Fly-half main area of contention

THE PICTURE seems so much clearer now. With two games and six days to go before Clive Woodward’s team for the first Test against New Zealand is revealed, a number of places in the starting XV were signed and sealed following the Lions’ 23-6 victory over Wellington yesterday.

It has been a long time coming, but the Test team is finally taking shape and though a lot can happen this weekend in Dunedin against Otago, the Lions management team will spend Sunday afternoon fine-tuning their selection.

Everyone bar last week’s arrival Ryan Jones has now started at least once during the four games and numerous combinations have been tried in every unit. Which gives those of us outside the Woodward brains trust an opportunity to do a little selecting of our own.