Will Farrell 'go safe' with Lions selections?
[BBC]
BBC Sport Scotland rugby reporter Andy Burke has been answering some of your questions as Andy Farrell prepares to name his Lions squad on Thursday.
David asked: With all the recent performances in Six Nations and Europe, my prediction is 30 out of 37 of the Lions squad will be Irish or English. Farrell will go safe and what he knows. Do you think I'll be far wide of the mark?
Andy answered: I'd like to think the spread of players across the nations will be a little more even than that.
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Andy Nicol, Tom English and I made our squad predictions on this week's BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast and I had 13 Irish, 12 English, nine Scots and four Welsh players.
That may be a little on the hopeful side (I had 11 Scots in my original draft!) but the beauty of the Lions is it's four countries coming together, not one or two dominating with a smattering of players from the other nations.
Scotland have been where Wales are now and it's horrible when you don't see your country well represented in a Lions squad.
All that being said, Farrell won't be too concerned if he upsets a few folk with his selections. He'll pick whoever he feels is best placed to get the job done Down Under.
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Jamie asked: Given we could have as many as eight Scottish backs picked for the Lions tour, with five realistically with a chance of playing in the opening Test match, how telling is it that Gregor Townsend hasn't made the coaching squad but Johnny Sexton has?
Andy answered: Well firstly we don't know if Townsend was offered a role with the Lions.
I suspect having toured as part of Warren Gatland's backroom team to South Africa in 2021, Townsend may not have fancied another stint as someone else's assistant. That's just a personal view. I've no idea if he was offered a role or not.
It is testament to Townsend's work with the Scotland backs that so many of them are in Lions contention.
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The appointment of Sexton was a real surprise. What does that tell us? That Sexton and Farrell are incredibly tight, view the game the same way and Farrell believes the Ireland legend has something to offer, be it his rugby brain or ability to drive standards.
Let's hope Sexton has an appreciation for the abilities of some of those Scottish backs.
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