Rhys Priestland has praised the performance of team-mate Jonathan Davies on the recent British & Irish Lions tour of Hong Kong and Australia.
Davies featured in seven of the 10 games on the Lions’ 125th anniversary adventure, including all three Tests against the Qantas Wallabies.
The Scarlets and Wales star started the first two Tests at inside centre before switching to his more customary position of outside centre for the stunning 41-16 success in Sydney as the Lions ended a 16-year wait for series glory.
That switch back to No13 after Jamie Roberts’ recovery from a hamstring injury saw Davies embroiled in one of the most-talked about topics of the Test series after the Welsh pair were selected ahead of quadruple tourist Brian O’Driscoll.
But fly-half Priestland, who plays both domestic and international rugby alongside Davies, insists he would always have made the same call given Davies’ now widely-known attributes.
“I couldn't believe the fuss that was being made about O'Driscoll being dropped. Jon is one of the best outside centres in the world,” Priestland told Media Wales.
“It was tough for him to play inside centre for the first two Tests, but he showed when he went back to 13 that he's made that shirt his own. It was no real surprise that he did what he did.
“I got asked a lot what my Lions team would be a lot, and I always picked Jon at 13. Even though people touted O'Driscoll as captain, I still would have picked Jon.”
