Nail-biting time for Lions in waiting

It’s almost a cliche — Irish players hoping to make the Lions squad for the trip to Australia will be glued to their televisions this morning — but in this case it’s true.

Unlike squad announcements for most high-profile sporting events, barring those occasional blunders of Giovanni Trapattoni, the players will not be told before the public.

Only the captain, heavily tipped to be Wales Sam Warburton, has been told his seat on the plane is secure so he can be at the Syan Park Hilton in West London for the press conference.

“The players aren’t notified they’ll hear the same as everyone else,” said Lions communications manager Christine Connolly. “The captain has known for a couple of days because he’ll be there.”

Ah, but what about the projector screen which will show each player wearing the Lions jersey while Warren Gatland reads out their name? Surely that’s a giveaway that they have been told?

“We did a roadshow of the unions earlier in the year and took photos of every player they had. Each of them will have also received documents telling them exactly what they can expect once the team is announced.

“As you can imagine it went out to a huge list of people,” said Connolly”

For those lucky enough to see their picture chosen the next step is simple, revert to the document they received all those months ago and prepare for, as Christine calls it, Messy Monday. That day, May 13, the squad meets up to get kitted out.