Best test team ... 1.vickery 2. mears 3. Jenkins 4. ­ hines 5. oconnel 6. croft 7. wallace 8. heaslip 9. ­ phillips 10. ogara 11. bowe 12. roberts 13. odriscoll ­ 14. monye 15. byrne. That is one hell of a line up if ­ you ask me. Let me know what you think.

the fact that we are even having this discussion is­ ridiculous but also entirely enevitable. Unless POC­ plays better than ever before he is going to be­ criticised and questioned. POC has not been­ outstanding by his own standards, but he has been very­ solid so far, mmore so than any other second row on­ tour yet he is still being questioned. Maybe BOD ­ would have been a slightly better captain but who is to­ know. Either way POC was the outstanding choice, has­ played very well and the team are performing well. ­ What more do the British journalists want?

joe b i think you might ave forgot saturdays game......­ (lions v wp) vickery was destroyed in the scrum. also i­ think he tires 2 easily in matches. thats why murray­ wil start. i am not bein biased and i know that its­ made up of 4 nations but i feel o connell and o­ callaghan would be my choice as they are familiar­ playin together.........

dam right deano. this talk is a load of bull @#$%.­ O'Connell hasn't once played badly. People are­ too quick to critise what they thick he isnt doing.­ Rewatch the sharks game and look at the amount of times­ he picks from the base of rucks and sets up quick ball­ for phillips. And it is not as if jones has been­ setting the world alight either. he has been solid but­ no more than that. I agree that one of the specialised­ no. 5s should be playing (Hines my choice) which should­ mean croft at 6 for the extra athletism.

can we realy stop this stuped anti irish talk, paul­ o'connell is the captain and he has done nothing­ wrong

The Lions team should consist of in-form players if we­ are to have any chance of competing in the first test. ­ Although O'Connell has played well on tour, he has­ not excelled as we have come to expect from him. ­ Neither has Shane so he should be out. That said,­ appart from Alun Wyn Jones, neither of the other second­ rows have really performed, so it will be down to this­ afternoon to see whether O'Callahan, Shaw or Hines­ can impress and force O'Connell onto the bench. ­ Hook is assured a place on the bench because he adds a­ different dimention to the no 10 spot and can be­ effectively used as a super sub; he does have an­ outside chance of a start subject to a very good­ performance this afternoon, as S Jones and O'Gara­ have been steady but slightly one-dimentional. My­ captain would be BOD, class act and in-form

POC would be a cert in any team in the northern­ hemisphere and probably the southern as well. He­ hasn't done a thing wrong on this tour. Like a lot­ have already said this is typical English media, but­ it's not anti-Irish, they're completely­ negative about all their own teams and players as well,­ and we all see the effect it has... I have no dfoubt­ come next Saturday all true Lions supporters will­ scream POC and the others on as if they were related to­ them! I certainly do, no matter where they come from!­
I hear you Joe B
LIONS LIONS LIONS LIONS

Joe B - Vickery is showing a little of the player he­ used to be at the moment. When he's on form and­ doing what we know he really can do he's a great­ asset to any side. Sadly it doesn't happen anywhere­ near as often as it should.

Before I get accused of­ anti Irish bias let me point out I'm part English,­ part Irish and as such I support both teams. That being­ said - I don't doubt POC as a player. He's one­ of the names I assumed would be on the tour from the­ very start. However, as far as I can see he hasn't­ been actually captaining the side on the field. One­ occasion springs to mind in the first game where one of­ the young players (forgive me, but with the amount of­ rugby I've watched recently with the Churchill Cup­ as well as the internationals and the Lions tour I­ can't recall the name) made a basic error. Instead­ of going and having a quiet word to try and steady him­ up again so he could carry on and play positively, POC­ marched past him muttering to himself with a face like­ thunder. Not the action I would have expected from a­ great captain.

As for saying put the Munster players­ in with him because they play together all the time -­ it's the British and Irish Lions tour, not the­ Munster tour. Same goes for the Irish players -­ it's a team made up from 4 nations. The idea is to­ put forward the best team available regardless of the­ actual country of the 4 they hail from.

akeano24, You say you are sick of all the anti­ Irish/Munster talk, as soon as other people see your­ contribution you should brace yourself for some more.­
If you watched the lions matches, (without your­ emerald tinted glasses on) you would see that at the­ moment OConnell is not playing how he can, neither is­ OCallaghan but you would pair them up, because they­ know each other. Thank God you aren't a selector.­ You write off Jones and Shaw who both have had a good­ tour so far and are actually better ball­ handlers/carriers than O Callaghan. You even manage to­ bring Phil Vickerys name into the equation, you will­ tell me no doubt that he had a poor game on Saturday,­ and that he should be replaced by Hayes (did you forget­ to take off those glasses?)
Nobody is saying these guys­ aren't good players, they just aren't coming up­ with the goods at this time. Shane Williams is a prime­ example and has had a more than generous ammount of­ game time in which to try to regain his form, it's­ not happening, that doesn't mean it won't,­ though as such shouldn't be selected till it­ does.
We all like to see our own country's players­ being picked but lets not shout the odds in their­ favour just because of that.
Lets hope they do select­ players who are performing well, though whatever­ happens we should all shout as one and back them to the­ hilt.

akeano24, not sure if you have managed to watch any of­ the games on tour so far I guess not from reading your­ comments.
There are a number of players who I­ questioned being in the touring party, Vickery being­ quite possibly the biggest doubt. However much as I­ think he is over rated and should not even be in the­ England squad never mind the Lions squad, I have to­ admit I am having to eat humble pie. He is playing a­ storming tour so far, superb balling carrying and great­ in the contact. Much as I hate to say it he is proving­ his worth and doing what Lions have to do and that is­ step up to the mark.
POC is fantastic and is not­ playing badly but is he being the leader we need, is he­ pulling the team along with him like he does for­ Munster, unfortunately not.

