To be fair that tackle on Tait was a couple of years­ ago & he has filled out & got stronger since ,­ but I couldnt agree more about the mis management

Two reasons why Matthew Tait isnt considered a World­ class player:
1) his coaches have mis-managed him­ completely, hes a fullback in englands eyes, center in­ sales eyes, etc etc. utility players run the risk of­ being left in the cold. its happening to james hook as­ we speak, and francois steyn is in the same boat
2)­ just you-tube 'gavin henson tackle on matthew­ tait' and you will see why he is too fragile to­ deal with the 'Boks
Chris Patterson looks good in a­ below average scottish side, and isnt good enough to be­ a lion. hes not strong enough . hes kicking is­ absolutely superb, one of the best in the world with­ matt giteau and lionel beauxis, but not lions material

Glad to see that Mike has had the chance.Just a pity­ that Mr Paterson isnt going! 28 points the other day.­ Can this Lions team really afford to be without the­ world's top kicker, who can also make breaks?

i think that matthew tait should be considered too he­ tore the boks apart in the world cup final and can play­ wing full back or centre he isnt the biggest but has­ electric pace and is a exellent finisher

I liked the look of Croft, would like to see how he­ plays on the hard grounds and how much altitude will­ affect his high paced game.
Oh, and Jamie Roberts is­ bigger than most people, so it's a little bit­ unfair using that comparison for back rowers.

i think blair is a very safe call for the lions he can­ do it but hes a known and his size wont help him i­ would have gone for foden because of his all rounded­ play and versitility and called another specialist­ scrum half is philips or ellis get injured i would­ start philips in the test hes big and physical and wont­ back down the challenge as for the centre to replace­ shanklin i think tindal or darcy and croft has to be­ picked if quinlans band he should have been there­ anyhow

103kgs playing at blind side flanker against the Boks??­ That may be the only thing against him. Jamie Roberts­ is bigger!

That was bitter...

Haven't watched Blair play since the 6n so not sure­ what his current form is like but there's no­ denying he's a class act. Good luck to him!
As for­ the potential need for a backrower... Don't think­ Armitage is big enough to play blind side, or is that­ an old fashioned view? Leamy is playing pretty poor at­ the moment and Jones just doesn't seem to be in­ consideration by Geech, so have to agree Croft if­ needed.

I think Croft should go if Quinlan doesnt for the fact­ that he covers 2nd row as well , over the last 2­ weekends he has played 2 of the biggest games of his­ career to date as lock & he played superbly but if­ he didnt go I would play him at lock for England cos­ then in effect youve got 4 quality backrowers on the­ pitch also 1 name missing from comment 17 is Steffon­ Armitage , thought he played superbly against the Quins

I totally i agrre with you mark h, i definetly think­ robshaw should be considered along side croft. He has­ had a tremendous season, Shuld definetly be involved­ with the england squad(im assuming he english yes?) The­ competition for that england back row never mind the­ lions is hard. Im scottish and there are alot of things­ i dont agree about englands style of play , but i do­ admire their back row hugly. Croft,ROBSHAW,worsley,tom­ rees,james haskell,lewis moody, will skinner too, to­ name just a few.

good decision, maybe Danny Care should have replaced­ O'Leary. But if Quinlan is banned, bring Croft in.­ Croft should have been picked in the first place

Nice choice! He deserves a chance to shine.
Chris­ Robshaw should be considered for Quinlans place along­ with Tom Croft, both very good players!
Adam,­ didn't the 1997 Lions beat South Africa...?!­ You'll have to remind me 'cause my memories a­ little fuzzy... England won world cup 2003 against the­ ozies and didn't Wales beat them recently too?!

Glad to see mike picked he should have been in from the­ start.. and will not be supprised if he plays in the­ tests.
He is a better all round scrum half that the­ other two with more tricks in his bag...

jack2tufy at least being a hated nation we are all in­ it together & stand by each other now your a hated­ person who slags off your fellow countrymen as well ,­ your parents must be so proud of you

Good choice. Mike Blair is able to perform well with­ such a weak scottish side(I'm scottish). He­ won't let the lions down and possibly may even­ break into the starting XV, it will be between him and­ philips as i cant see Harry Ellis playing in the test.­ D'arcy will be in for shanklin and Croft hopefully­ for quinlan. Hook cant go, he buckles under pressure­ and makes poor decisions. I heard he was playing 13­ now? i think thats a better option as he makes very­ good breaks and less dision making involved

So, adam.dabrowski. Wales beating Australia doesn't­ count then !

markear1. Do you think Jack and Orange are the same­ idiot ? It sounds as if the moron has just changed his­ tag after the Munster Mauling but keeps sending out the­ same old drivel. Correct, Blair was the right choice­ and that should be followed with Darcy and Croft,­ although there is a very strong rumour in these parts­ about James Hook - can't see it myself.

Jack/Orange: I would not go around calling people names­ considering you disappeared like the little coward that­ you are after we kicked your @#$% in croker. You have­ no respect and definitely have not got a clue about­ rugby.