Too many cooks will spoil Lions wrath

LET us talk of Lions.

We are less than five months away from the Lions tour to New Zealand and the prospects of a series victory do not look good.

The Lions will arrive in New Zealand after a gruelling season, while the timing of the Tests at the end of June and start of July mean that the All Blacks should be peaking at just the right time.

The Kiwis also look to have the edge in the coaching department.

Henry, Hansen and Smith are astute men, who understand European rugby and how it can be bested, while the Lions supremo Clive Woodward does not inspire confidence.

He is fine at the flashy stuff, sending out colourful wristbands to the players, using catchy phrases like “the power of 4” and querying the decision to use neutral refs in the Tests, all mere window-dressing and not crucial to victory.

But it’s his capacity for overkill that never ceases to amaze and could prove costly.

Having been roundly ridiculed for selecting an enormous backroom staff of 26, Clive then asked spin supremo Alastair Campbell to travel as media consultant - the general response was unsurprised sighs and eyes raised to heaven.

The players will be beset by a bewildering amount of advice as each coach demands the conch for their five minutes of talk-time - Lions are supposed to be kings of the jungle, but these Lions could well be lost in the jungle, enmeshed in Woodward’s coaching creepers.

Then there is the two squad approach. All the wristbands in the world will not ease the frustration a player feels when he knows he is not part of the Test plans and finds himself training with the also-rans. If the 2001 tour was dominated by disharmony, there is the potential for an even greater level of anger and angst this time around.

On the pitch, the All Blacks also look to be in the stronger position. Henry deliberately blooded talented youngsters when he took over from John Mitchell, he allowed them time to settle and now knows his Test side - it’s the one that demolished France in Marseilles before Christmas.

The Lions XV, on the other hand, is anyone’s guess. One of rugby’s most cherished traditions is selecting the all-time World XV.

Normally picked late at night, it is a team that will never take the field, and one whose composition depends entirely on the age and predilections of whichever motley crew of selectors meets to form it.

Whilst the older generation go misty-eyed and dredge up memories of John, Davies, Duckham and Meads, their younger counterparts will invariably scoff at the Dinosaur XV and extol the game-changing virtues of Wilkinson, Lomu and Eales.

It is a thoroughly enjoyable, yet fruitless, exercise.

Rugby has changed so completely in the last 50 years that although players are vying for the same positions, comparisons are impossible.

Selecting a Lions XV a few months before a tour should represent a far easier task. Yet, worryingly, the 2005 Lions have only three cast-iron Test team certainties at this stage - Jason Robinson, Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell.

Ordinarily, in a Lions year, you could confidently pick 10 of the starting 15 six months beforehand, that was certainly the case in 1993, 1997 and 2001.

You must allow for the players who come from nowhere and chisel their names into Lions history.

In 1993, it was Scott Gibbs taking the place of Will Carling at first centre, in 1997, our own Paul Wallace and Jeremy Davidson stood forth and in 2001 it was Rob Henderson and Martin Corry. This summer, I have a sneaky suspicion that Wales’ talented lock/backrower Michael Owen could be the joker in the pack.

Injuries are further complicating matters. Will Jonny Wilkinson be back in time? Or Richard Hill? Or Simon Taylor?

There is also the yawning void left by Martin Johnson, the role of an enforcer to lead by example and intimidate the opposition. For this reason, Lawrence Dallaglio’s intention to tour should be welcomed. He is only 32 and will be fresh as a result of his retirement from international football.

So, picking this Test side is not an easy task, but, after numerous discussions on the subject, the side given above is the one I would favour.