I hope he does get to play­ because he deserves it and has been without doubt one­ of the inform players of the season. He needs to show­ it again now though, and the others Vickery, BOD etc­ all captains in their own right need to pull with him­ and help him lead.

I agree with some of the comments­ that there seems to be too much criticism aimed at­ players because of their national team colours. We are­ ALL playing in the red of the Lions and should pull­ together.
LIONS LIONS LIONS LION - COME ON

this should not even be on the agenda, its so typical­ of the British media to try and create a ground swell­ of negtivity as your noses are out of joint due to the­ large presence of Irish on the tour. I have watched­ every game and O Connell 100% deserves his test place. ­ Why dont the British media try to get behind O Connell­ instead of the current unfounded sniping.

Look l know everyone is claiming the doubts of POC`s­ ability is anti-lrish motivated, maybe some is, but in­ my opinion which is definately not POC is struggling.­ Yes hes an immense talent whos had a get season so far.­ But the Lions is a whole new ball game, pressure on a­ whole new level. As captain to Munster hes had a lot­ longer to develop with players hes far more familiar­ with. Take BOD nobody on here questions his ability or­ his position in the side, there are several other­ players going to be in the squad no matter what, you­ would have to blind or stupid not to see it.­ Unfortunately POC is not one of them, hes not hit the­ same strain of form hes been showing before now, if the­ Lions were heaven forbid to loose he would bare the­ brunt of it, unfair maybe but as captain it would­ happen. Maybe its a bit harsh but we need a true leader­ out there, he hasn`t been that for me. At the end of it­ all what we want is a victory and if that means­ dropping an out of form player for the good of the team­ wether he wears the captains armband or not shouldn`t­ matter. It could be good for his confidance in the long­ run, maybe a good kick up the rear to get him back on­ track. By the way lm Welsh and have been behind the­ Lions 100% all along whatever nation they come from l­ only see one colour shirt on the field, it helps that­ its red though,lol.
COME ON BOYS SILENCE THE CRITICS­ AND SMASH THE COCKY BOKS

i am so sick of this anti-irish anti-munster talk!!!!
o­ connell and o callaghan should be the second row­ partners for the lions
because they know each other­ inside out and partnered each other for munsters two­ heineken cup wins and the magners league... they were­ also instrumental in irelands grand slam win. i think­ ye might ave forgot the two of them robbin most of the­ welsh lineout ball.. and yet ye want to pair o connell­ up wit jones???? the same guy who couldnt win his own­ ball and the same guy who went missin in the most­ important match of the six nations. the lions need big­ game players and that is wat o connell and o callaghan­ are!!!!! i dont know why shaw or vickery went on the­ tour. gough and hayes would ave made a better­ contribution. im sick of people (stuart barnes) tryin­ to exclude o callaghan as if hes only a back up player.­ and people seem to forget hes barely had enough game­ time. and also when he played against wp he gobbled up­ every ball and tackled like a man possessed. also the­ very man who was behind south africas world cup win­ (gert smal) said that o connell and o callaghan are­ just as good as botha and matfield who should know­ better stuart barnes or gert smal???? think about­ it!!!!!!!

Have to agree with cameronhp. POC's form has been­ good during the domestic season, but personally find he­ is a bit 1 dimensional and hasnt really impressed from­ what Ive seen this tour. Jones and Hines would be my­ pick...Hines just for the physical presence to nullify­ Victor Matfield and Jones' work rate around the­ park is second to none. Think that would make a good­ balance.

i think saturday will show which lions have the bottle­ & which are found wanting, lets all hope the only­ lions found wanting are the ones in the bush whilst­ they await the bodies of beaten springboks..

whomever­ plays, they'll have my full support, 4 years of­ wanting saturday to come is almost here & i hope­ everybody that posts on here, their thoughts, views­ & feelings will have a fantastic day, mon the­ lions, lets tear up some boks & have a wee smile­ after

gaz lions fan

no

He has been disappointing so far and stocking up the­ pack with irish team mates because they play together­ week in week out won't solve this dilemna (david­ s). As a world class player he should be able to pack­ down with whoever Geechs tells him to.

As captain Paul O'Connell must start and the other­ second row must compliment him . Unfortunately this is­ not Alun Wyn Jones .
Lets get the all important first­ test win , thats all that matters .

I had some doubts about poc after the first game, and I­ mentioned it on here then. I'm welsh but my only­ concern here is the right lions team to beat these­ arrogant boks who dont even think they need a warm up­ game to roll over the lions.

i wanted BOD to captain­ before the tour even started , but POC had a great­ season and I could see the selectors logic. I think he­ will play with Wyn Jones in the first test and then we­ can judge, both Hines and Shaw have done themselves no­ harm as they are the in your face players the lions­ need to take on the boks.

we should all now forget­ these arguments and get behind whatever team is put out­ and I hope and wish that POC has a real stormer and­ puts all these doubts to rest.

3-0 will do to wipe the­ smile of the most arrogant rugby team on the face of­ the earth!