Lions lured into gamblers' den

Chris Hewett says Fran Cotton's squad is fraught with potential disaster

Neutral referees, the top hotels, more money than the average Swiss bank and a backroom staff oozing experience, imagination and technical know-how. For eight long months, the Lions management had left nothing to chance in their pursuit of victory over the world champions in this summer's three-Test series. And then came yesterday's squad announcement.

The best-laid plans will count for nothing if Fran Cotton's high-risk party goes pear-shaped up there on the South African veldt. Cotton and his fellow selectors may have scoured the rugby landscape and taken in close on 250 games since they began their Lion hunt last September, but for all that, this is a gambler's team.

Cotton, Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer are staking everything on two world- class goalkickers staying fit throughout the most intense and least forgiving tour in Lions history (one of those, Neil Jenkins, is already injured, by the way). They are also betting heavily on no fewer than seven English Second Division players raising their games sufficiently to survive what is certain to be an acid test. What is more, they are punting their last penny on nine men who cannot even count themselves first-choices in their own national teams.

It is not difficult to foresee a few pigeons coming home to roost. Some very advanced weaponry will spend the summer thousands of miles away from the whiff of South African gunfire - Mike Catt, the versatile England outside-half, is the most notable absentee, but he can be bracketed with a number of other proven international match-winners including Jonathan Davies and Ben Clarke - and it is a bold call indeed to travel without players of that calibre.

Cotton was quite prepared to admit that a number of candidates had suffered an unlucky roll of the dice. Catt was given a prominent mention in the roll-call of sympathy, as was Kyran Bracken, the Saracens scrum-half, and, remarkably enough given the extreme views he attracts, Arwel Thomas, the Welsh stand-off who might well have nudged his way on to the trip had he made it on to the Arms Park pitch against England last month and produced the blinder of which he is eminently capable.

Sympathy counts for nothing, though. Any hard-nosed Springbok will tell you that. When push comes to shove against a rampant South African side playing better than at any time since emerging from the shadows of pariahdom in 1992, Cotton and company will stand or fall by the men named in London yesterday.

Foremost among them was Martin Johnson, the captain, whose lack of leadership experience and distinctly edgy temperament makes him one of the biggest gambles of them all. His liaison with Jason Leonard, the one prop of undisputed world class available to the Lions, will be at the very heart of the major contests and it was reassuring yesterday to hear both men praise each other to high heaven at every available opportunity. If Keith Wood, the Irish hooker who tends to hit the treatment table even more quickly than he hits rucks and mauls, can put his debilitating shoulder problems behind him, the Lions' tight five could well be worth a flutter.

The back row looks useful, too, and Neil Back's diminutive presence should not be sneered at. According to Bob Dwyer, his coach at Leicester, the open-side flanker's power-to-size ratio is far better than almost anyone else's in the game, north or south of the equator. He may not pilfer much line-out possession, but he will hoover up an awful lot on the floor.

Prospects are also bright among the scrum-halves and centres, but the good news ends there. Outside-half, wing and full-back all look scary, especially as Gregor Townsend's form was so wretched during the Five Nations, and unless he rediscovers the Merlin touch, Cotton may well rue the day that he wrote off the claims of Thomas and Davies, the Welsh brethren. They alone possess the fusion of handling skills, kicking power, broad vision and pure nerve that the great Lions stand-offs of recent memory, Barry John and Phil Bennett, brought to bear on the ogres of the southern hemisphere.

It is difficult to see who, apart from Jenkins and Paul Grayson, will kick goals. Cotton includes Tim Stimpson and Townsend among his options but Dave Alred, confirmed yesterday as the 12th and last member of the support staff, will have to turn the world on its head to make a Test marksman of either.

From this distance, goalkicking may well prove the Achilles heel of this party - always assuming that the stand-off hunches come up trumps. If they do not, of course, the Lions will not have any goals to kick.

