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Published 18:07 7 Apr 2021 BST
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O'BRIEN: What do you think of Keith Earls on the right wing? WARBURTON: You're right. That's a good shout! O'BRIEN: No-one has spoken about him, or mentioned him on their teams, but he has been unbelievable. WARBURTON: I was watching him the other day and was thinking, 'How many people have gone on a Lions Tour to start, leapfrogged two tours, and come back 12 years later?' I'm not sure too many have come back into the mix. But that's a great shout. And he's versatile too.Versatile. A word we will be hearing plenty of in the coming weeks, as Lions head coach Warren Gatland narrows down his options for the 2021 tour to South Africa. It is a word that Earls may come to cherish if his passport is stamped and he gets to be a Lion for the second time in his career, and first time since he headed to South Africa as a 21-year-old 'bolter' in 2009. [caption id="attachment_226557" align="aligncenter" width="2048"]
Keith Earls makes a run for the Lions on the 2009 Tour to South Africa. (Credit: Getty Images)[/caption]
Gatland selected squads of 40+ players in 2013 and 2017 - both of which included Warburton and O'Brien - but he may be limited to 35 or 36 as the Lions face into a tour that may not involve all eight games that were part of the original plan.
If Gatland must travel with a smaller squad, players that can cover multiple positions would be highly valued. This automatically boosts the chances of:
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