Back in 2017, the good people of Gorseinon, a small town in south Wales, would have taken great pride at their local club having produced as many players for the British and Irish Lions squad that flew out to New Zealand that summer as Scotland: Billy Connolly, Nicola Sturgeon, Bill Shankly, William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and all.
Three, since you asked: Dan Biggar, Leigh Halfpenny and Ross Moriarty, all of whom passed through the club’s junior ranks. For the record, Warren Gatland named just two Scots, Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour, in his initial party for the trip, with Greig Laidlaw earning an eve-of-tour summons after Ben Youngs withdrew for family reasons.
It’s probably not being outrageously controversial to suggest Gors might struggle to match the Scots this year.
What about the whole of Wales?
For the 1977 and 2013 Lions tours, medium-sized buses might have been pushed to accommodate all the players from the western side of the River Severn. This year? Some fear a tandem could be enough to cater for Welsh transport needs.
Indeed, one or two are predicting Andy Farrell’s Lions could even become a Wales-free zone after a Six Nations campaign that started badly for Warren Gatland’s players and finished calamitously under Matt Sherratt, with not much cause for partying in the middle either.
That said, it needs to be stressed history doesn’t back the idea of one country being completely bypassed in terms of players for a Lions tour. Over the past half-dozen decades, all four nations have been represented on every such venture, notwithstanding that Irish and Scottish voices were barely heard on certain trips.
But these are historically bleak times for Wales, with 17 defeats in a row comfortably surpassing the nation’s worst-ever run over 145 years of Test rugby, so it’s hard to imagine any Welsh player will feel certain of a couple of months away with the best of British and Irish rugby in the coming months.
To be clear, Welsh “definites” do not exist for this trip. Still, some may have stronger hopes than others.
JAC MORGAN
Wales’ dismal Six Nations did not deter former England coach Eddie Jones from revealing himself to be a fully paid-up member of the Jac Morgan Fan Club. “Jac really is a special player,” the former England head coach enthused. “For a man to be putting in the performances in adversity and to keep growing when others around him are withering on the vine is remarkable.
Few new entrants into Test rugby have impressed me as much as this guy. I believe he’s a nailed-on Test starter.
“He is as tough as teak, punches so far above his weight it’s untrue and keeps putting in world-class performances. I also believe that great British and Irish Lions teams have a strong Welsh influence; whilst it’s hard to see many of their squad touring, Jac will provide an important cultural voice and, as a leader himself, some support in that regard.
“Few new entrants into Test rugby have impressed me as much as this guy. I believe he’s a nailed-on Test starter.”
Call that significant backing.
The problem for Morgan is that he plays in an area where the competition is hot, hot, hot, and not just from the Curry brothers, Tom and Ben, with Josh van der Flier, Jack Willis, Rory Darge and the rapidly rising Henry Pollock also in the frame.
But, Jones and other Morgan backers would argue, just look at the west Walian’s performances when the odds have been stacked against whatever team he’s playing for: when the going gets tough, the 25-year-old from Brynamman never hides or wilts. Instead, he does all he can to lift his game. Indeed, he can probably run through the adversity drill in his sleep: roll up sleeves, tackle like hell, scavenge for possession, cover every blade of grass at least three times over and scatter opposition defenders with whatever ball comes his way. He’s had enough opportunities to put such matters into practice.
Overall, and despite Wales’s heavy loss against England, Jac the lad had a strong Six Nations, finishing top of the tackle chart, with 88, 10 more than anyone else. His figures for clear-outs and ruck arrivals compared favourably with pretty much all his rivals, too, while he carried for more metres than every home nations forward bar Ben Earl and Taulupe Faletau.
Even last weekend, as an out-of-sorts Ospreys side failed their strength-in-depth test against the Scarlets, Morgan put in 23 hits. Again, 10 more than anyone else on the field.
Verdict: Morgan is a leader who should be on the Lions tour. It would be a tough call to leave him out.
TOMOS WILLIAMS
A Lions selector watching Williams in Gloucester colours this season would come away certain that he’d seen one of the three No. 9s the tourists should take with them to Australia. Another Lions squad picker watching the same man operating for Wales might wonder what all the fuss was about.
For, quite simply, there have been two Tomos Williamses on the rugby scene in 2024-25: one playing for the Cherry and Whites, all no-look basketball passes and brilliant support lines, inspiring others and generally looking as sharp as the freshly ironed creases in a Sandhurst graduate’s trousers, the other in the red of Wales, finding it hard to influence matches, let alone boss them.
Williams’ fate could depend on how much Farrell takes into account that the former Cardiff man has been operating behind a misfiring Test pack
So what does Farrell do?
Jamison Gibson-Park doubtless has ‘on the plane’ already written next to his name on the coach’s list of potential tourists, for he has been a key figure behind Ireland’s success in recent seasons. He can play the game at high tempo, is an excellent box-kicker and makes good decisions. In short, the Test jersey is his to lose.
England’s Alex Mitchell and Scotland’s Ben White are others in the mix, with both performing strongly in the Six Nations, Mitchell with four try assists.
Williams’ fate could depend on how much Farrell takes into account that the former Cardiff man has been operating behind a misfiring Test pack. If there was any high-quality, front-foot ball on offer, it was hardly in abundance from a Welsh perspective with their No. 9 frequently hurried and harassed.
But in the Gallagher Premiership it’s been a different story, with the Welshman regularly proving a dominant figure. Only last weekend, former England scrum-half Danny Care called him “the signing of the season”, adding that he would take him on the Lions tour if he were a selector. Sadly for Williams, Danny boy won’t be doing any of the picking.
