Warren Gatland has given his Wales side a brutal dose of reality by including none of them in a British & Irish Lions team based on performances in the recently-concluded Six Nations.
In his regular column for the Telegraph Sport, Gatland picked a hypothetical Lions matchday-23 following the Six Nations, which was won by an unbeaten Ireland side.
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Unsurprisingly, 10 of Ireland’s Grand Slam-winning team made Gatland’s starting lineup, with a further two on the bench.
However, the New Zealander, who returned as Wales head coach after the sacking of Wayne Pivac, picked none of his players after Wales endured a terrible campaign, marred by off-field contractual insecurity, where they won just one game, against Italy.
Somewhat controversially, Gatland did not pick any of the players who were injured for the final round of the Six Nations, which means there is no space for Scotland duo Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg or Ireland centre Garry Ringrose.
Gatland served as Lions head coach on three consecutive tours (2013, 2017 and 2021) and was assistant coach during the tour of South Africa in 2009.
“If I was to pick a Lions side to play a Test match next weekend, I would not have any of my Wales players in the 23,” Gatland wrote in the Telegraph.
“It is simply a reflection of where we are as a team right now. I thought we improved as the Six Nations went on, but we still have a long way to go.
“I am confident that we will get better, and it would be interesting to see if we do this exercise again after the World Cup warm-up games and the World Cup itself, how much it would change. ”
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Warren Gatland’s British & Irish Lions team – 15. Hugo Keenan (Ireland), 14. Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), 13. Huw Jones (Scotland), 12. Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland), 11. James Lowe (Ireland), 10. Johnny Sexton (Ireland), 9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland), 8. Caelan Doris (Ireland), 7. Josh van der Flier (Ireland), 6. Jack Conan (Ireland), 5. Maro Itoje (England), 4. James Ryan (Ireland), 3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), 2. Dan Sheehan (Ireland), 1. Ellis Genge (England).
Subs: 16. George Turner (Scotland), 17. Andrew Porter (Ireland), 18. Zander Fagerson (Scotland), 19. Jonny Gray (Scotland), 20. Jamie Ritchie (Scotland), 21. Alex Mitchell (England), 22. Owen Farrell (England), 23. Robbie Henshaw (Ireland).
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