"I'd pick him" - Ugo Monye backs Henry Pollock for Lions tour and predicts the Test series back-line

Farrell would have spent the past weekend scanning the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup semi-finals, with plenty of stand-out performances from his Home Nation hopefuls. One such talent on the rise is Henry Pollock, with the one-capped England man backed for a run in the red jersey by former England and 2009 British & Irish Lions tourist Ugo Monye.

Pollock had another starring performance in green, black and gold, as Northampton achieved what many thought was impossible and eliminate Leinster from the Champions Cup. The Saints march on to their first European Cup Final since 2011 later this month, with Pollock's stunning breakaway try a pivotal moment in the East Midlanders' triumph.

"I'd pick him. I pick him on the plane. He's an extraordinary talent. He really is. He's got world class potential, and to put in that level of performance… some of the stuff (celebrations) is eye-catching but, to score a try from 50m out, unbelievable.

"He hands off RG Snyman, runs around Sam Prendergast, goes under the sticks and checks his pulse. He's him, he's unapologetic-ally himself. But then, he made about 20 tackles at the weekend, had a huge turnover in the last 10 minutes. So, it's not like his high profile and the viral things that go on social media, take away from doing the nuts and bolts of this game. He battles hard. He battles really tough, and he is flying. Yeah, like I said, I would select him."

Brand new kings of Europe will be decided in a few short weeks, as defending champions Stade Toulousain were ousted from the competition last Sunday. The Saints march on to Cardiff for a battle with Bordeaux-Begles, with the Principality Stadium set for a blockbuster on Saturday, May 24th. A leading man in Northampton's title hopes is enigmatic England wing Tommy Freeman, who bagged a stunning hat-trick in the win over Leinster this past weekend.

Freeman has continued to elevate his stock in the eyes of the Lions selectors, with Ugo Monye believing that the 24-year-old already has his ticket booked and bound for Australia. Monye gave his expert opinion as a former Test level wing, as to why Freeman is a must-have starter in Andy Farrell's squad.

"Sensational. To score a hat trick in the European semi-final away from home, against one of the best squads in Europe rubber stamps his ticket onto the plane. Boarding pass has already been sent to him. I remember in my tour '09, I had a good Six Nations, and then Graham Rowntree the Lions forwards coach rang me up and said, 'let the next month of rugby be the best month of rugby you have'.

"That's all I needed to hear. I just needed to play well, and hopefully I played well. Tommy Freeman's done that since the Six Nations, every single game he is flying high. Saints are in a final. You need to be a good player to go in the tour, that's obvious, but you need to also be playing well at the right time. He's definitely doing that."

Monye then cast his eye over the most debated jersey for the upcoming Lions tour, with the fly half shirt up for grabs amongst multiple world class talents this Summer. Farrell will likely bring a trio of number 10s to Australia, with the current front-runners being Scotland's Finn Russell, England's Fin Smith and Ireland's Sam Prendergast. However, Monye expressed how there could well be space in the squad for an England veteran, despite a recent lack of Test match game-time in Steve Borthwick's squad.

"I think Finn Russell was always going. Most experienced out of all of the lines up the debate, the serious debate, he's the only one with Lions experience. Fin Smith just once again, showed what a quality operator he is. Yes, Sam Prendergast didn't have his best game (for Leinster vs Saints). I He will be really disappointed with that, of course he will.

"It's tough. I always say, you can't select a player just based on one game, and you shouldn't deselect a player based just on one game. It's got to be a bank of evidence. The players we're talking about have that, they really do."

"I think George Ford's got a chance. I think he does. I think he's a brilliant player. 99 caps, how good would that be If the hundreth international cap is a lions one, it's almost poetic. The closest thing you have to a player-coach, hugely driven.

"We spoke about a couple of weeks ago, in his post match after a massive win against Saracens. He said, 'every player would die to play for the Lions'. I felt what he was saying. Everyone understands the meaning and he gets it. And if you just selected on desire alone, he'd be on that plane too."

It's no secret that Monye has become a world-renowned rugby pundit after finishing up his playing days, with a wealth of rugby knowledge across the current Lions landscape. We challenged Monye to pick his back-line players for the first Test against Australia, with an exciting array of pace and power at Farrell's disposal this Summer.

UGO MONYE'S PREDICTED LIONS BACK-LINE: 9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland & Leinster) 10. Finn Russell (Scotland & Bath) 11. James Lowe (Ireland & Leinster) 12. Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland & Glasgow Warriors) 13. Bundee Aki (Ireland & Connacht) 14. Tommy Freeman (England & Northampton Saints) 15. Blair Kinghorn (Scotland & Stade Toulousain)

"It's powerful. it's big, it's strong." Monye added.

Interestingly, Monye's predicted back-line matched up with our own, from an earlier predictions article for the British & Irish Lions' trip 'down under'. There is no denying the star-power that Farrell will bring to the other side of the world, with Joe Schmidt and his Wallabies set to learn who their exact opponents will be from tomorrow's squad announcement.