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'One of the most famous players that didn't tour' picks 2025 Lions XV
By Josh Raisey
Former England internationals Danny Care and Mark Atkinson have picked eight Englishmen in their ideal British and Irish Lions starting XV to face Australia in the first Test next year.
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The pair thrashed out their best XV on the Hits Differently podcast recently, with six Irishmen and one Scot also making their team.
Despite making 101 appearances for England, Care never made a Lions tour, though he was described by the one-cap Atkinson as āone of the most famous players that didnāt tourā.
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A theme throughout the team is a battle between Irish and English players, with two English players getting the nod in the front-row. There is an Anglo-Irish propping combination of Ellis Genge and Tadhg Furlong, with Care saying the Bristol loosehead brings āraw powerā and āwants to hurt peopleā, while the Leinster star āchanged the game in terms of tighthead propsā.
England captain Jamie George got the nod in the No 2 shirt, though it appeared to be a flip-of-a-coin between him and Dan Sheehan, with Care describing them both as āworld-classā.
There is once again and Irish and English combination in the second-row, with Atkinson describing the No 4 position as the āeasiest position to pick right nowā. Maro Itoje was selected to partner Munsterās Tadhg Beirne in the second-row, with the Saracen tipped to return for his third tour.
There was a greater debate when selecting the back-row, however, with the duo eventually settling on a trio of Courtney Lawes, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris, who was selected as captain. Though Lawes retired from Test rugby after last yearās World Cup, and is currently playing in Franceās Pro D2, Atkinson said āif we see the same Courtney as at Saints last season, still performing, I find it hard to leave him out of any team.ā
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Irelandās Jamison Gibson-Park was understandably selected at scrum-half by Care, who described him as āthe best scrum-half at the moment,ā but added that he is āclosely followed by Alex Mitchellā. The Ireland and Leinster star has been picked to partner England No 10 Marcus Smith, who will compete with Scotlandās Finn Russell, as āthe gameplan doesnāt changeā with both attacking players vying to start.
The pair settled on a powerful centre combination of Bundee Aki and Ollie Lawrence. Atkinson, a former centre, was effusive in his praise for the Ireland No 12, saying āheās come from being a very, very, okay playerā¦ then suddenly, about four years ago, it was like overnight he became world-class,ā adding that both he and Lawrence are not just ball-carriers.
There is equally plenty of power on the wings, with Duhan van der Merwe picked to partner Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. Atkinson said there ādoesnāt feel like thereās anyone else to wear that shirtā other than 2021 tourist Van der Merwe, while Care said that his former England team-mate Feyi-Waboso has āgot unbelievable gas, raw power, his stepping is unbelievable,ā and that āheās as close to a Cheslin Kolbe as England have gotā.
Full-back was similar to the hooker, with another flip-of-a-coin selection, with both choosing Englandās George Furbank marginally ahead of Irelandās Hugo Keenan, although, with Andy Farrell head coach, he may well go with one of his preferred players.
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Danny Care and Mark Atkinsonās Lions XV (Back-ups)
1. Ellis Genge (Andrew Porter, Joe Marler)
2. Jamie George (Dan Sheehan)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Kyle Sinckler)
4. Maro Itoje
5. Tadhg Beirne
6. Courtney Lawes (Chandler Cunningham-South)
7. Josh van der Flier (Tom Curry)
8. Caelan Doris ā captain
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Alex Mitchell, Tomos Williams)
10. Marcus Smith (Finn Russell)
11. Duhan van der Merwe (James Lowe)
12. Bundee Aki
13. Ollie Lawrence
14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
15. George Furbank (Hugo Keenan)
Picking Genge in the starting line up is an almost funny joke. He is not the best English loosehead and I'm not even sure he's the best loosehead in Bristol Bears.
Who is danny care????not a flying hope that team will be chosen,typical english arrogant attitude.andy farrell will choose the best,and id imagine 8 irish players not english starting,we do want to win afterall.the boks and ireland are at the moment ranked best teams in the world,ireland be far more successful in last few years than england.when gatland was in charge he chose a lot of welsh players as they were flying high at the time,what have england achieved lately???
Fantasy rugby at its worst!
Never gonna happen though.
Andrew Porter
Dan Sheehan
Tadhg Furlonh
Maro Itoje
Tadhg Beirne
Josh van der Flier
Caelan Doris
Jamison Gibson-Park
Finn Russell
Duhan van der Merwe
Bundee Aki
Huw Jones
James Lowe
George Furbank
Nice! What about blindside? It'd be between JVDF and Jac Morgan for 7 for me and Kinghorn at fullback, he's been immense for Toulouse. Huw Jones definitely, need at least one ball playing centre. I suppose it's all irrelevant anyway, whatever team goes out there will likely smash the hapless Aussies!
Lads the outrage click articles are getting out of control, I nearly threw up reading that team š¤¢