There might have been something slightly dismissive in the Sydney Morning Herald's description of the recently announced British & Irish Lions squad as 'slabs of red meat' but let’s be honest, what other option did Warren Gatland have?
As the Kiwi, just the second ‘foreign’ coach to be given the honour of leading a Lions tour party, surveyed his options during the last eight months he would hardly have been overwhelmed by the number of mercurial footballers with whom he can take on and beat the Australians at their own game.
Rugby’s perceived wisdom has been that the Wallabies don’t like it up ’em and that the best way to skin one is to first club it over the head. Once that has been done it is then advisable to club it over the head once more and then for a third time just for good measure. Repeat steps one to three as necessary.
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All the pre-tour talk of taking them on with pace and power is merely obfuscation. What the Lions most need is power and that, with the possible exception of ickle Stuart Hogg, is what Gatland has chosen. Tiny Tommy Bowe, a mere 6ft 3ins and 15st, is the next smallest back three player to have made the cut.
But don’t let’s make the mistake of assuming the sport’s perceived wisdom is always right. Australia have spent most of the last two decades playing around ten matches a season against the might of New Zealand and South Africa.
Indeed with the inclusion of Argentina in the Rugby Championship, the Aussies now face more power rugby than ever before, so we must not fall into the trap of thinking they’ll be surprised by the size and shape of Gatland’s squad.
No one at the ARU headquarters will have woken up on Tuesday morning and thought ‘Strewth, mate, can you believe those Lions are coming to push us around?’
And that won’t hold any fears for them either, they certainly looked more than comfortable with England’s straight-forward game at Twickenham in the autumn and we shouldn’t forget they beat the Springboks in Perth last September and ended the All Blacks’ winning streak a month later. Their knees don’t turn to jelly just because someone runs at them hard.
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But similarly Gatland will have noted what France did to them in Paris in November, when they physically embarrassed Robbie Deans’ men in a 33-6 thrashing – and he will also note the Pumas had joy up front in both Test matches last year.
Sucking the Wallabies into a bunfight is the obvious thing to try and do and Gatland would have been certifiable had his selections not covered that base first, which is why the roaming skills of Mako Vunipola and Matt Stevens might just be inspired choices.
But as ever against Australia, the outcome of the three-match Test series will be decided on the floor, where George Smith has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance and where Michael Hooper reigned supreme at Twickenham.
Even with the talismanic David Pocock out injured head coach Deans will be able to call on Smith, Hooper and 20-year-old Queensland Reds breakaway Liam Gill to strangle the tourists at source.
The Lions have to be able to deal with that and no-one can convince me Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric aren’t the opensides most capable of doing so, particularly as Chris Robshaw’s form seems to have tailed off. Indeed Gatland’s concern about the breakdown is clearly manifested in his decision to risk Dan Lydiate, the Wales flanker who has barely played this season. It also virtually guarantees Brian O’Driscoll’s fourth Lions tour will not be an honorific procession. The redoubtable Irishman will go to play hard and play often and his unique ability over the ball in wide channels will be as much concern to Australia, as Hooper and Smith’s is to the Lions closer in.
Which is why Gatland must not be tempted into playing the Leinster superstar at inside centre – and probably why he should have taken another specialist No.12.
As things stand the weakest point of the Lions squad looks to be there – where only the form and fitness of Jamie Roberts stands between Plan A and a complete, incredibly disruptive rethink.
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The Cardiff midfielder is the one player the Lions cannot afford to lose because without him the whole edifice starts to crumble.
That’s why I’d have like to have seen Scotland’s Matt Scott taken as a cross between a bolter and an insurance policy.
Above all Gatland must resist the temptation to play the ultra-direct Manu Tuilagi at 12, that is unless the IRB changes its laws and allows his team-mates to take a crow-bar with them onto the pitch. Assuming that will not be the case, Tuilagi’s ball-hogging would do as much to stifle the Lions as Smith’s and Hooper’s.
It would also negate O’Driscoll’s panoramic vision, his peerless off-loading skills and the threat of George North and Alex Cuthbert who must surely be pencilled in to start the first Test.
That’s where Gatland’s preference for power really could pay dividends. North is devastating both off his wing and out wide and one only has to remember Cuthbert’s finishing against England to understand his potential. The Welsh wingers, after all, are the Lions’ biggest slabs of red meat, ones that could be just too big for the Wallabies to stomach.
Five lucky Lions
* Connor Murray (Ireland) – Supremely unimpressive for Ireland in the Six Nations but saved himself by out-playing Danny Care in Munster’s Heineken Cup win over Harlequins.
* Dan Lydiate (Wales) – Has not played international rugby since June 2012 – when Wales lost three times in Australia – and by the time he gets on the plane will have managed just half-a-dozen club matches.
* Jamie Heaslip (Ireland) – Another to underperform in the Six Nations when he played like Samson – post haircut.
* Mako Vunipola (England) – spectacularly good carrying the ball off the bench but would his scrummaging, so ruthlessly exposed by Adam Jones in Cardiff, have been good enough to take him on a Lions tour to New Zealand or South Africa?
* Richie Gray (Scotland) – Such an anti-climactic Six Nations and Premiership season, this selection is based on reputation rather than form. Wasted season.
Five unlucky Lions
* Tom Wood (England) – Seems to have paid for England’s misguided decision to finish the Six Nations with him at No. 8. Surely he has to be a safer option than the undercooked Lydiate.
* Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) – Widely regarded as Scotland’s player of the Six Nations, can play scrum-half and fly-half and is a superb place-kicker. Perfect selection for squad flexibility.
* James Hook (Wales) – Another option at ten but brings versatility, place-kicking and an X-Factor to unlock defences. Perhaps playing in France counted against him.
* Andrew Sheridan (England) – Name a better scrummaging loosehead in the northern hemisphere.
* Ryan Jones (Wales) – So adapatable and dependable in the back five. Ideal tourist.