Will Greenwood knows a thing or two about the British & Irish Lions having been on three tours, but did he get his 2013 Test team right in the Daily Telegraph?
The 1997, 2001 and 2005 tourist was one of the first media pundits to have a go at selection following the 2012 RBS 6 Nations and he leaned very much on the Grand Slam talent of Wales.
In fact, the former England World Cup winner selected nine Welshmen in his starting XV and only one from runners-up England. There is one Scot and four Irishmen.
There are four Test Lions from 2009 in his back division – Kearney, Bowe, Roberts and Phillips – but only two survivors up front – Jenkins and Jones. Ferris is the only other player who went on the last tour to make his top XV.
Greenwood’s 2013 Lions XV:
15 Rob Kearney (Ireland)
14 Tommy Bowe (Ireland)
13 Jonathan Davies (Wales)
12 Jamie Roberts (Wales)
11 George North (Wales)
10 Jonny Sexton (Ireland)
9 Mike Phillips (Wales)
1 Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
2 Dylan Hartley (England)
3 Adam Jones (Wales)
4 Ian Evans (Wales)
5 Richie Gray (Scotland)
6 Stephen Ferris (Ireland)
7 Sam Warburton (Wales)
8 Toby Faletau (Wales)
And here is his Midweek XV:
15 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
14 Alex Cuthbert (Wales)
13 Manu Tuilagi (England)
12. Brad Barritt (England)
11 Sean Lamont (Scotland)
10 Owen Farrell (England)
9 Mike Blair (Scotland)
1 Alex Corbisero (England)
2 Rory Best (Ireland)
3 Dan Cole (England)
4 Paul O’Connell (Ireland)
5 Geoff Parling (England)
6 Dan Lydiate (Wales)
7 Ross Rennie (Scotland)
8 Ben Morgan (England)
So what do you think? Is Greenwood on the mark, or way off it?
