Lions Captain - No Nonsense Poll

This may not turn out to be thread of the year, but you know what to do.

Vote for who you would like to see captain the Lions in Australia.

Surely the four National captains should be on there?

Heaslip? Really?

Do we know what date the captain will be announced? It was around mid April last time I think.

I havent a clue who will be captain. Too many viable options.

theslosty wrote:Heaslip? Really?

Heaslip had an absolutly excellent record as captain prior to the 6N. His credentials were seldom questioned.

By contrast Robshaw and Warburton came under lots of critisism during the AIs for poor captaincy.

How fickle some rugby fans can be.

GunsGerms wrote:

theslosty wrote:Heaslip? Really?

Heaslip had an absolutly excellent record as captain prior to the 6N. His credentials were seldom questioned.

By contrast Robshaw and Warburton came under lots of critisism during the AIs for poor captaincy.

How fickle some rugby fans can be.

He'll do well to get on the plane, and I was a bit unimpressed with him as captain against South Africa, before the AIs.

If you must vote for him, vote other and state that you have voted for Heaslip.

Splash could win this poll ! Between him and BOD.

GunsGerms wrote:Do we know what date the captain will be announced? It was around mid April last time I think.

I havent a clue who will be captain. Too many viable options.

Paul O'Connell was announced as Lions captain on 21 April 2009.

I voted "Other" as I want them to break tradition and not name a Captain pre-tour.

I read somewhere (Guardian?) that Gatland was seriously considering this.

theslosty wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:Do we know what date the captain will be announced? It was around mid April last time I think.

I havent a clue who will be captain. Too many viable options.

Paul O'Connell was announced as Lions captain on 21 April 2009.

Wow early, so they think its all over ?

Australia won't be too worried who gets chosen...they'll just worry about who plays.

Heard Mcgeechan speak at a charity lunch...he said he was 90% sure that Sam Warburton had been told he will be captain...

The Splash's Splash is both inspirational and makes great media copy. The try-celebration is greatly under-used in rugby and as Lions' captain he'd encourage all our tries to be scored his way. Better than taking your shirt off anyway, although I would pay good money to see Adam Jones do a version of the Peter Crouch 'robot', should he ever score.

A Splash Haka before each test to Intimidate the Aussies???

Worth a think...............

theslosty wrote:Heaslip? Really?

If it is truly a no nonsense poll then why is Ashton there?

Gatland will bow to political pressure and pick the four National captains in his squad, so they surely are all at least contenders?

Another no nonsense glaring omission is Mr Rugby - Ronan O'Gara. Given his Lion's career history surely he should be given the chance to prove all the doubters wrong and actually lead the Lions in his farewell to arms? He gets to thumb his nose at Kidney/BOD/POC/Sexton/Wilko/Farrell/McRae/(basically everyone) and would give some really good sound bites.

If Gatland had any sense he would put all the contenders into a Big Brother house throughout April and get the public to vote for their favourite. Rugby needs to tap into popular culture far more.

If it is THAT no nonsense, then surely Gav has earned his place in the Big Brother run off, as has Cips.

Well I think we gotta find a way to get McGeechan to tour. He's used up all his Coaching cards...so maybe Captain might suit him this time? Come on, you all know The Lions will never win without him.

i voted other because i think the best person for the job even though he's not a captain at club or country and its Adam Jones he always gives 100% never has a bad game and he will have 100% respect off all the players IMO plus i also think hes the one closest to being first name on the sheet for the test

I presume Ashton is on there as a Joke.

Naming any captain pre-tour would only serve to limit selection options later on. Are there any players that are almost certain to be in the starting XV? Maybe (and I mean maybe) Adam Jones or Leigh Halfpenny but neither of whom are names commonly associated with captaincy.

It just strikes me as crazy that Warburton is not trusted with the captaincy with Wales but is supposed to be the dead-cert/only real option for the captaincy for the Lions.

fa0019 wrote:It just strikes me as crazy that Warburton is not trusted with the captaincy with Wales but is supposed to be the dead-cert/only real option for the captaincy for the Lions.

if we are going go with out standing leaders of the 6 nations the only ones that led by example are Kelly Brown and Ryan Jones so does that make them the out standing people for the job.

because the three people talk about BOD Robshaw and warburton have they problems

BOD is no longer Irelands captain.

