McGeechan proves keen follower of formbook

THE SENSE of anticipation was fairly acute as Lions manager Gerald Davies eventually ended months of speculation in the Heathrow Sofitel hotel at lunchtime yesterday. By then, a hitherto relatively quiet rumour mill had gone into overdrive, and most of them were proving correct.

What might have been deemed surprise call-ups were mostly Irish, although a few Limerick bookies had already been stung by the bets placed on one of the tour’s bolters, Keith Earls, whereas the real surprise was Alan Quinlan in a record Irish representation of 14. This was followed by 13 from Wales, eight from England and, somewhat sadly, only two from Scotland – tighthead Euan Murray and lock Nathan Hines.

What became abundantly evident as the Lions management completed their rounds of interviews was that several selections went right down to the wire, with many only securing their place on the plane to South Africa since the completion of the Six Nations. In this respect, Munster and Cardiff players were perhaps the prime beneficiaries, with the free-falling Ospreys perhaps the main victims.

“We’ve tried to be as objective as possible,” said McGeechan, who certainly couldn’t be accused of favouring his own nationality, whatever about including five from his club Wasps. “Naturally there were some tough decisions and there will be disappointed players but I am confident that this is a very strong and capable squad. Its composition reflects the form shown in the Six Nations and domestic rugby and has a balanced blend of experience and youth.”

Inevitably, there were also some high-profile omissions, and in what may constitute a first, amongst those were three international skippers – Ryan Jones, Mike Blair and Steve Borthwick. It would have been hard to ignore the fourth, Brian O’Driscoll, although despite leading Ireland to their first Grand Slam in 61 years he missed out on the chance of emulating Martin Johnson as the only two-time captain of the Lions to his national lieutenant Paul O’Connell. From an Irish perspective, it is the red-letter day to end all Lions squad announcements.

O’Connell follows such legends as Willie John McBride, Bill Beaumont and Johnson, not to mention Tom Kiernan, Ronnie Dawson, Ciarán Fitzgerald and O’Driscoll. Curiously, it is the fourth tour in succession to South Africa where a lock has been chosen to captain the Lions, and the sixth time in nine tours of the country since 1924. The captaincy fits him.

He also played down any hint of a rift with Warren Gatland, O’Connell having retorted to the Welsh coach’s pre-match mind games before the Wales-Ireland Six Nations decider by afterwards comparing him to Jose Mourinho. “We’ve already had a laugh about it and a good few chats. I think he’s a serious coach and hopefully we’ll work well together.”

Gatland, somewhat hoarse after a weekend operation to replace a nerve near his voicebox, made the valid point that O’Connell faces a challenge not only as a captain but also a player. “To be selected as captain is fantastic but he needs to go and perform, and I think he knows and is up for that challenge as well. He went to New Zealand in 2005 with a big reputation and came away from it with a lot of criticism from the local press. So I think for Paul it’s not just about the captaincy, he really wants to perform well as a player, and I’m sure four years on you’re going to see the best out of Paul O’Connell.”

Of Earls’ selection, McGeechan said: “Keith Earls came on the radar early on and had a cracking start to the season at fullback. We just kept an eye on him and I think he’s come back strongly as well. He gives us something as an option, not just at fullback, but outside centre as well and these are the selections that may just give an extra edge or make a difference.”

As with Ugo Monye and Leigh Halfpenny, the Springboks may know relatively little about Earls, while McGeechan ventured that Quinlan “is somebody who will have quite an impact on the character of the squad as it evolves”.

Backs coach Rob Howley talked of Tomás O’Leary’s form, his combination with Ronan O’Gara and how “he has matured over the last 12 months after biding his time behind Peter Stringer”. The latter’s crisp passing was strongly considered and, apparently, has pushed him high up the standby list.

There are, of course, many hard luck stories, and aside from the Welsh and Scottish captains, most of those would appear to be English.

Gatland admitted that Tom Croft, after a fine campaign in the English backrow, was perhaps the unluckiest of all, and Delon Armitage and Mark Cueto wouldn’t have been far behind.

Leigh Halfpenny, who at 20 is the youngest member of the squad, probably played himself in with his two-try scoring performance in Cardiff’s rout of Gloucester in Saturday’s EDF Cup final, and his goalkicking ability was probably a significant string to his bow given the decision to pick only two outhalves.

Although some of the English exclusions are partly balanced by the inclusion of Simon Shaw, at 35 the oldest in the squad, the net result is this is England’s smallest representation since only five were picked for the 1977 tour to New Zealand.

One of those is Riki Flutey, who will become the 11th “overseas” Lions and is also set to become the first man to play against the Lions (for the Maoris) and for them.

There will be a week’s high altitude training in the Spanish mountains in Granada in late April for those not fighting for the major end-of-season prizes, but a sizeable contingent may have to miss the last week’s preparation in England before the squad departs the day after the Heineken Cup final on May 23rd in Edinburgh.

“The biggest single problem will be the lack of preparation time,” conceded McGeechan. “And we could have 14 players involved in the Heineken Cup final the day before we travel,” he added, in light of the possibility of Munster and Cardiff meeting in the final.

This in turn meant they “would have to keep things fairly simple in the first few weeks”. It is also because of this that, ultimately, they opted to name 37 players rather than the stated preference of 35 or 36.