Yesterday afternoon, Warren Gatland named a strong Lions squad which is charged with the daunting task of taking on the World Cup champions in their own back yard.
However, one notable aspect of the squad has been the lack of Scottish players.
While the Scots have not enjoyed strong representation on recent Lions squads, it was hoped that Warren Gatland may opt for more than just Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour this time around.
Scotland defeated Ireland and Wales during the Six Nations championship, but those two nations now have a combined 23 players travelling to New Zealand.
If leaked reports are true, it looks like it may be a new kind of Lions tour. Let’s hope not ? pic.twitter.com/joR5cloYG0
— Scotland Rugby News (@ScotRugbyNews) April 19, 2017
Six Nations result on 25 February:
Scotland 29-13 WalesLions squad announcement on 19 April:
Scotland 2-12 Wales#LionsNZ2017 pic.twitter.com/yYagOdF709— NOW TV Sport (@NOWTVSport) April 19, 2017
Former Scotland and Lions star Ian McLauchlan, who was a member of the only Lions squad to win a series in New Zealand, back in 1971, has spoken out on the issue, and blasted Gatland.
“Gatland doesn’t exactly have a good track record in liking people from Scotland.
“He doesn’t come here, does he? And he doesn’t know the names of Scottish players – when he was asked on television whether there were any Scots in the running he said ‘there’s Hogg and the new boy at centre, and one of the wingers looked quite good’. He couldn’t name them. He only knows Stuart Hogg.
“To be honest with you, I don’t think [only two Scots] is that unexpected. But I thought we might have snuck another couple in – just even politically it would have been quite nice to get a couple in.
“But selection by one person is always quite difficult. By a smaller group it is difficult, because they’ll pick players that they trust, that they know.” Via The Scotsman.
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