A YEAR out from the 2025 Lions tour of Australia it’s still hard to imagine that the Irish will not dominate the squad selected by head coach Andy Farrell.
Despite Ireland’s loss to England in the Six Nations, and Leinster’s defeat by Toulouse in last weekend’s European Cup final, the Irish are still the side setting the highest levels of performance and consistency in Northern Hemisphere rugby.
However, England players have a much better chance of challenging for Lions places now than they did in the middle of the Six Nations. They were pretty ordinary until the stunning performance against Ireland, and then attacked strongly enough to have a chance of beating France in Lyon, before being edged out.
I gave England an overall tournament score of 6.5 out of 10 and, although we need more evidence of whether they have truly turned the corner, the indications are that they are back as an international force.
Pre-World Cup we had Ireland, France, New Zealand and South Africa as the top tier Test nations, any of whom could have beaten the other. Below that were Scotland, England, Wales, Argentina, Australia, and Fiji – but if England do well on their summer tour against New Zealand, it will put English players strongly back in Lions contention.
There was a danger of dipping after losing players as influential as Owen Farrell, when he retired at international level before the Six Nations. But the good news is the way new England captain Jamie George has made such a strong transition in taking over the leadership.
George could also be a contender for the 2025 Lions captaincy because it is so important to bring the tour party together very quickly – and the Saracens hooker has showed with England the positive influence he has because of his empathy, “Ireland are still the side setting the highest levels of performance”
trustworthiness, putting the team first, and communications skills.
However, the front runner for the captaincy is Caelan Doris. The Ireland and Leinster No.8 ticks all the boxes in terms of being a Test starter, leading from the front, and being a key figure in the historic Irish series win in New Zealand in 2022, and in their 2023 Grand Slam.
Their track record, with Ireland also retaining the Six Nations title this season, is why the likes of Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong are a potential Lions Test front row, while impressive new kid on the block Joe McCarthy is a second row contender alongside Tadhg Beirne.
Add to that an Irish back row contingent that, even without Doris, is overflowing with talent like Josh van der Flier, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan and veteran Peter O’Mahony, and the competition for places in the Lions pack – and the back row in particular – will be off the charts.
Even an obvious England contender like Ben Earl might have a job getting past the Iris
