important than ever.