Irish stars still stand out in year of the French

IF THERE was a Lions tour this summer, Eddie O’Sullivan would be nailed on as head coach after standing head and shoulders over his opposite numbers over the past few months.

However, picking a Lions Test team would be a much tougher proposition with several positions short of the quality required to take on the All Blacks in their own backyard. And if you picked a Six Nations team, you would inevitably look at France and Ireland with little left for any of the other nations.

As for the Lions, a very fair case could be made for the inclusion of the entire Irish back division. If only to avoid a charge of bias, we will give the scrum-half berth to Dwayne Peel ahead of Peter Stringer and England’s Harry Ellis and the Welsh would also go for Shane Williams on the left wing. But Denis Hickie has been so good over the season he has to get in.

The front-row would certainly be the weakest part of any Lions team in 2007. It is with no sense of confidence that we opt for Gethin Jenkins of Wales and England’s Julian White as the props while the selection of George Chuter as hooker is based on a fruitless search for anyone better! Had Jerry Flannery been Ireland’s first choice, it would have made it a different matter.

Donncha O’Callaghan and Paul O’Connell, who finished the last Lions tour in possession of the two second-row positions, have no apparent opposition two years on. Nor could anyone seriously object to a back-row trio of Denis Leamy, David Wallace and Ryan Jones of Wales.

The Italians come very much into the picture where a Six Nations selection is concerned.

Even without the injured Martin Castrogiovanni and Andrea Lo Cicero, their front-row has done amazingly well and only the French could be considered a match for them. The French could also lay fair claim to a number of positions in the back-row. However, the Irish backs en bloc wouldn’t let Europe down although fair consideration must be given to a number of those fleet footed, skilful French backs.

And yet we can’t find a place for Yannick Jauzion in the centre ahead of the Irish pair Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy.