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Lions 2009: Full-back contenders

Monday, 20 April 2009

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GETTY IMAGES

GIRVAN DEMPSEY

'Mr Reliable', the Irishman has always gone about his job quietly and efficiently, without frills or fuss. In and out of the Ireland side over the last 10 years thanks to the competition from Geordan Murphy, it's testimony to his reliability and durability that Ireland turn to him time and again - and he has never ever let them down. However, a lack of pace could be exposed out in South Africa.

Roar potential: One Lion

It's one of the oldest, most treasured traditions in rugby. The Lions are here again. Head coach Ian McGeechan names his initial squad on Tuesday as the Lions bandwagon begins to roll towards South Africa.

The Independent, in partnership with International Rugby News, has been bringing you the contenders for the key positions on the tour for the past few months.

Click the image on the right to launch our guide.

Related articles

With the squad on the verge of being announced we re-cap which players are fighting for a place in McGeechan's squad, what their chances are and take a look at who Chris Hewett, The Independent's chief rugby correspondent, believes should be on the tour.

Click on the related links to see the contenders for the other key positions.

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Comments

( Leave a comment )
[info]heuer27 wrote:
Friday, 13 February 2009 at 10:28 pm (UTC)
How can you give Abendanon,Earls and Morgan the nod over Patterson when they dont even feature in the first two 6 nations squads ? Whilst not a big strong runner Patterson is elusive quick and safe under the high ball and dare i say with quality on either side of him he could prove to be a devastating counter attacking force. Certainly more than 1 lion .i will be amazed if he doen't travel.
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[info]irishunited wrote:
Saturday, 14 February 2009 at 07:30 pm (UTC)
seems ridiculous dat dere is no rob kearney in here nd girvan dempsey twice who doesn't even make the ireland team these days cos of kearney. this is just a wast of my time
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Lee Byrne
[info]deeps32 wrote:
Monday, 2 March 2009 at 05:29 pm (UTC)
The picture shows Johnny Vaughton not Lee Byrne. I can't believe Rob Kearney isn't on the list. The jersey is between him and Lee really
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[info]tjhughes wrote:
Monday, 20 April 2009 at 04:03 pm (UTC)
This is risible. Apart from Lee Byrne, the strongest contenders are Rob Kearney and Delon Armitage, neither of whom even make your long-list.
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the face doesnt match the name
[info]catcha_goo_goo wrote:
Monday, 27 April 2009 at 07:56 am (UTC)
I think that the photo shown is Leicster winger Johnnie Murphy and not Girvan Dempsey of Leinster. The clue is in the jersey!!!
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