Ronan O'Gara was on punditry duty for Sky Sports after the Lions' win over the Sharks on Saturday, and he cast doubt on Robbie Henshaw's place in the starting XV for the test series against the Springboks.
When the Lions squad was announced, Henshaw was almost a dead cert to start in the tests against South Africa, after an excellent season for Leinster was coupled with a top quality Six Nations.
But his tour has been thrown into jeopardy by a hamstring injury picked up before the game against the Sharks. O'Gara, who played on the last Lions tour to South Africa, thinks that his injury - coupled with his lack of a natural centre partner - throws his place in the squad into doubt.
I think the big challenge at the minute is who you play at 13. I don't see a striking candidate - the fact that Robbie Henshaw probably would have been favoured until he got a hamstring injury, which creates a cloud over him. Then also in the back of my mind, when he plays with Ringrose with Ireland, Ringrose plays 13.
I like the combination of Bundee Aki at 12 and Henshaw at 13, but there are so many options with the quality of players you have here on this tour. For me, that's the big missing piece of the jigsaw at the minute.
Henshaw appears to be back in contention for the midweek game against South Africa A, but he faces some stiff opposition for the centre spots from the likes of Owen Farrell, Chris Harris and Elliot Daly.
Robbie Henshaw is telling Warren Gatland he's ready to go now, he could play on Weds or next Saturday
— Rúaidhrí O'Connor (@RuaidhriOC) July 9, 2021
Nonetheless, it would be a huge surprise if Henshaw was left out of the starting XV for the Lions. The season he has had has put him in almost untouchable territory, and the clamour to get him back from injury speaks volumes of his ability.
O'Gara went on to detail what he would be looking for from his 13 in the tests against South Africa.
The way teams defend at the minute, the 13 and the openside winger are just as important as your halfbacks. If you play 13 in the frontline, it takes a smart, intelligent winger to really cut out what the opposition attack are doing. Going back five years ago and further to the previous years, the winger stayed in the backfield a lot.
Nowadays, the winger is so important because he has to be brave to leave two, three attackers on the outside, it takes an awful lot of football to do that. His eyes and ears are his 13, and you wouldn't want to be doing that with players at that level for the first time - that's where you need to have a look at different combinations, but I don't have the solution for you at the minute.
Irish fans will be hoping O'Gara is wrong about Robbie Henshaw, and that the Mullingar man will be lining out in the first Lions test on July 24th - especially if it's alongside fellow Irishman Bundee Aki.
SEE ALSO: Ronan O'Gara Is "Unbelievably Excited" By The Latest Lions Call-Up
