Warren Gatland coy on Lions captaincy pick, to leave decision as late as possible

British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland continues to remain coy on his captaincy pick as he leaves the final decision as late as possible for the upcoming New Zealand tour.

The 2017 British & Irish Lions will play 10 matches on their tour – including three Test against back-to-back world champions All Blacks.

Gatland told Sky Sports. "Ideally, [the captain will have] some captaincy experience. If you're looking at the squad, you're picking the Test team after the squad is selected and you're looking at the captain and asking if that person would be likely to be selected in a Test XV?

"That could be a swaying factor, but there are no guarantees at the moment. It could be someone from left field.

"We'll definitely look at some individuals who are out there, but we'll look at picking the squad at the moment then picking the captain afterwards."

Gatland at present has completely dedicated his attention at picking up his squad instead of worrying about his captaincy choice.

"Everyone's obsessed about the captaincy, aren't they? Look, I've said all along there's some quality people in contention.

"The first thing for us is to pick the squad then look at it and ask who could captain the side in New Zealand.

"It would be a great honour for that person who does captain the team, but the message to that person is, 'Fantastic, well done, but you've got to earn your place in that Test side'.

"If someone else is playing better than you in New Zealand, they'll be selected ahead of you."

On their first tour to New Zealand since 2005, the next generation of Lions will begin their tour on Saturday 3 June.