Fine team is the general opinion

Lions tour: The other end of the world watched with keen interest on Monday morning. As reaction began to filter through yesterday, Jonny Wilkinson's provisional omission made the obvious headlines in New Zealand's daily papers.

"Where's Jonny," asked the Waikato Times, while Mark Hewitt in the New Zealand Herald criticised the open-ended selection policy and two absentees in particular.

"The British and Irish Lions cannot quite bring themselves to give up on Jonny Wilkinson, which is possibly a mistake. They have certainly given up on Mark Cueto and Jason White, which is definitely an error."

But it was All Blacks coach Graham Henry who kicked off the mind games two months ahead of the tour opener against Bay of Plenty on June 4th.

The former Welsh and Lions coach sighted the inclusion of the four English players who have not established themselves, Matt Stevens, Andy Sheridan, Andy Titterrell and Ollie Smith, as a potential recipe for disharmony.

"Maybe the Celts are feeling a wee bit disappointed they didn't get a few more in," said Henry.

"There might be a bit of tension there but generally they're a fine team. Stevens, Sheridan, Smith and Titterrell were players I didn't expect to be selected."

He mixed his signals slightly though by stating Jonny Wilkinson is "virtually in the team now if he can play the next six club games" while in another breath said Stephen Jones would be the favourite by a "considerable margin" to claim the Test number 10 shirt.

New Zealand's legendary first five eight - Kiwi-speak for outhalf - Grant Fox disagreed with Henry's prediction of fallout and saw the logic behind naming such large squad.

"If you go back a number of years, in the last two Lions tours, the team really struggled midweek and that I think affected the morale of the party and Clive is making sure the morale remains high throughout on this tour.

"He's targeting the midweek games as much as the weekend games. Ultimately they'll be judged on Test matches as every tour has been.

"But I think bringing the four nations together and keeping the harmony is really important for a tour like this."

One of the most feted All Blacks of all time, Sean Fitzpatrick, echoed these sentiments and even outlined the lack of depth in New Zealand.

"Considering the sheer numbers and the talent available, I'm sure Graham Henry will be looking at it and envying it. Take lock as an example, certainly any of those five locks will be really capable of starting in the Test 15.

"Then you look at the options New Zealand has available at the moment. I'm sure there are a few concerns there. If Chris Jack (the leading Test lock) is tipped over, touchwood he isn't, we could be in trouble. For that matter if a few key players are injured and out of the 22 or starting 15 we'd have a few worries."

Clive Woodward's inclusion of nine of those who started the World Cup final almost two years ago was noted by the Herald, who criticised selecting several elder statesmen like Lawrence Dallaglio and Neil Back.

Also, an old and, more recently, an unfounded slight was thrown at the selection of John Hayes: "Vickery's busted arm has allowed Munster's John Hayes to rumble up on the rails. Hayes can consider himself fortunate, for he is nobody's idea of a top-rank scrummager," added the Herald.

The gaff that saw Gordon D'Arcy left out of the official squad when it was first released on the official Lions website was also noticed in the Southern Hemisphere.

One man to escape without a shred of disparagement was Brian O'Driscoll.

Even Henry gushed with enthusiasm at the choice of leader: "I think he's the ideal person to be the captain of their side. He's respected by players. He's respected by world rugby. He will do a great job."