LONG READ ‘Like or it not, this Lions squad will be Irish. They deserve to dominate.’

The British and Irish Lions isn’t a participation event. It isn’t a parent and child egg-and-spoon race where everyone gets to have a go, and receives a medal. Whilst the Lions’ tour does of course involve an egg (in the shape of the ball), the comparison largely ends there.

The tour is of course a rare example in professional sport of any kind. There are very few fixtures or tours where four nations who are traditionally at each other’s throats remove the larynx grab and extend a handshake.

However, as inclusive as the wider experience is for players and supporters, that warm cuddly feeling doesn’t extend to the selection of the squad.

There will of course be a steady selection of English players, Scottish players and a light dusting of Welsh players, but 2025 will be Ireland’s tour and rightly so. And if you don’t like it, you may be in for a long summer.

Ireland have been the premier team in British and Irish rugby for a decade and it hasn’t even been close. They’ve been ranked the number one team in the world and have been South Africa’s stiffest competition in recent seasons. Any home nation that has parity with the Springboks deserves to dominate the Lions tour.

Many, of course, love to mention that Ireland still haven’t made it out of a Rugby World Cup quarter-final. And whilst it remains a monkey on their back, when you compare it to their consistency over the past three seasons, it remains more of a thumb monkey, than a raging baboon.

Other than South Africa, who have a depth chart so deep that it requires two copies of Microsoft Excel digitally sown together, Ireland have over the past four seasons had one of the deepest squads in world rugby – certainly amongst the home nations.

The Lions’ tour is two months of all or nothing. With the Lions, there is no tomorrow, only today.

Admittedly, some of their key assets are coming towards the end of their careers. Ireland’s tighthead and loosehead options, at times, look thinner than the material used on a shirt from Temu. From an Ireland perspective and the next Rugby World Cup cycle, Andy Farrell could have been a little quicker to blood players like Ulster’s Cormac Izuchukwu.

But that doesn’t affect the Lions tour. The Lions’ tour is two months of all or nothing. With the Lions, there is no tomorrow, only today.

Looking at social media you could argue it is English supporters who are having the greatest difficulty with the likely greenwash of the Lions. But much like the switch of European rugby from BT/TNT Sport to Premier Sports, England supporters can’t always have their own way. Over the many and varied tours, England have had many years of dominance in selection and rightly so. They have the player population, the clubs and the silverware to have warranted their domination of many a Lions tour. But like or it not, this squad will have a green hue.

There is a very high chance that the starting pack will contain three Irish in the front row (Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan and Andrew Porter), one in the second row (Joe McCarthy or Tadhg Beirne), plus Caelan Doris and Josh van der Flier in the back row. Add in Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan and Robbie Henshaw and that’s more green than you’d find in a 70s bathroom.

Perhaps the most important conversation regarding the Lions isn’t how many Irish players there will be, but how will they play – which will be key with regards to which non-Irish players are selected.

With the Wallabies pack (although improved) not at the level of the Boks or All Blacks, Andy Farrell has options afforded to him that arguably no other Lions coach has had. Does Farrell pick a team of forwards and backs to shock and destroy, or entertain?

Without doubt the clearest indicator of how Farrell plans on tackling the Wallabies will be his selection at 12

A key position with regard to how far the entertainment dial is twisted, is at 10, where Farrell has the luxury of playing a more running and passing focused 10, rather than a tactical kicking option – which is a rare luxury for the Lions.

If Farrell does select a more tactical option at 10, it presents a different type of problem in that Farrell Junior (Owen) is the best tactical 10 in the English game. The backrow options will also be a key indicator with regard to how he’s going to play. Does he opt for collisions/cleanout/jackal merchants, or more ball-playing options at six and seven?

But without doubt the clearest indicator of how Farrell plans on tackling the Wallabies will be his selection at 12. It’s either Bundee Aki or Sione Tuipulotu. This columnist would love to see Sione at 12. He does all of the Bundee stuff, but also a bit more of the bungee stuff, i.e. a more elastic approach to running, plus a passing and kicking game which allows him to keep the ball on the end of a piece of string.

With the potential of eight or nine Irish players in the starting Test team, let alone the wider squad, there will obviously be some fallout on social media. It’s what makes a Lions tour a Lions tour these days. Initially, we’re all wondering why our favourite ‘rugby children’ haven’t been selected. Then as soon as we see the squad in their blazers and ties, we all become happy ‘rugby parents’.

This summer’s tour will be as fantastic as ever and will once again represent something that is truly unique in rugby. But one thing that won’t be unique is the number of Irish lads in there. There’ll be a hell of a lot more than one.*

*This column is purely an opinion from the author. Arguably a poorly formed opinion. Please don’t burn his house down, or threaten his pets. Cheers, Paul