Robshaw against Italy hid behind people when under pressure and on Scrum 5 they showed every time England were on the back foot Toby Flood was the one trying to rally the troops not Robshaw.

Warburton was in bad form coming into the 6 nations, so Ryan and Gethin took over the captaincy, and then warburton came back into a bit of form and when both players got subbed Warbs was only then given the captaincy.

So the one out standing captain really in Kelly Brown but i would really like Adam Jones to haave it

I voted for Kelly Brown, the guy is a fantastic rugby player and one of the most dependable players with the possibility of touring. I know that the backrow is an immensly competative area for Selection with all the usual names cropping up.

Kelly Brown for me has been outstanding all season for Scotland and for Saracens, to my knowlege and from what I have seen he has not had a single bad game and was fantastic for Scotland playing outside of his prefered position of blindside Flanker. A backrow of 6. Brown 7. Tipuric and either SOB or Faletau at 8 sounds good to me.

Kelly Brown is more than a great player though he is a man who has had to overcome some serious personal obstacles in his life, having had a problem with stuttering myself as a child it's fantastic to see someone like Kelly overcome this problem and captaining his country with such confdence and conducting himself very well in interview situations.

Couple that with the fact that he was 2nd in the tackle stats and 1st in the turnover stats in the 6N and you have a very solid candidate for the Lions. As I said the competition for the Flanker slots is huge but with Sarries having a good chance in the ERC and the premiership He'll have more of a chance than Warburton, and others to demonstrate how useful he'll be for the Tour.

I also think he'll be an easy captain to followm he has an intensity but is also a seemingly approachable and gregarious guy, just the sort for guy you would want to gel the players together.

My 2nd choice would be Robshaw.

Adam Jones has gone up in my estimation. Proper grown up rugby man, now with confidence of age & experience.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:I voted for Kelly Brown, the guy is a fantastic rugby player and one of the most dependable players with the possibility of touring. I know that the backrow is an immensly competative area for Selection with all the usual names cropping up.

Kelly Brown for me has been outstanding all season for Scotland and for Saracens, to my knowlege and from what I have seen he has not had a single bad game and was fantastic for Scotland playing outside of his prefered position of blindside Flanker. A backrow of 6. Brown 7. Tipuric and either SOB or Faletau at 8 sounds good to me.

Kelly Brown is more than a great player though he is a man who has had to overcome some serious personal obstacles in his life, having had a problem with stuttering myself as a child it's fantastic to see someone like Kelly overcome this problem and captaining his country with such confdence and conducting himself very well in interview situations.

Couple that with the fact that he was 2nd in the tackle stats and 1st in the turnover stats in the 6N and you have a very solid candidate for the Lions. As I said the competition for the Flanker slots is huge but with Sarries having a good chance in the ERC and the premiership He'll have more of a chance than Warburton, and others to demonstrate how useful he'll be for the Tour.

I also think he'll be an easy captain to followm he has an intensity but is also a seemingly approachable and gragarious guy, just the sort for guy you would want to gel the players together.

My 2nd choice would be Robshaw.

Acknowledging your national allegiances I was initially a little sceptical about you suggesting Brown, but in fairness that is a very strong case you have put forward there.

theslosty wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:I voted for Kelly Brown, the guy is a fantastic rugby player and one of the most dependable players with the possibility of touring. I know that the backrow is an immensly competative area for Selection with all the usual names cropping up.

Kelly Brown for me has been outstanding all season for Scotland and for Saracens, to my knowlege and from what I have seen he has not had a single bad game and was fantastic for Scotland playing outside of his prefered position of blindside Flanker. A backrow of 6. Brown 7. Tipuric and either SOB or Faletau at 8 sounds good to me.

Kelly Brown is more than a great player though he is a man who has had to overcome some serious personal obstacles in his life, having had a problem with stuttering myself as a child it's fantastic to see someone like Kelly overcome this problem and captaining his country with such confdence and conducting himself very well in interview situations.

