Andy Farrell will announce his squad in front of 2,000 fans at London’s O2
Perhaps, in many ways, Wales’ Lions hopefuls are in the perfect place when it comes to Thursday’s squad selection for the tour of Australia.
While 2,000-odd fans watching on from the O2 in London, with millions more tuning in from afar, those would-be Welsh tourists from the four Welsh clubs will be miles away in different parts of South Africa ahead of the penultimate round of United Rugby Championship fixtures – adrift of the pandemonium that comes with the quadrennial announcement.
When the big screens in the O2 cut to reaction shots around the clubs as Lions are called out, it seems unlikely that they’ll have much joy picking up a signal while the Ospreys are on the bus from the airport in Durban, or wherever Cardiff’s team meeting is.
Hopefully though, they’ll at least have reason to try. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
Welsh tourists on this summer’s excursion to Australia could be few and far between – with the bookies having just two players, Jac Morgan and Tomos Williams, as odds on to make Andy Farrell’s squad.
The rest are just longshots, with the likely prospect that this will be Wales’ lowest post-war contingent – beating the previous low of five in 1993.
Much has been said about the few Welsh contenders, but just as important is who they will need to get past in order to seal their place in the squad.
Starting with Wales captain Morgan, the back-row is perhaps the most competitive of any area. All of Josh Van der Flier, Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Rory Darge, Jack Willis, Jamie Ritchie, Tommy Reffell and both Curry brothers – Tom and Ben – are deserving of mention.
Even then, there’s likely others to have been missed out.
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Taulupe Faletau, bidding for his fourth Lions tour, is facing the same task as Morgan. Caelan Doris’ injury has perhaps opened the door slightly in terms of No. 8, but the Cardiff talisman still has to get past Tom Willis or his 2021 Lions team-mate Jack Conan.
Looking at Wales’ other ‘odds-on’ player, scrum-half is at least a little easier to list the contenders.
Jamison Gibson-Park’s seat on the plane has been safe for some time, as has Alex Mitchell’s. Williams’ place is seemingly dependent on whether he gets the nod ahead of Scotland’s Ben White.
Given Wales’ dismal run of defeats, Test rugby showings probably falls in favour of White. But the Scot doesn’t feature that regularly for Toulon, while Williams has been in scintillating form for Gloucester.
Going through the rest of Wales’ runners and riders, Dafydd Jenkins could be one to sneak into the second-row mix.
Likely captain Maro Itoje is nailed on, as is Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne. George Martin has been ruled out through injury, so that’s one less contender to try squeeze in.
Ultimately, it’s one of Joe McCarthy, Ollie Chessum or Scott Cummings that Jenkins will have to usurp.
Another recent Wales captain, Dewi Lake, faces a battle to force his way in. Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan is probably the only nailed-on player in his position.
Compatriot Ronan Kelleher will be in the mix, as will England duo Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jamie George. Even though the latter doesn’t captain England or even start for them, George has been gaining some traction in many pundits’ squads for his leadership.
Missing the start of the Six Nations – even if it was a miserable campaign – may have left Lake with a little bit too much to do. That’s a shame, because if he gets the call, the powerful hooker – perhaps more than most – will thrive in the Lions environment.
Elsewhere in the front-row, Nicky Smith has been a popular pick by some pundits for his scrummaging ability. However, with the three leading looseheads being Ireland’s Andrew Porter, England’s Ellis Genge and Scotland’s Pierre Schoeman, Smith faces a tough task breaking through.
The same goes for Gareth Thomas, who caught the eye of Opta for his defensive work – having averaged 16 tackles per 80 minutes since the 2023 World Cup.
One popular ‘bolter’ – if he can be called that – is Wales full-back Blair Murray. Sam Warburton picked him in his squad, but he has a tricky task getting into a stacked back-three.
In terms of full-back, there’s Scotland’s Blair Kinghorn and Ireland’s Hugo Keenan – while Scotland back Tom Jordan can cover there as well as midfield if Farrell fancies him.
On the wing, England’s Tommy Freeman is the form man, while James Lowe, Duhan van der Merwe, Darcy Graham and Mack Hansen are all pushing for a place.
