BOD will be Lions captain.

I will take a small forfeit i.e. user name change etc..
if BOD isn't the Lions captain.

The writing is on the wall momentum is building in the media on how good he is also giving seminars in front of some influential people.
Just watch and see.
Also i reckon Warburton will be the vice captain.

Im not saying it's a bad thing he is a good captain.

Will he even make the tour his body is pretty much in bits. If fit and on form then no problem with it

I doubt very much if BOD will even go on the Lions tour. to be honest.
He is starting to lose his mojo in my opinion.

Regards to Warburton!!! Altough i would not like to see him on tour due to his form ( at the moment) the 6ns will see if he is good enough or not.

This tour should be a tour that the Lions should be going their to "WIN" and not give 30 or so players a bit of experience of playing SH Teams.

We have all heard that the KIWI's have a duty to (win every game.) And with Warren Gatland being a KIWI, Surely he would want too win the series against Australia.

But what every body seems to forget, is that Warren Gatland will be the one with the final say.

You watch him pull some stunning performances out if the bag before the season is over.

He will have to go back to form he saw perhaps 3-4 years ago to edge out Tuilagi out of the 13 jersey....unlikely given he's the wrong side of 30 and coming off a longish injury.

I'd also have Davies ahead of him.

If he tours he will be a senior player with a lot of influence but it would take a massive effort to just get on the plane.

BOD will be Tour captain IMO but i think that will be a separate position from playing captain

I don't think BOD will take that.... he's a top class player in his own right... he wants to test... not be the face of the tour.

I don't think there'll be a tour captain. I also think BOD might be taken more as a captain for the dirt trackers too.

I wouldn't mind if he was, its probably his last hurrah. He will be exceptionally motivated to go out with glory and he's a good Captain.

But he wouldn't be my choice unless he can make himself undisputed first choice. He tours if he's fit of course. Just for the experience and mentality.

You dont pick a captain if hes not the best in the position and Tuilagi will get the 13 pos.

Sentimental selection at best and too much internal pressure to have a captain yapping away all tour when hes not likely to start.

He should go and will play a Mike Gibson similar role as in 1977. Still talented, but no longer first pick (Though I would have picked Gibson in 77 over Fenwick who had limited skills and speed and a pure rough and tumble centre not in Gibsons class).

Also all the tour about him being captain is strange, we all know POC ruled the Irish dressing room!!!

BOD will be wrapped up in cotton wool from here until the tour, but he is by far behind the likes of Tuilagi, Davies and possibly Roberts, and with the likes of Bowe and North able to play 13 he's going to have a lot to prove.

I personaly do not think he will go. to be honest.

After getting a lot of the reruns last couple of years a more refined and hopefully wiser Cooper, Horwill and most of all Jason OConnor will be back for the W's.

That boy sure is talented and Oz have missed him a lot this year.

This is going to be a very interesting series.

If the Ozzies are fit they can field a backline of

9. Genia
10. Cooper
11. Vuna
12. O'Connor
13. Ashley-Cooper
14. Ioane
15. Beale

Which is a pretty devastating group of players.

I hope they can, as they can play running rugby like few others when they get going, and i'd like to see the Lions match that style and beat them at it too!!

Can't wait!!!!!!!!

I'd say

9- Genia
10- Cooper
11- O'Connor
12- Barnes
13- Ashley Cooper
14- Ioane
15- Beale

Is even better

CJ, forgot about Barnes, his kicking game in the AI's killed us. Not a bad backline either, whichever way you put it, the have a hell of a lot of talent there.

ChequeredJersey wrote:I'd say

9- Genia
10- Cooper
11- O'Connor
12- Barnes
13- Ashley Cooper
14- Ioane
15- Beale

Is even better

I'd say

9 - Genia
10 - Cooper
11 - O'Connor
12 - Folau
13 - AAC
14 - Ioane
15 - Beale

Is even better

Taylorman wrote:After getting a lot of the reruns last couple of years a more refined and hopefully wiser Cooper, Horwill and most of all Jason OConnor will be back for the W's.

That boy sure is talented and Oz have missed him a lot this year.

This is going to be a very interesting series.

That will be James O'Connor then

Manu is no were near BOD, Manu can't pass for a start.
JD2 is by far the better 13 then Manu aswell.

Izzy will benchpress both Manu and JDwho? before breakfast.

Is Cooper inconsideration for Oz again, I tyhought they would be a bit tired of him at this stage. Beale looked incredibly comfortable at flyhalf, I would have him there in my team.

Manu looked like he could pass when he was instrumental in beating NZ though view...

I was waiting for the "when we beat NZ " line to come out.

Problem is he hasn't been that good against teams who are not suffering from the norovirus.

The NZ win was nothing more than a blip, a pebble dropped into the ocean.

Good point, other people suffering from Norovirus several days beforehand has been demonstrated to artificially improve one's inclination and ability to pass

I am very confident BOD will tour and relatively confident that he will start the three tests whether at 12 or 13 I am unsure.

The game he got injured in was against a full string Cardiff team and he was cutting them to ribbons, hadn't seen him so attack focussed individually in a long time.

Favourite to be captain I think

6 months is a long time in rugby though pete.

Fingers crossed for us him but anything can happen in that time.

I think Warburton is a good captain but to inexperienced to captain the Lions,
it has to be BOD if you ask me.

Linebreaker wrote:6 months is a long time in rugby though pete.

Fingers crossed for us him but anything can happen in that time.

Very true he deserves to captain a winning Lions tour.
If he ends his career due to an injury before then it will break my heart

I'd love to see BOD tour and if he's on fit/in form I wouldn't mind seeing him as captain. He's done a good job for every team he's skippered. If there's one rugby player who deserved to win a world cup it was BOD for me. Though you could name many more.

I'd love to see him in form as we've seen over and over again in recent years that a power game wont beat Australia. Whilst Tuilagi's a very powerful runner Aus no how to counter it therefore I'd much rather see Roberts with Davies/BOD (or maybe 12.Davies 13.Tuilagi). Obviously this is just speculation with injuries.