Many would say it was a given after Sam Warburton stood proudly hoisting the Six Nations trophy following his Welsh counterparts’ emphatic defeat over England earlier this year.
But until this week it was not known what the make-up of this year’s Lions squad would be, nor who would be the man to lead the pride in Australia for the first time in 12 years.
Whether it was about recent form or not, Rugby fans correctly guessed that out of the four nations, Wales would be the ones to dominate the Lions squad in this week’s rugby.com.au poll.
In the final poll results, 70% of fans voted Wales would make up the majority of this year’s Lions squad. The results of the poll correlated with the make up of the Lions team as 21% of fans voted England as the nation who would make up the majority of the Lions, while 6% voted Ireland and 3% voted Scotland.
The final squad is made up of 15 Welshmen, 10 Englishmen, nine Irishmen and 3 Scots.
Warren Gatland’s eyes have been cast on budding players from the four home nations since the start of this year’s Six Nations, which upon conclusion saw Wales record a convincing triumph over second placed England, while Scotland finished third and Ireland in fifth.
It has been a huge topic of discussion and debate this week as the official Lions team was unveiled. Despite some surprising inclusions and omissions, there’s no doubt the naming of the team thrust the excitement of the Tour into overdrive as the first Lions v Australia clash looms ever closer.
Fans can continue to have their say about the Lions squad in the weekly rugby.com.au poll with this week’s asking who was the unluckiest player to miss out on the squad for this year’s Lions Tour to Australia? Chris Robshaw, Jonny Wilkinson, Kelly Brown, Rory Best or Paul James?
Have your say now.