Couple that with the fact that he was 2nd in the tackle stats and 1st in the turnover stats in the 6N and you have a very solid candidate for the Lions. As I said the competition for the Flanker slots is huge but with Sarries having a good chance in the ERC and the premiership He'll have more of a chance than Warburton, and others to demonstrate how useful he'll be for the Tour.

I also think he'll be an easy captain to followm he has an intensity but is also a seemingly approachable and gregarious guy, just the sort for guy you would want to gel the players together.

My 2nd choice would be Robshaw.

Acknowledging your national allegiances I was initially a little sceptical about you suggesting Brown, but in fairness that is a very strong case you have put forward there.

Thank you

I would also point out that the last time the Lions triumphed in Australia it was another underrated Scottish Flanker who captained the Lions to a stunning Victory by doing nothing flashy or fancy but by rolling up his sleeves and graffting hard. Finlay Calder anyone?

theslosty wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:

theslosty wrote:Heaslip? Really?

Heaslip had an absolutly excellent record as captain prior to the 6N. His credentials were seldom questioned.

By contrast Robshaw and Warburton came under lots of critisism during the AIs for poor captaincy.

How fickle some rugby fans can be.

He'll do well to get on the plane, and I was a bit unimpressed with him as captain against South Africa, before the AIs.

If you must vote for him, vote other and state that you have voted for Heaslip.

I havent voted for anyone because there are too many viable options. Its a lottery IMO.

I was quite unimpressed with O'Connell as captain in the last Lions series, I was unimpressed with Robshaw and Warburton in the AIs, Drico in the '07 WC, Best on occasion too. Doesnt mean any of them are bad captains nor is Heaslip.

He does need to tone down the off field stuff though and act like a captain at the coin toss and ditch the headphones. On the field he is no less deserving to be on the list than anyone else.

what about rennie !!

God, I hate these pages (site) that refuse to let you leave...The British and Irish Lions Homepage being one! That isn't good marketing btw, I won't be back lads.

alive555 wrote:what about rennie !!

Hear Rennie had a hell of a game at the weekend?

He did Blues, but I still wouldn't consider him, for the same reasons I wouldn't consider Lydiate. They will have no test level intensity matches between now and the Tour.

Kelly Brown would be a great shout, past that Robshaw.

Heaslip shouldn't tour imo

Since he has 8 votes, albeit closely followed by Splashton , I'll put forward a case for BOD.

First of all, not being the Ireland captain really isn't a big deal at all. He still has such a massive aura in that team that only POC can even compare to.
It would be a massive call to leave him out of the Test XV, fitness permitting, as he has that something that no one else in the (future) squad does, never mind the other fancied-centres. He wasn't at his best for 4 of the 5 games of the 6N, but a clueless management, a dominated pack, horrific weather conditions, and some nervy fly halves didn't really give an outside centre a chance to shine.
Inspirational, passionate, experienced, composed.
These are all good qualities, and BOD has all of them. He is a man who commands respect.

And IMO it shouldn't have to go to this, but he has had 3 desperately unlucky Lions tours, most particularly as captain in 2005, and this could be his swansong.

I would say there are 4 other contenders who have realistic shouts.
Warburton is a great player, who has recently rediscovered his form, but even so this has come to late for me, and he has lost some confidence as a captain.
Robshaw again is a fantastic rugby player, who had a great 6N, but I am a bit unconvinced by his captaincy of England, although it is fair to say he hasn't let it affect his own form. Unfortunately for him I just couldn't start him in the Test backrow at the moment.
Brown is a really underrated player, who has also led Scotland through thick and thin as captain. However, he does not fit into my favoured backrow atm of SOB at 6, Tipuric or Warburton at 7, and Faletau at 8.
Tbh I haven't seen a lot of AWJ since his comeback, so I can't really pass judgement on him right now. Sorry.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:He did Blues, but I still wouldn't consider him, for the same reasons I wouldn't consider Lydiate. They will have no test level intensity matches between now and the Tour.

