It's the end of the Six Nations 18 months out from a Lions tour, and that means that the endless amounts of Lions XVs or Lions squads are about to come your way.
The best part about the Lions tours is that it gives fans a chance to shout, argue, debate, or ridicule others about their selections - see 2013 when Irish fans were none too pleased with the number of Welsh in the third test team.
I thought we'd kick things off by comparing how many Irish players I'd put in a Lions test team compared to our opponents in the final Six Nations game - Scotland.
I think that Scotland would have more players in the XV than Ireland - but it's close. Scotland are a young improving team. Vern Cotter is playing the young players and they are rewarding him with some wonderful rugby. The likes of Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray are shoe-ins for a Lions XV. Do Ireland have any shoe-ins after Conor Murray?
In my team, I have WP Nel and Mark Bennett joining Hogg and Gray in the team as the Scottish players - with Rory Best and Peter O'Mahony joining Conor Murray. Perhaps I've gone against Irish players in some 50/50 calls - I plucked for Wales' Rob Evans over Jack McGrath in a tight call - Maro Itoje over Iain Henderson - and Dan Biggar over Johnny Sexton (on current form). Robbie Henshaw was probably unlucky too.
That doesn't mean that Scotland didn't have their fair share of contenders - Dickinson, John Hardie, Josh Strauss, Greig Laidlaw should all be in the squad and in contention. Tommy Seymour, Tim Visser, Richie Gray Alex Dunbar, and Finn Russell have a change to make the squad too.
The Way Too Early Lions XV:
1. Rob Evans (Wales)
2. Rory Best (Ireland)
3. WP Nel (Scotland)
4. Maro Itoje (England)
5. Jonny Gray (Scotland)
6. Peter O'Mahony (Ireland)
7. Sam Warburton (Wales)
8. Billy Vunipola (England)
9. Conor Murray (Ireland)
10. Dan Biggar (Wales)
11. George North (Wales)
12. Jamie Roberts (Wales)
13. Mark Bennett (Scotland)
14. Anthony Watson (England)
15. Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
See Also: 8 Figures You Might Recall From The Forgotten Era When Scotland Were Good At Rugby
Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
