Warren Gatland

By Gary Watton
April 30 2013

Okay, so the months and weeks of tedious speculation is mercifully over and Warren Gatland has revealed his 37-man squad that will go into rugby battle with our dear friends in Australia. Let me summarise Gatland's choice and omission of various Irish 'candidates'.

For the record, nine Irish players have been summoned for this booze cruise Down Under, six from Leinster, two from Munster (Conor Murray and Paul O'Connell), and one paltry representative from Ulster, the experienced finisher Tommy Bowe.

The Leinster picks predictably are Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney, Sean O'Brien, Brian O'Driscoll, and Jonathan Sexton.

One sobering thought for the likes of Keith Earls and Luke Fitzgerald is that they were selected for the last Lions tour but not this one. They have either deteriorated or been overtaken this time by more suitable candidates. Answers on  a postcard! Meanwhile sicknote Stephen Ferris misses out through injury.

In my semi-humble opinion, Conor Murray is fortunate to get the proverbial nod ahead of Greig Laidlaw, whilst a couple of rampaging performances in recent weeks by Jamie Heaslip may have persuaded the selectors to give him the benefit of the doubt over the formidable Ben Morgan.

Is Rory Best hard done to? Well, it's a bit of a kick in the teeth when three hookers have been chosen, and our Rory did not even make this short list when he was being touted as the first-choice hooker not so long ago!

Munster's Peter O'Mahony, Donnacha Ryan, and especially Simon Zebo can consider themselves unfortunate to be omitted. The one consolation is that if previous Lions tours are anything to go by, then there will be a revolving door catering for injuries and replacements. Those individuals currently feeling aggrieved at being left out in the cold at the moment could easily find themselves welcomed into the warmth before June has run her thirty-day course.

Finally, even allowing for their below par Pro12 campaign, are Munster not entitled to feel snubbed when the province has only earned two Lions call-ups a mere three days after the team had run Clermont Auvergne close in the Heineken Cup semi-finals? Similarly, it must be equally galling for Ulster when this province has less players in the touring party than Cardiff Blues, the Ospreys, and the Scarlets. One is left with the apparent conclusion that club rugby is deemed of little or no consequence to the selection of Lions tours and that the Six Nations remains the major (and slightly distorting) barometer of Lions potential.