Warren Gatland names his official 2021 British and Irish Lions squad
Warren Gatland has unveiled his 2021 Lions pick for their tour to South Africa, choosing 11 English players, 10 Welsh, 8 Irish and 8 Scottish in a selection that will be skippered by Alun Wyn Jones of Wales, the most capped Test rugby player of all time, who found out on Sunday that he would be getting the role.
Following months of speculation, Gatland finally whittled down his options to 37, one player more than the anticipated 36, to take on the Springboks in July and his party will include a bolter in the guise of England’s Sam Simmonds, who has been unwanted by Eddie Jones for quite some time. Last October’s double-winning Exeter No8 was last capped in March 2018.
Recent Six Nations title winners Wales will surely be bemused by how they were not the dominant country in the four-nation selection, their ten picks eclipsed by England who finished fifth in the championship. The dominant country every four years had tended to be the team that won that particular year’s championship.
For the 2017 trip to New Zealand, a year when England had retained their Six Nations title, 41 players were originally chosen to tour and the breakdown of that squad was 16 England, 12 Wales, 11 Ireland, 2 Scotland. Four years prior to that, when Wales were back-to-back Six Nations championship, the initial 37-man squad was made up of 15 Wales, 10 England, 9 Ireland, 3 Scotland.
Sixteen different clubs were recognised in the 2021 squad with Saracens emerging as the team with the biggest representation in garnering 5 picks to 4 each for Exeter, Leinster and Scarlets. Edinburgh had 3, Northampton, Gloucester, Munster, Glasgow, Bath and Ospreys 2 apiece, while Cardiff, Connacht, Racing, Sale and Ulster had 1 player each included.
This will be special?? ? https://t.co/pofXFObBej
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 4, 2021
“It was stressful,” said Gatland about his latest Lions squad selection. “In all my time in coaching this was the hardest, most challenging squad that I have ever been involved in to pick because it is trying to get a balance and understanding what that is.
“We have seen so many different squads by people and at the end of the day selection is just a matter of opinion and we have got to try and do the best job we can as coaches to put the right squad together that we think can go down there and win a series.
“It hasn’t been an easy decision. We had a meeting yesterday [Wednesday], it was about four hours and we looked at all our options and we added an extra name. The squad was initially going to be 36 but we have gone to 37 just to try and cover all our bases.
“It was really, really tough and I just need to assure people no decision was taken lightly. It was really thoroughly discussed a lot of the positions and the options trying to get that balance right… some really tough calls.”
Positional flexibility will be important in South Africa. Gatland mentioned how tighthead Andrew Porter can provide cover at loosehead and while Tadhg Beirne and Courtney Lawes were officially listed as second rows, Owen Farrell as out-half and Elliot Daly as a centre in the announcement, their ability to play elsewhere is viewed as invaluable by management.
While the 37 players named below will be thrilled with their selection, especially Irish duo Bundee Aki and Jack Conan who had featured in little or none of the pre-selection speculation, there were some big-name casualties including Kyle Sinckler, James Ryan, Billy Vunipola, Sam Underhill, Johnny Sexton, Henry Slade, Jonny May, Jonathan Davies and Manu Tuilagi.
2021 LIONS SQUAD FOR SOUTH AFRICA (37)
LOOSEHEAD (3): Wyn Jones (Wales/Scarlets), Rory Sutherland (Scotland/Edinburgh), Mako Vunipola (England/Saracens);
HOOKER (3): Luke Cowan-Dickie (England/Exeter), Jamie George (England/Saracens), Ken Owens (Wales/Scarlets);
TIGHTHEAD (3): Zander Fagerson (Scotland/Glasgow), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland/Leinster), Andrew Porter (Ireland/Leinster);
SECOND ROW (6): Tadhg Beirne (Ireland/Munster), Iain Henderson (Ireland/Ulster), Jonny Hill (Exeter), Maro Itoje (England/Saracens), Courtney Lawes (England/Northampton), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales/Ospreys);
BACK ROW (6): Jack Conan (Ireland/Leinster), Tom Curry (England/Sale), Sam Simmonds (England/Exeter), Justin Tipuric (Wales/Ospreys), Hamish Watson (Scotland/Edinburgh), Taulupe Faletau (Wales/Bath);
SCRUM-HALF (3): Gareth Davies (Wales/Scarlets), Conor Murray (Ireland/Munster), Ali Price (Scotland/Glasgow);
OUT-HALF (3): Dan Biggar (Wales/Northampton), Owen Farrell (England/Saracens), Finn Russell (Scotland/Racing);
CENTRE (4): Bundee Aki (Ireland/Connacht), Elliot Daly (England/Saracens), Chris Harris (Scotland/Gloucester), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland/Leinster);
WING (4): Josh Adams (Wales/Cardiff), Louis Rees-Zammit (Wales/Gloucester), Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland/Edinburgh), Anthony Watson (England/Bath);
FULL-BACK (2): Stuart Hogg (Scotland/Exeter), Liam Williams (Wales/Scarlets).
"He has almost gone into that sort of Martin Johnson aura of his leadership"#LionsRugby #Lions2021 https://t.co/Y3blQhxvfz
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 6, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Always reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
1 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
2 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
4 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
4 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
2 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
4 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
7 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to comments