When it was announced that in a surprise move by the Lions management that Welsh Wizard (excuse the cliché) was to be providing cover for the injured Jamie Roberts in the upcoming matches, nearly everyone lost their minds- with excitement of course. I was pretty excited too, Williams has been a constant source of entertainment in the Six Nations, Heineken cup and RWC for many, many years, with his unreal pace and oh-so-jinky sidesteps.
But after the initial excitement faded, a small part of me (alright a pretty big part of me) began wondering if Williams involvement is the right decision. Maybe a more correct way of writing this would be to say that I feel that Williams inclusion is actually rather unfair on other wingers, equally as talented wingers whom (unlike Williams) played in the six nations this year.
Let’s have a look at who we could have had instead:
Craig Gilroy
Remember how excited we were when Gilroy burst onto the scene in the Autumn international last year? His defensive awareness and formidable attacking running makes him a great little player. If Gatland is going for pace (which if you look at videos of the other surprise selection Christian Wade, he is) then why not Craig? I think he is great, and if we do need any more call ups, I hope Craig gets a call.
Here he is flattening Leigh Halfpenny, and below scoring a few tries.
Tim Visser
Tim Visser in my opinion, is underrated player. He is a great tackler, especially when it comes to covering tackles (as you’ll see in the video below) and although he had a relatively average Six Nations campaign this year, the few moments he got the chance to run the ball in hand he was very impressive.
Below is Tim scoring, and some highlights complete with a bit of techno.
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]Andrew Trimble
Trimble has to be one of the most consistent players out there (I know that that might include being consistently injured, but I digress) and I feel that he has been genuinely overlooked by Kidney the last Six Nations season, and by proxy, overlooked for the Lions. The guy is a tank. Although not the fastest by comparison, he is undoubtedly aggressive and fearsome in defense, and I would love to see this guy up against the Wallabies.
Lee Jones knows what I mean. Skip to 1.40 for a try, 2.40 for the hit.
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Ugh… Chris Ashton
I’m not delighted to have to include Ashton in this list because, as you may or may not know, I think he is an absolute twat.
Am I right?
He looks and acts like a bully, walking with the arrogant swagger of a peacock with sunglasses. But, he is rather good. He is quick, and has a solid frame on him. His lack of international form may have cost him his Lions place, and now appears to have had his England place taken from him too by Christian Wade- wait, do I feel sorry for Chris Ashton?
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