Seven Irish inclusions in our Lions team to start the First Test against the Wallabies, Down Under, with two more on the replacements bench.
Andy Farrell, in his role as British & Irish Lions head coach, was at the Principality Stadium, in Cardiff, on Six Nations 'Super Saturday'. Farrell, currently on a sabbatical from his coaching gig with Ireland, was paying close attention as England ran up a record away win over Wales.
Farrell was reported to be glued to the television screen, before that match, as he closely followed Ireland's narrow win over Italy, over in Rome. Last weekend, he was at Murrayfield to see Scotland beat Wales in a high-scoring affair.
The 49-year-old is set to announce the final members of his Lions coaching and backroom staff, in the coming weeks. Then, on May 8 at a live event in London, he will confirm his British & Irish Lions squad to tour Australia, this summer.
Assuming Farrell goes with a squad of 37 players, as Warren Gatland did in 2021, we would expect there to be around a dozen selections, apiece, for Ireland and England. Scotland will be hoping for selections in the double figures, while the best Wales could possibly get - amid their long losing skid - is a handful.
When it comes to the Lions team for the First Test against the Wallabies, in July, a lot of water will gush through the sluices before that. However, going off the Six Nations championship, November internationals and last summer's tours, we have selected a strong Lions XV.
Andy Farrell takes over the head coach role of the Lions team from Warren Gatland, who led the Lions in 2013, 2017 and 2021. (Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile)
Selecting our Lions team for the First Test
What we are looking at here, for our starting Lions team and the replacements bench, is form, pedigree and combinations. We can be argued out of certain selections, and others are borderline calls, but we believe this is a very strong match-day 23.
After much debate and scribbling names in and out, the final Lions team make-up is: Ireland 7, England 5, Scotland 3. Our pack is a mix of English and Irish, with three Scotland players in the backline.
Our front row has Andrew Porter and Dan Sheehan packing down with the Six Nations' best tighthead, Will Stuart. The idea of pairing up Tadhg Beirne and Maro Itoje in the second row is enticing, and we have gone for two of the England scrappers, Tom Curry and Ben Earl as starting flankers, with Caelan Doris at No.8.
Pairing up Jamison Gibson-Park with Finn Russell offers the best chance of attacking fire-works. Russell is a bit of a maverick and puts a lot of the attacking impetus on his shoulders, but Gibson-Park will take some of that load from him, while providing plenty threat of his own.
Though he missed the Six Nations with injury, reuniting Sione Tuipulotu with Huw Jones looks a safe bet, while two of the back three are Ireland players - Hugo Keenan and James Lowe with a guy who hit form at the right time, Tommy Freeman.
Again, we've look at combinations on the bench, so Ellis Genge and Jamie George are there, as well as England 9/10, Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith. Tadhg Furlong will be pressing to start, if he can stay fit, while Jack Conan has proved a big bench impact player.
OUR LIONS FIRST TEST XV
15. Hugo Keenan (Ireland)
14. Tommy Freeman (England)
13. Huw Jones (Scotland)
12. Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland)
11. James Lowe (Ireland)
10. Finn Russell (Scotland)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland)1. Andrew Porter (Ireland)
2. Dan Sheehan (Ireland)
3. Will Stuart (England)
4. Maro Itoje (England) captain
5. Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)
6. Tom Curry (England)
7. Ben Earl (England)
8. Caelan Doris (Ireland)
REPLACEMENTS: Jamie George (England), Ellis Genge (England), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Ollie Chessum (England), Jack Conan (Ireland), Alex Mitchell (England), Fin Smith (England), Blair Kinghorn (Scotland)
There are just under eight weeks to gio before that British & Irish Lions squad will be announced.
Andy Farrell and the coaches he already has in place will be already debating squad calls, but it is likely that he will already have settled on 30 names to take with him, Down Under.
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