Ronan O’Gara picks his Lions team and has bad news for several Irishmen

The guys pick a Lions starting XV, discuss the Irish players on the plane and we get an insight into what Warren Gatland is thinking.

Ronan O'Gara, Kev McLaughlin and debutant Fionn Carr join SportsJOE's Pat McCarry and host Andy McGeady on The Hard Yards this week. O'Gara's has a fair few Irish players in his Lions XV but fears not many more will make Warren Gatland's squad. His Lions team is:

McGrath, Best, Furlong; AW Jones, Itoje; Stander, O'Brien, B Vunipola; Murray, Sexton; L Williams, Henshaw, Davies, North; Hogg.

Here's what the guys are discussing on the podcast. 01:30 - The three guys discuss the Lions front row combination 07:00 - Alun Wyn Jones, Maro Itoje, Devin Toner, Joe Launchbury or George Kruis in the second row? 10:25 - CJ Stander and Billy Vunipola are in, but who takes the number 7 jersey? 15:00 - ROG, Fionn and Kev all agree on who should play at #9 and #10 19:00 - Who plays at outside centre? 20:20 - The left wing position is a difficult one, the boys went with three different choices 24:00 - The argument for and against starting George North 25:30 - Who plays at full back for the Lions? 27:00 - The Irish players that are in a fight to be selected in the squad (Best, Henderson, Zebo, Toner, Earls, Ringrose, Heaslip, O'Mahony, Payne) 34:15 - Bolters! Who is in with an outside chance of making the squad? 39:00 - Rugby World's Paul Williams names his Lions starting XV 44:10 - Paul tells us what he thinks Gatland will do with the back row 46:25 - Can the Lions beat New Zealand playing in the Gatland style? 50:40 - Hayley O'Connor from Ladbrokes gives us the latest Lions odds