Sam Warburton leaves Hogg and Russell out of his Lions XV

Thursday, 11 February 2021 at 16:26

byRugby Rucker

for the Lions tour, he has worked diligently to improve his breakdown spoiling. I think Toby right now is the number one front-runner for the number 8. Toby’s in the same breath as the Kieran Reid, Sergio Parisse, those three for me ar the best number 8s in world rugby in the past decade."

Legendary Wales captain Sam Warburton has picked his stunning British & Irish Lions XV to beat South Africa in his latest column for
The Times.

Warburton joined a very exclusive club during the 2017 Tour to New Zealand, as he became only the second man to captain The British & Irish Lions twice.

He joined Lions legend Martin Johnson in accomplishing that feat, but went one better than the former England lock, and stands as the only Lions captain in history to have avoided defeat on two Tours.

Below, find out who made it into Sam Warburton's selection.

SAM WARBURTON'S LIONS XV:

BACK-THREE

15. Liam Williams (Wales)
14. Anthony Watson (England)
11. Jonny May (England)

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 0_Liam-Williams.jpg

DID YOU KNOW? This is the picture that illustrates the heights Williams has scaled to reach international rugby, starting off as a scaffolder. It wasn’t work for the faint-hearted, with Williams rigging scaffolding “over the top of a blast furnace, 300 feet from the ground” back in Wales.

CENTRES:

13. Henry Slade (England)
12. Johnny Williams (Wales)

WARBURTON SAID: “My bolter is Wales’s Johnny Williams at inside centre. He impressed me with his physicality and all-round game in the autumn and if he can build on that in the Six Nations then he has a real chance. Toby Flood recently told me how good he thought Williams was when they played together at Newcastle Falcons. His potential is huge.”

DID YOU KNOW? Williams revealed he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer, and would take time away from the game to undergo treatment before returning in 2020

HALFBACKS:

10. Owen Farrell (England)
9. Ben Youngs (England)

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 2278270.jpg

DID YOU KNOW? Farrell held the record of youngest player ever to appear in English professional rugby union after playing for Saracens 11 days after his 17th birthday

FRONT-ROW:

1. Mako Vunipola (England)
2. Jamie George (England)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)

DID YOU KNOW? Furlong comes from a farming family in the parish of Horeswood in County Wexford

SECOND-ROW:

4. Maro Itoje (England)
5. James Ryan (Ireland)

WARBURTON SAID: “What about my captain? It is between Farrell and Itoje. It is such a close call. Both are definite starters (Farrell will be at 12 if not 10) and it makes perfect sense for an Englishman to be captain because most of the squad is likely to be English. I think it will be Farrell but, if I were making the decision, I would pick Itoje.”

DID YOU KNOW? So far in his rugby career, Itoje has won four English Premiership titles with Saracens, three European Rugby Champions Cup titles, and three Six Nations Championship titles

BACK-ROW:

6. Tom Curry (England)
7. Sam Underhill (England)
8. Taulupe Faletau (Wales)

WARBURTON SAID: "Underhill is a shoo-in

He then added following the first round of the Six Nations: "“Re-watching the Scotland game in readiness for this weekend’s game. Have to say, Hamish Watson was phenomenal. With Tipuric, Curry and Watson you have three world class players."

DID YOU KNOW? Before securing a professional contract, Underhill served an apprenticeship under his Granddad as a painter and decorator. The 24-year-old, who likes keeping busy, hasn’t ruled out a return to the trade when his rugby days are done.