Lions selection surprises Boks coach

The decision to leave the captains of three home nations out of the British and Irish Lions side has evoked surprise from the South Africa coach.Steve Borthwick, Mike Blair and Ryan Jones - skippers of England, Scotland and Wales respectively - were omitted from Ian McGeechan's squad and Peter de Villiers questioned the move when speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live.He suggested that those who have played under them will respect them and they could have been valuable additions to the tour of South Africa, which gets underway next month.Meanwhile, de Villiers also stated that the policy of selecting physically imposing players in order to combat the reigning world champions could backfire."If McGeechan wants to sit down and try to match the Springboks then I think that is the wrong thing," he said.A total of ten matches are to be played by the Lions, including three Tests against South Africa.The hosts are currently 2/5 favourites for the series with Stan James, with the bookmaker giving the tourists odds of 2/1.

Written By:- Mandy (About our Authors)
Posted on:- 24/04/2009 - 11:56 AM
Filed in:- Rugby Union Betting News