Talking Rugby Union posed the question the other day of who should the next Lions captain be. An interesting proposition, as there is no stand out leader in Britain or Ireland at the moment. Also an interesting proposition is to think of who will make the team come 2013? Two years away and allot of rugby still to be played many of these discussion are often pointless as injuries and form can change over a tour let alone two seasons of rugby. So for a bit of fun as the rugby world has been a bit slow with news and excitement recently, I thought I would look into my crystal ball, and have a look at some of the players who I think could lead the Lions in 2013 and the starting XV. I have thrown some controversy in there to get a bit of discussion going aswell!
Potential Captains:
My shortlist of captains for 2013 would consist of POC, BOD, Heaslip, and Warburton. O'Driscoll if he can maintain form and fitness and avoid injury will more than likely make the squad, could Australia be his swansong? It would give his career a fairy tale ending as it was in 2001 in Australia where he really established himself as a world power. Unlikely he will be captain. The same could be said of POC, he is getting older now but I'm sure will be down under in 2013. For me Jamie Heaslip is the stand out number 8 of British and Irish rugby. He is forging a highly successful career and has experience of previous Lions tour and has been lead by some truly exceptional captains and players. Time for him to step up? I think it could be. My left field prediction is Warburton. By 2013 I think he will be the standout 7 in northern hemisphere rugby and will be in all likelihood the Welsh captain. If he can stay injury free he has an outside chance of being captain, although no previous experience of a Lions tour will count against him.
Looking further into my crystal ball, here are my thoughts on who the best XV in Britain and Ireland could be:
1. Gethin Jenkins.
2. Dylan Hartley.
3. Dan Cole.
4. Richie Gray
5. Courtney Lawes.
6. Tom Croft.
7. Sam Warburton.
8. Jamie Heaslip
9. Ben Youngs
10. James Hook
11. George North
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Manu Tuilagi
14. Chris Ashton
15. Rob Kearney
Yes lots of names that we have all heard of, all of whom are young and whom I believe will be leading players in Northern Hemisphere rugby for the next few years. There are some big names missing out aswell. It is a very quick team with lots of power and overall I think would give the Aussies quite a scare!
My choice of coach would be Declan Kidney, he reminds me Geechs by the way in which his teams play with a very streetwise attitude in terms of trying to play clever and never to complicated. Kidney has experience at winning at both European and international level. I don't think there is any other coach in Britain or Ireland who has a better record?
What do you guys think?
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