LIONS TOUR NEWS ROUND-UP:LIONS COACH Ian McGeechan will today announce the Lions team for Saturday's game against the Royal XV in Rustenburg but the Scot is also likely to have decided on the composition of his side for the second match of the tour against the Golden Lions in Johannesburg next Wednesday.
He’s already stated he’ll give all 36 players the opportunity to lay down a marker for a Test place, accommodating that intention in the first three matches. The Rustenburg match pits the Lions against potentially the weakest opposition they’ll face; a Royal XV comprising Vodacom Cup (second tier) players. It won’t be easy, just potentially easier than the rest of the five matches ahead of the first Test.
The Lions management confirmed Brian O’Driscoll, Tom Croft, Gethin Jenkins, Nathan Hines and Ugo Monye wouldn’t be togging out on Saturday while it is understood Heineken Cup winners Luke Fitzgerald and Jamie Heaslip, and European Challenge Cup winning prop Euan Murray (Northampton) are unlikely to play. Paul O’Connell is expected to captain the side in the first match of the tour.
There are a number of players who would appreciate the match practice, Welsh fullback Lee Byrne, who has played just one game for the Ospreys since suffering an injury against Ireland in the final game of the Six Nations in March, Andy Powell, largely bench-ridden for the latter part of the season behind Xavier Rush at Cardiff, and Leicester Tigers and England scrumhalf Harry Ellis, who has suffered a similar fate behind Julien Dupuy.
Ireland’s Rob Kearney would also fall into that category after a bout of mumps curtailed his end-of-season appearances. McGeechan may choose to play Byrne (fullback) and Kearney (wing) but will probably go for one or the other in the number 15 jersey.
There are plenty of options in the three-quarter line, even without Monye, O’Driscoll and Fitzgerald. It would appear a perfect opportunity to blood Munster’s Keith Earls, on the wing or possibly at centre in partnership with Riki Flutey. If Byrne is chosen at fullback then McGeechan may opt for an Ospreys back three with Ireland’s Tommy Bowe and Shane Williams on the wings.
The late call-up to the squad of James Hook and Mike Blair guarantees several permutations at half-back. The Welsh axis of Stephen Jones and Mike Phillips might not play until the Wednesday with the result Blair or Ellis could partner Ronan O’Gara.
England’s Andrew Sheridan and Lee Mears could be two thirds of the frontrow with either Phil Vickery – he could potentially captain the team against the Golden Lions if O’Driscoll didn’t play that one either – or Welshman Adam Jones.
O’Connell’s secondrow partner will come from compatriot Donncha O’Callaghan, Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales) or England’s Simon Shaw. The latter jumps at two in the lineout and would allow a similar two-four combination of O’Callaghan and Jones to start the midweek game.
Heaslip and Croft won’t be considered for backrow duty so McGeechan might be tempted to play Cardiff duo Powell and Martyn Williams alongside either Stephen Ferris or Joe Worsley.
ROYAL XV: R Jeacocks; E Seconds, D van Rensburg, H Coetzee, B Basson; N Olivier, S Pretorius; A Buckle, R Barnes, B Roux; R Mathee, J Lombard; W Koch (capt), D Raubenheimer, J Mokuenga.