Verdict: It will be tight, ever so tight, and there’s little doubt Williams fell behind during Wales’ difficult Six Nations. Might a burst of sustained brilliance at club level turn the situation around in his favour? He will hope so.
TAULUPE FALETAU
Here’s the thing about this guy during the Six Nations: he emerged with his reputation intact despite having played just four games of rugby over the previous 16 months.
Faletau also has experience, lots of the stuff, with three Lions trips and five Test appearances for the tourists already on his CV, plus 108 outings for Wales.
Rare has been the game in which he has played where he has not been a 7 out of 10 performer or better. He is 34 now but lightly played in recent years due to injuries, so doesn’t have so many miles on the clock.
He remains a man of few words, but his rugby has always done his talking for him.
Verdict: Caelan Doris will tour, with Ben Earl, Jack Conan, Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey also set to be in the conversation, but Faletau remains a quality option. It would be a big call to leave behind a player of his pedigree.
NICKY SMITH
Back where his admirers have long felt he should be – starting in the Welsh front row – and Smith more than justified his position with a big display against Ireland, when he was part of a trio that forced four scrum penalties out of the opposition in the opening 40 minutes.
Throw in 10 tackles over 49 minutes and it’s little wonder plenty felt it to have been the finest performance of the 30-year-old’s Test career. It got tougher for the Welsh set-piece on subsequent weekends, but the main problems were on the tighthead, where Wales have been sending out distress signals for too long.
Andrew Porter and Ellis Genge are being tipped to travel and Pierre Schoeman is anything but a slouch around the field, but in the Gallagher Premiership, where less-than-strong scrummaging props are found out quicker than it takes to say “crouch, bind, set”, Smith has proved his worth.
Solid in the set-piece, where he uses his compact frame to cause opponents problems, he never fails to graft in the loose and brings a lot to the table with his purpose on the pitch and affable nature off it. On Lions tours, such details count.
Verdict: He has put together a strong body of work in support of his claims but probably still needs a sprint finish to the regular season if he is to reel in some of his rivals. Hope isn’t extinguished, then.
DAFYDD JENKINS
Sometimes it’s easy to forget the 6ft 7in, 18st lock is only 22, because few players of his age are blessed with a similar level of maturity. He has already captained Wales and Exeter Chiefs and emerged from the wreckage of his country’s disastrous Six Nations campaign relatively unscathed in terms of reputation, with only Jac Morgan putting in more tackles in the whole competition and Jenkins also banging in impressive clear-out stats. A Trojan-like work-rate is stitched into his make-up and he doesn’t go missing when his teams are under the pump, which has been quite often this season.
On the other side of the coin, he is still very young and the likes of Maro Itoje, Joe McCarthy, Ollie Chessum, George Martin and James Ryan make up the competition – possibly Tadhg Beirne, as well, depending on where Farrell sees the versatile former Scarlet playing.
Verdict: Jenkins would let no-one down if chosen, and possibly thrive, but at this stage of his career he may have to bide his time.
DEWI LAKE
Injury restricted the hooker to just two replacement appearances during the Six Nations and that is no way to advance claims for a Lions place.
But maybe all is not lost, with the Ospreys having some big games coming up. If Lake can shine in those then perhaps his challenge could yet yield significant reward.
Dan Sheehan is in pole position for the Tests and Farrell knows all about Ronan Kelleher’s qualities via the Ireland set-up, while Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie covered the hooking position impressively for England in the Six Nations.
But, fit and firing, Lake is as physical as they come and was a standout for Wales in Australia last summer.
Verdict: Not for nothing has Lake been described as a player with the potential to shape the future of Welsh rugby. Ill-fortune with injuries has plagued him, and he has plenty of work to do to make the tour, but if the Lions hand him his ticket they will not regret it.
BLAIR MURRAY
Wales found it hard to offer much behind the scrum in the Six Nations, but Murray was one Welsh back who did catch the eye, not least through audacious running from deep which saw him make five clean breaks over the tournament.
Of Lions-qualified No. 15s, only Blair Kinghorn cut opposition defensive lines more often. While Wales struggled, the diminutive Scarlet sparkled.
The odd defensive glitch will have been noted by those charged with picking the Lions squad, but if the selectors are looking for a broken-field runner with the ability to break defensive lines, who can offer serious flair and intent from deep, then he could be their man.
Verdict: Hugo Keenan and Kinghorn are certainties to tour, but Murray has lashings of X-factor and can also cover wing as well as full-back. The vastly experienced Elliot Daly can do the same, though, with the likes of James Lowe, Duhan van der Merwe, Tommy Freeman and Darcy Graham also in the back-three mix. Murray is probably an outsider to travel, then, albeit a very talented outsider.
AARON WAINWRIGHT
Had the Lions toured last year Wainwright would have been strongly tipped to travel. Named as Welsh player of the season for 2023-24, the Dragons back-rower proved a beacon of consistency for club and country.
But an untimely injury in the autumn checked his progress and he has had the misfortune to be playing in losing teams. Indeed, with the Dragons and Wales, he has been involved in just two victories over his last 32 games. It has been said that he embodies the pain of Welsh rugby.
Even then, he is a strong ball carrier who can never be faulted for lack of effort.
Verdict: Stranger things have happened, but it will take a lot for Wainwright to be returning from tour with a boomerang in his luggage this summer.