Still, the selectors have acted in the very best of faith. There is no hint of political hanky-panky, no lame duck Celts chosen to appease the sensibilities of the home unions outside England. All we can hope is that Cotton and his men are on a hot trot at their local casinos.

THE LIONS PARTY

FULL-BACKS

Neil Jenkins (Wales and Pontypridd) Age: 25, 50 caps.

Tim Stimpson (England and Newcastle) Age: 23, 5 caps.

WINGS

Tony Underwood (England and Newcastle) Age: 28, 25 caps.

Nick Beal (England and Northampton) Age: 26, 1 cap.

John Bentley (England and Newcastle) Age: 30, 2 caps.

Ieuan Evans (Wales and Llanelli) Age: 33, 71 caps.

CENTRES

Allan Bateman (Wales and Richmond) Age: 32, 9 caps.

Scott Gibbs (Wales and Swansea) Age: 26, 27 caps.

Jeremy Guscott (England and Bath) Age: 31, 48 caps.

Alan Tait (Scotland and Newcastle) Age: 33, 10 caps.

Will Greenwood (England A and Leicester) Age: 24, 0 caps.

STAND-OFFS

Paul Grayson (England and Northampton) Age: 25, 8 caps.

Gregor Townsend (Scotland and Northampton) Age: 23, 25 caps.

SCRUM-HALVES

Matt Dawson (England and Northampton) Age: 24, 5 caps.

Austin Healey (England and Leicester) Age: 23, 2 caps.

Robert Howley (Wales and Cardiff), Age: 26, 16 caps.

PROPS

Jason Leonard (England and Harlequins) Age: 28, 55 caps.

David Young (Wales and Cardiff) Age: 29, 21 caps.

Graham Rowntree (England and Leicester) Age: 25, 14 caps.

Tom Smith (Scotland and Watsonians) Age: 25, 3 caps.

Peter Clohessy (Queensland and Ireland) Age: 31, 16 caps.

HOOKERS

Mark Regan (England and Bristol) Age: 25, 12 caps.

Keith Wood (Ireland and Harlequins) Age: 25, 9 caps.

Barry Williams (Neath and Wales) Age: 23, 1 cap.

LOCKS

Simon Shaw (England and Bristol) Age: 24, 6 caps.

Martin Johnson (England and Leicester) Age: 27, 30 caps.

Jeremy Davidson (Ireland and London Irish) Age: 22, 12 caps.

Doddie Weir (Scotland and Newcastle) Age: 26, 45 caps.

LOOSE FORWARDS

Richard Hill (England and Saracens) Age: 23, 4 caps.

Rob Wainwright (Scotland and Watsonians) Age: 32, 28 caps.

Lawrence Dallaglio (England and Wasps) Age: 24, 11 caps.

Eric Miller (Ireland and Leicester) Age: 21 years, 4 caps.

Tim Rodber (England and Northampton) Age: 27, 31 caps.

Scott Quinnell (Wales and Richmond) Age: 24, 14 caps.

Neil Back (Leicester and England), Age: 28, 5 caps.

Team Manager: Fran Cotton.

Head Coach: Ian McGeechan.

Assistant Coach: Jim Telfer.

Technical coaching assistant: Andy Keast.

Kicking Coach: Dave Alred.

TOUR ITINERARY: May 24 Eastern Province Invitation XV (Port Elizabeth); May 28 Border (East London); May 31 Western Province (Cape Town); June 4 South East Transvaal (Witbank); June 7 Northern Transvaal (Pretoria); June 11 Transvaal (Johannesburg); June 14 Natal (Durban); June 17 Emerging Springboks (Wellington); June 21 SOUTH AFRICA (First Test, Cape Town); June 24 Orange Free State (Bloemfontein); June 28 SOUTH AFRICA (Second Test, Durban); July 1 Northern Free State (Welkom); July 5 SOUTH AFRICA (Third Test, Johannesburg).