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Published 13:32 13 Apr 2017 BST
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"You have to remember that if you are picking a team to go down and play the two-time world champions, you have to look at who has played against them recently and who has won against them recently. There's only going to be one team from the four that can say they've done both."Seemed like a water-tight argument to us. However, Ireland had a second place finish in this year's Six Nations championship and lost to Scotland and Wales in getting there. The final day caning of England helps and so does the Champions Cup and PRO12 form of Munster and Leinster. On a Lions special of The Hard Yards rugby podcast, our expert panel all agreed on eight Irish players that will definitely travel south to take on the All Blacks this summer. Ronan O'Gara, Kevin McLaughlin, Fionn Carr and Andy McGeady all heckled me when I suggested Rory Best was 'not locked in' so I bowed to their rugby knowledge. Here are the Irish players we feel will definitely represent the Lions this summer: Jack McGrath, Rory Best & Tadhg Furlong
Sean O'Brien & CJ Stander
Conor Murray & Johnny Sexton
Robbie Henshaw
Anything after those eight is bonus territory but 10 or 11 Irish tourists should not be too much of a stretch in a squad that could include up to 39 men.
As for the 'probables', Iain Henderson tops a lot of lists while O'Gara argued that past tourists Keith Earls and Simon Zebo should be on the plane.
There was a case made for Peter O'Mahony, Devin Toner, Garry Ringrose and Jared Payne, while O'Gara and McLaughlin waxed lyrical about Sean 'Nugget' Cronin as an impact sub.Fans tear into Leo Cullen after the Leinster boss slams media actions
A war of words! Following Leinster’s defeat of Toulon yesterday, head coach Leo Cullen took advantage of the situation to rub it into what he perceives as an unfair media. Despite continued appearances in Champions Cup finals and a semi-final loss to Northampton last year, as well as URC titles, Leinster do face their fair […]
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This is great! Ahead of their Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster this afternoon at the Aviva Stadium, Toulon were seen training in a rather unusual spot. Instead of a field or the gym, they were filmed on a Dublin street doing maul drills, while others causally tossed the ball around. It is unclear exactly where […]
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