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Dylan Hartley picks his British and Irish Lions XV

Lions' Dan Biggar leaves the field in Wellington in 2017 with Eanna Falvey for a medical check-up (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Former England captain Dylan Hartley has chosen Maro Itoje and Tadhg Beirne as his second-row partnership in his starting British and Irish Lions XV this summer.

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In a squad that is going to contain an abundance of world-class locks, Hartley chose Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones and Beirne’s Ireland teammate James Ryan in his secondary squad, although he did name the Welshman his tour captain.

“Everyone’s wondering where Alun Wyn Jones is, and he’s the back-up to Mr Maro Itoje,” the 97-cap hooker said on RugbyPass Offload this week.

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Hartley blasts the England debrief:

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      Hartley blasts the England debrief:

      “They’re both workhorses. They’re both annoyingly good workhorses. So if one of them gets injured or you want to bring a like-for-like on, they’re very similar grafting players.”

      Beirne is rewarded for his outstanding Guinness Six Nations, where he was a nominee for Player of the Championship. The winner of that gong, Hamish Watson, has also made the squad, alongside Tom Curry and Taulupe Faletau in the back-row.

      Hartley’s former Northampton Saints teammate Dan Biggar has also made his team at fly-half on the back of a catalogue of fine displays for club and country in 2021. He is partnered with his Welsh teammate Gareth Davies inside him.

      One position that will have to change is outside centre, where Harley picked George North. The newly fashioned No13 has since been ruled out of the tour with a ruptured ACL.

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      North would have been in many people’s starting XV against the Springboks before he picked up the injury last weekend playing for the Ospreys. Hartley chose Henry Slade as his back-up option to the Welshman at outside centre.

      With less than a week before Warren Gatland names his 36-man squad, only those playing in the European semi-finals this weekend have a final chance to impress him.

      Hartley’s Lions XV:
      1 Mako Vunipola
      2 Luke-Cowan Dickie
      3 Tadhg Furlong
      4 Maro Itoje
      5 Tadhg Beirne
      6 Tom Curry
      7 Hamish Watson
      8 Taulupe Faletau
      9 Gareth Davies
      10 Dan Biggar
      11 Duhan van der Merwe
      12 Robbie Henshaw
      13 George North
      14 Anthony Watson
      15 Stuart Hogg

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      J
      JW 1 hour ago
      アンディ・グッド:オーストラリアのコメントは彼らを栄光で覆い隠さなかった

      Yes I was happy with the refs ruling of arrival (and that the tackled player wasn’t obligated to release the ball immediately) but if you see the wide angle you can note how Morgan dives to get there in time.


      I don’t mind your (or the refs) view, but what Morgan said is accurate. Both Mils and Beaver agreed on the breakdown, and you will also get the same view from Aotearoa Rugby Pod guys for a pretty unanimous NZ view.

      Sometimes when both players are low its a rugby collision and this is one of those times.

      Not recently. In the SR finals and AB v Arg series weve seen players clearly bent 90 at the waist still be penalised, only when the attacker does something the ref sees immediate mitigation and rules a rugby incident. Tizzano didn’t offer that he was always in the position Morgan aimed to collect him in.


      Happy to not throw the rule book at these situations but the precent is that they are in these situations.

      many tries out wide the player is allowed to be tackled while diving

      They are diving for the line, not to avoid being tackled.

      “In principle, in a try scoring situation, if the action is deemed to be a dive forward for a try, then it should be permitted. If a player is deemed to have left the ground to avoid a tackle; or to jump, or hurdle a potential tackler, then this is dangerous play and should be sanctioned accordingly.”

      You can read Nicks article for an updated discourse on this though.

      30 Go to comments
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