Neil Francis Is At It Again With This Ridiculous British & Irish Lions XV

kearnlions

Surely he’s having a laugh here?

Neil Francis is the latest pundit to have a go at naming a Lions XV to take on the All Blacks next summer. The controversial sports writer has been known to divide opinion and he’s certainly living up to his reputation with this one.

He actually starts off ok with a decent front five, but as much as we’d love to see it happen, the chances of four out of the five of them being Irish is slim. McGrath is a good choice and leads the way at loosehead, Rory Best has proven he’s a better option at hooker than Hartley as things stand and there’s no denying Furlong is the in-form tighthead, but chance’s are Gatland won’t go with an all-Irish front-row, even if it may be the best option.

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In the second-row, there’s no denying Itoje should start but Henderson faces some stiff competition for the other lock berth. It’s after the front-five however, where things get messy. Francis claims this side is based on current form yet for some reason he has Warburton at seven. Sean O’Brien may be doing a job for Leinster at six at the moment, but he’s a seven and you cannot seem him getting the blindside role in a test game for the Lions.

Vunipola is a good choice at eight, but it will all depend on him regaining his form when he returns from his injury. In the halfback pairing there’s no denying Murray should start at nine, but how can you pick Sexton with his current injury problems? Especially when he claims this is a side based on current form.

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It’s hard to argue with his centre partnership but his back three in our opinion is ridiculous. North’s career is currently on hold as a result of his latest concussion, Hogg is a bloody fullback and Rob Kearney at 15?

Come on Neil, you’re just trolling now at this stage.

franno

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