'He's a special player': Lawrence Dallaglio backs Henry Pollock to be Lions bolter

Praise from Caesar, indeed.

Itoje has a worse win rate than Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, & Tadgh Beirne. Presumably you think he won’t start for the Lions?

Yes, to be fair you don’t seem quite as unstable on this thread as you do on the other!

God, no. Win ratio’s are a huge part of my considering him a better 7 than an 8.

I’m not remotely upset. I’ve even avoided the passive aggression of using emoji’s, like a real healthy adult.

Ok - so you realise that your point about win rates is complete nonsense 🤣

I’ve no problem with you having an opinion! Just not sure why you bothered debating that opinion when you’re so upset by me responding to what you said.

I can’t be sure any player will start for the Lions in 3 months time. I can’t say with complete mathematical certainty that a player won’t suffer a career ending injury between now and then. Or that they won’t have to withdraw for personal reasons. Just too many variables to be sure.

Personally my opinion is that Earl is a better 7 than an 8. I’ve quite literally no idea why that seems to be such a problem for you.

Itoje has a worse win rate than Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, & Tadgh Beirne. Presumably you think he won’t start for the Lions? Because of that cheeky old win ratio thing? We talked about that?

Personally my opinion is that you can’t select players solely on the basis of their individual win rates!

Do you even want an answer to a loaded question?

I certainly think Doris is nailed on for 8. Not least because he helped his team to beat Australia just a few months back. That cheeky old win ratio thing? We talked about that?

Can Itoje or Genge play 8? Or at least 7?

England haven’t won any major trophies since 2020. That isn’t solely down to Earl.

Ok so you were just making a non-sequiteur. How helpful!

Earl lost against Australia recently. So did Itoje, Genge, Stuart, Tom Curry, Freeman, Lawrence, and Feyi-Waboso. Presumably you think none of them will start for the Lions?

Trophies…

Actually I did use it separately. Remarkably you seemed to think I was talking about all-time win ratios (?). All 23 Irish players going, or something like that? Crazy. Did Earl not already play against Australia recently? As an 8? Did England win?

I’m guessing you have an England replica Jersey with ‘Earl ‘8’ written on it? It must be a great inconvenience that the lad may just be better as a 7. You’d have to get a new Jersey? Or maybe you don’t.

Either way, it’s a level of argument that is indulgent. Are you a bot?

Earl has played well as a number 8. Not sure what you expect him to have won.

You didn’t use it seperately. You started talking about 6N win ratios in response to me saying that you can’t just select players on the basis of their individual win ratios, which I said in response to the point you made about Earl’s win ratios. Try to keep up!

“So you agree a players 2023 form may not be the best marker for selection this time.”

Not sure how you infer that from what I said. I do agree, but it’s unrelated to what I said about Smith.

If Earl hasn’t struggled, what’s he won then? Compare that with the most recent lions test 8 (Conan) and likely next (Doris). If you can link this to the context of a Lions tour then you don’t need to keep going round in circles.

I mentioned win rates in relation to Earls club and test appearances relative to the positions he has played. I quite separately used the recent 6Nations win ratios of the home nations with relation to selecting a starting 15 for a Lions tour. None of this is complicated.

So you agree a players 2023 form may not be the best marker for selection this time. Wouldn’t the current season be better? As in 6Nations and club form?

“I made the point that, comparatively, any men’s test player shy of 6’4” and 17.5st will struggle as a modern 8.”

and yet Earl hasn’t struggled! Lets just go round in circles, shall we?

“Historically the current 6Nations campaign in a lions tour year does tend to be impactful. It’s not a stretch to assume the squad is largely selected with the back-end of the domestic season left to confirm certain players, injuries aside.”

Farrell will select more players from the better teams. He won’t select on the basis of individual win rates, which is the claim you made that you are now walking back.

“For example, Marcus Smith had a very decent 2023 at #10”

Did he? He might have had some good club games but he made absolutely zero impact in test rugby, hence why he ended the year firmly third choice behind Ford and Farrell.

At no point have I ‘dismissed’ Earl. He’s a talented athlete. I’ve simply and consistently stated that I consider him a better 7 than he is an 8. It’s an opinion based on what I’ve seen of him play and supported by his career stats to date. He has played considerably more rugby at openside.

My argument around 8 and positional play was actually in reference to another player (and the subject of this article). I made the point that, comparatively, any men’s test player shy of 6’4” and 17.5st will struggle as a modern 8.

Historically the current 6Nations campaign in a lions tour year does tend to be impactful. It’s not a stretch to assume the squad is largely selected with the back-end of the domestic season left to confirm certain players, injuries aside.

For example, Marcus Smith had a very decent 2023 at #10. I doubt that two years later that will be a marker for him going on this tour, in that position? It’s not being selective with the time period.

ok so in terms of minutes per position he’s still played a fair amount more 8

and I think it sort of supports my point that when he was considered solely as a 7 he wasn’t deemed good enough to start. He only broke into the starting lineup as an 8.

What are you arguing? You dismissed Earl as an 8 on the basis of the low win rate last year. So it makes no sense to suggest that on the basis of win rates IRE and ENG are equal. You can’t just randomly narrow the time period you’re interested in to only this year when it suits your argument.

Anyway, you can’t just select players on the basis of their individual win rates. If Farrell did that he would select 23 Irish players, because no English or Scottish players (apart from those on just 1 or 2 caps) will come close to having equal win rates.

Ok - if Beirne plays 6 then Earl won’t play 7.

Pollock has a huge future but there are some great test hardened flankers who will miss out. They'll take what 4 specialist flankers and potentially Earl as a 7.5 ? So 4 or 5 max. Already in contention are the likes of Earl, Curry, Curry, Morgan, JVDF. I don't think he'll make the cut but may get a call up due to an injury.