Andy Farrell picks his Lions squad next week, with one coaching legend having offered up his own selection
British & Irish Lions coaching legend Jim Telfer has put forward Ben Thomas as a surprise tourist for this summer’s trip to Australia.
Telfer, who assisted Sir Ian McGeechan on the victorious 1997 tour of South Africa, has picked his own 45-man squad ahead of the Lions’ official announcement next week – opting to choose three players in each position. And, at a time when many are expecting Wales to have their lowest contingent on a Lions tour since 1993, Telfer ended up plumping for seven Welshmen.
“My third choice may surprise some people but I have been impressed by Ben Thomas of Cardiff and Wales,” Telfer told Scotland Rugby News as he picked Thomas as one of three inside centres behind Scotland’s Sione Tuipulotu and Ireland’s Bundee Aki.
“In a poor Wales team he has been very good. Scotland’s Tom Jordan came into my thinking as he is on the up, but didn’t make my top three.”
Thomas, who has established himself at Test level in the last year, was described as the “best back in Wales” by Warren Gatland last year – although the former Wales coach then played him out of position at fly-half.
As well as Cardiff centre Thomas, he included loosehead prop Nicky Smith, hooker Dewi Lake, second-row Dafydd Jenkins, flanker Jac Morgan, No. 8 Taulupe Faletau and scrum-half Tomos Williams.
Telfer, famed for his iconic ‘Everest’ speech on the 1997 tour, also noted that Wales full-back Blair Murray would be on his reserve list.
“As a British & Irish Lions coach you should never look at what country a player comes from,” Telfer added.
“Any selections, as mine are here, should be based on the quality of the player. I am sure I have made some picks that people won’t agree with and I am hoping everybody is fit enough to be considered so obviously things could change but this team I have selected for the first Test can win in Australia.
“There are a lot of good back-row forwards I have picked too and who are available to Andy Farrell, and whoever doesn’t make the Test team will feel disappointed, but that is how it goes.” 25% OFF DEAL NOW: Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby
Despite that, both Morgan and Faletau make his – admittedly heavily-populated – back-row selection.
Morgan – described by the 85-year-old as a “good captain of a poor Wales side” – is sandwiched between first choice Josh van der Flier and England back-row Ben Curry, while “incredible” Faletau also sits between Irish duo Caelan Doris and Jack Conan.
On the blindside, Telfer opted for England duo Tom Curry and Ben Earl, as well as Scotland’s Jamie Ritchie – one of 10 Scots in his squad.
Exeter lock Jenkins is one of six second-rows in Telfer’s squad – as he notes that both the Welshman and Irish lock Joe McCarthy are aggressive and will “annoy the opposition”.
England duo Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum are Telfer’s first-choices, with Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne and Scotland’s Scott Cummings the other second-rows.
There’s no Welsh tighthead, with Telfer opting for Irish duo Tadhg Furlong and Finlay Bealham to tour alongside Zander Fagerson.
However, Lake is picked as one of the three hookers alongside Dan Sheehan and Luke Cowan-Dickie, while loosehead Smith is picked behind Ellis Genge and Andrew Porter.
Telfer was particularly complimentary of Smith, calling him an “excellent player”. He added: “For me, he is a similar player to Tom Smith and I can’t pay a prop a higher compliment than that.”
In the backline, there’s very little Welsh interest. Scrum-half Williams sneaks in alongside Jamison Gibson-Park and Alex Mitchell, with his club form and the fact that Scotland nine Ben White doesn’t start regularly for Toulon cited as the reasons for his inclusion.
Finn Russell, Fin Smith and Sam Prendergast are Telfer’s fly-halves, with Garry Ringrose, Huw Jones and Robbie Henshaw his outside centres.
In the back-three, Tommy Freeman, Darcy Graham and Tom Roebuck are his right wing options, while James Lowe, Duhan van der Merwe and Kyle Steyn are his choices on the left flank.
As for full-back, Scarlets full-back Murray is the next cab off the rank behind Blair Kinghorn, Hugo Keenan and George Furbank.