I watched Rennie perform as good as any backrow forward for the full 80 mins this season, and he hit the ground running from the first minute, and made some decent hits as well. Gatland has four games to assess him and I am convinced he will be ready to board the plane for Oz. A few games over there and he will be putting his hand up for test selection. The guy in my opinion is by far the best contender for the 7 shirt in the NH

Same goes for Lydiate on the blindside

I think Ryan Jones should be the tour captain as all the attributes required for the job and think he should play 8,

Test backrow if fit and on form

8 Jones (c)
7 Rennie
6 Lydiate

I still personaly do not think that BOD will go on the lions tour. So that rules him out.

I still think the captain will either be Chris Robshaw, or Sam Warburton.

But seeing that Warren Gatland is in charge of the Lions and that Warren Gatland is in charge of Wales then i think the captain will be Sam Warburton.

I think its gone back to a straight choice between Warburton and Robshaw, Best was my front runner for sometime but seems to have dipped of late.

If it's a tour captain, then you'd struggle to find a better role model than Sam Warburton. Though he isn't a cert to start of course, but I imagine Gatland will look at who he can say for definite will conduct himself correctly.

Then again, if it's going to be an old school type tour where players will be allowed to cut loose with a few beers, then Warby won't be the best guy, as he seldom drinks. Ryan Jones would be an excellent choice, given how articulate he is.

You could really make a strong case for a number of candidates.

Risca Rev wrote:If it's a tour captain, then you'd struggle to find a better role model than Sam Warburton. Though he isn't a cert to start of course, but I imagine Gatland will look at who he can say for definite will conduct himself correctly.

Then again, if it's going to be an old school type tour where players will be allowed to cut loose with a few beers, then Warby won't be the best guy, as he seldom drinks. Ryan Jones would be an excellent choice, given how articulate he is.

You could really make a strong case for a number of candidates.

I think he may get the job. Warbs and Tipuric were the best flankers in the six nations and most likely to start.

I like AW Jones. He has been a superb captain for the Ospreys.

I think Gatland should break with tradition and name the Captain at the end of the tour. That will confuse those fecking Aussies

RubyGuby wrote:I think Gatland should break with tradition and name the Captain at the end of the tour. That will confuse those fecking Aussies

Not naming the captain prior to the squad is confusing the poms.

bedfordwelsh wrote:I think its gone back to a straight choice between Warburton and Robshaw, Best was my front runner for sometime but seems to have dipped of late.

Anyone else think that Warbs 'losing' the Welsh captaincy was a deliberate ploy by Gats to justify not making him captain? Too much of a coincidence for my liking and my guess is Sam in in on it too.

In which case that leaves Robshaw and O'Driscoll.....

In BOD we trust and I give him my stamp of approval

When BOD got injured in 05, did he retain the official captaincy?

I think they should have a tour Capt - BOD and then select a match captain for each match.

None of the potential captains are sure of a place in the matchday squad.

The Lions already have hardly any time to play together, they can't afford to compound that by chopping and changing the team every game.

If Gatland doesn't have the backbone to pick a captain it would show a lack of confidence in his players that sends entirely the wrong message to the Ozzies.

Previous lions tours have been handicapped by the picking of a captain who turned out to be not worth his place in the side. I think my suggestion would work

O'Connell, O'Driscoll, Johnson weren't worth a place in their sides?

Anyway it would seem Gatland doesn't agree with you -
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/lions-captain-already-picked-says-gatland-20130329-2gy47.html

I'm not sure I can remember a situation with the Lions where the obvious choices for captain are not automatic selections in their positions?

Given the intense competition for a back row start, I would not be surprised to see the captain selected from elsewhere. Inspite of Gatland claiming that the captain will not be an automatic selection if not merited it would be unusual to pick a captain that is not expected to guarantee a start.

If Gatland thinks that either AWJ or Jenkins is his number one lock and LH then they could be in with a shout - similar situation with BOD.

O'Connell was part of the Munster outfit that got smashed up front by Glasgow at the weekend. He'll need a belter of a performance in the HC to salvage his chance at becoming a tourist.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:O'Connell was part of the Munster outfit that got smashed up front by Glasgow at the weekend. He'll need a belter of a performance in the HC to salvage his chance at becoming a tourist.

Not sure its POCs fault Munster are dire right now.

They are but he didn't do his credentials any good when he is getting outplayed by Ruck inspector Kellock.