Wales' Jones to captain British and Irish Lions

Welsh legend Alun Wyn Jones will lead a strong British and Irish Lions team on their tour to South Africa packed with surprises and loads of talk of omissions.

Coach Warren Gatland managed to keep his cards close to his chest and confound many of the pundits who selected squads before the time, and will be confident he has a group of players that won’t only be hard for the Boks to study as a unit, but who pack attacking options all around.

The inclusion of South African born winger Duhan van der Merwe will add some spice to the selection, and the former Bulls player will be a focus for the South African fans from the start.

Add to that the composition of the squad – English players’ chances were definitely hurt by the way they performed in the Six Nations – Gatland still managed to pick a good mix of nations in the 37-man squad (one more than initially planned).

The Originals, 1888
The Invincibles, 1974
The heroes of 1997
The Unbeaten Tours of 2013, 2017

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The squad includes 11 England players, 10 Welsh players, eight from Ireland and 8 Scottish players to make it one of the most balanced – in terms of regional selection – teams that the Lions have picked.

Some of the players who were considered bolters have been standout stars in the European club scene – like Exeter Chiefs number eight Sam Simmonds, who was the top try scorer in the Premiership last season and the reigning European player of the year.

Others, like Hamish Watson have been the subject of much debate whether or not he is too small for the Lions, but his form for Edinburgh has swung that in his favour.

Welsh youngster Louis Rees-Zammit was an obvious choice but many would be looking at those who haven’t made the squad as the surprises.

Those players include the two Vunipola brothers Billy and Mako, Manu Tuilagi, the Welsh centre Jonathan Davies and Irish kingpin Johnny Sexton. England prop Kyle Sinckler is also a notable name missing as is Irish lock James Ryan, who was widely tipped to make the squad.

But in the players Gatland has picked he has options to play it wide or front up physically and it will be fascinating to see the test squad when it gets closer to the series.

“We believe we’ve picked a squad capable of winning a test series in South Africa,” said Gatland.

“Selecting a Lions squad is never easy and, in many ways, this has been the most challenging selection I have been involved in. Over the course of the last three weeks the coaches and I have rigorously debated each position.

“We saw some outstanding performance in the recent Six Nations, so competition for places has been tough with some incredibly tight calls to make.

“However, we are very happy with the squad we have assembled and look forward to meeting up in Jersey in just over a month’s time to start our preparation to take on the World Champions. We’ve left out some very talented players which gives an indication to the strength of this squad and we know how important that stand-by list will be.

“Being selected for a Lions Tour is the greatest honour for a British and Irish player and I congratulate everyone named today.”

BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS SQUAD

Backs: Josh Adams (Wales), Bundee Aki (Ireland), Dan Biggar (Wales), Elliot Daly (England), Gareth Davies (Wales), Owen Farrell (England), Chris Harris (Scotland), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Conor Murray (Ireland) Ali Price (Scotland), Louis Rees-Zammit (Wales), Finn Russell (Scotland), Duhan Van Der Merwe (Scotland), Anthony Watson (England), Liam Williams (Wales)

Forwards: Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), Jack Conan (Ireland) Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), Tom Curry (England), Zander Fagerson (Scotland) Taulupe Faletau (Wales), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland) Jamie George (England), Iain Henderson (Ireland), Jonny Hill (England), Maro Itoje (England), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales), Wyn Jones (Wales), Courtney Lawes (England), Ken Owens (Wales), Andrew Porter (Ireland), Sam Simmonds (England), Rory Sutherland (Scotland), Justin Tipuric (Wales), Mako Vunipola (England) Hamish Watson (Scotland).