Sam Warburton has chosen Maro Itoje as the man he thinks should lead the Lions this summer in South Africa.
The former flanker, who captained the touring side in 2013 and 2017, answered a host of questions following the launch of the Lions Test jersey for this summer's tour.
Here's what the former Wales star had to say...
Is Hamish Watson too small for Lions?
No chance. Hamish Watson is never too small!
Josh Navidi had these critics for Wales. Justin Tipuric has probably had them over his career.
I said this on Twitter recently, power trumps size every day of the week. I played against plenty of big guys who were slugs but it is that repeated power is what you need.
I think personally that Warren Gatland would be purring watching Hamish Watson over the Six Nations. I thought he was outstanding. As things are right now (he) is a Test starter and I can’t wait to see how he goes in the warm-up games.
Is there enough preparation time on this year's tour?
People are questioning the Saracens players not having much game time, but they've probably played 50 more internationals than the South African boys over the last 18 months.
We're still well prepared. Even though it has gone down to eight games, that's actually what the players would want. Past tours, players have said to each other 10 games is a bit too much, particularly at the end of the season. I think an eight-game tour is much better. If I was still involved, I'd prefer the format of this tour compared to the previous years.
I think an eight-game tour is the way it should be moving forward and I don't know a player who wouldn't agree with that based on the conversations I've had.
What do you make of the row over Premiership players being released?
I was listening to Warren’s interview about it the other day. It’s a bit strange as in the last two tours the first two weeks of training has been with a group of 16-17 players and so you kind of know you’re going to be starting the first game on tour.
You’re kind of used to that dynamic. It’s difficult for the players. I’ll speak on behalf of them – they obviously don’t want to bite off the hand that feeds them but they all want to go on the Lions tour. Fact.
If somebody was in charge of PRL who had been on a Lions tour, had been a player and knew what it meant to the players I don’t think it would be too much of an issue.
Players don’t want to speak out, it’s hard for them to.
If you’ve got a club final of course you’re going to prioritise that, but if you’re playing in a game that isn’t going to have any bearing (or none at all in this case) then I think player release should happen.
The only time I ever requested not to play a game in my career was 2013. We had one game left in the season, couldn’t go up or down, and it was my first tour so I didn’t think it was worth playing. One of the other senior players prompted me to say it, I wasn’t going to make anything of it.
If it’s a dead-rubber, to play for the Lions is the pinnacle and you have to have some common sense and let players go.
Is asking for money a bit rich, when everyone is struggling and the Lions will make a loss?
This tour has to go ahead, not just because I’m a Lions fan, but for South Africa too. If there is no tour goodness knows what’ll happen to them. They would’ve taken much more of a hit than we have.
It’s a sad thing that has come to fruition with the football Super League, I don’t want it to be that money talks in sport, but unfortunately it does. That’s what keeps professional sport alive.
I know players who would take pay cuts to play fewer games. I don’t know whether they’re trying to appease television rights or whatever, but I do question whether the players are at the forefront of these conversations.
If they had an honest conversation with the Rugby Players’ Association in England and said “what do you want to do honestly?” I’d be very interested to hear that and what the players actually want.
I think it’s harsh to ask for more money. Everybody is struggling – you have to be a little more sympathetic at times.
As a former Lions captain, who would you choose to lead them this time?
I’ve gone back and forth, but I’ll go with who I thought at the very beginning and that’s Maro Itoje.
Anybody who looked at the first game (v Scotland) where he conceded four or five penalties would say “oh you can’t do that” – that’s a bit of rustiness. Warren will want him primed and ready to go as he’s one of the players who will be guaranteed Test starter.
I was extremely impressed with him in 2017, and Warren would have seen all that. With his age the other captaincy candidates are a little bit older. You question whether it would be a bit too much pressure for them to go through a tour like this at the end of the season.
I’ve gone back and forth with him and Alun Wyn Jones. Alun Wyn will be up there and I’m sure will captain games on tour, but I would probably go with Maro Itoje.
Who would be your Test fly-half?
Oh god! If any of them started, I wouldn't bat an eyelid.
But I'm thinking right now, and I'm trying to take off my Welsh hat, Dan Biggar.
He's got three Six Nations title to his name, world Cup semi, Lions tour under his belt, won a PRO12 title. A brilliant goal-kicker - I think it was last year that he was the best statistically in the world.
Great under the high ball and great defensively. A real competitor.
On the 2017 tour, he played amazing but he was so unfortunate that he had two icons in their pomp in Farrell and Sexton ahead of him. I wonder if this is his year.
I think you'd be foolish to think who your Test 10 will be right now. That will unfold in the first few games on tour.
Do you see Alun Wyn Jones as a Test starter?
I think it's down to him, James Ryan and Maro Itoje. James Ryan they would have to take a bit of a punt on because he has not had as much game time. He probably has not hit the heights of 2018 and 2019. Out of the 36 that are going on tour you are probably looking at 23 who can start a test and Alun Wyn Jones is one of those guys.
The reason I say Maro as captain is because I think he is a dead cert and between Alun Wyn and James Ryan to battle it out for that number five short.
Warren knows the pressure on captain if they are not a guaranteed starter. I think there are six bankers to start a test match, Tadgh Furlong, Maro Itoje, Taulupe Faletau, Tom Curry, Anthony Watson and Stuart Hogg who has leadership experience.
I don't think he will pick a back as captain so the other player who has leadership experience or will want it I think is Maro.
If Alun Wyn is captain though you know you will be in safe hands.
It's incredible he'll still be going at 36?
I think he wants to go the next World Cup. When I was involved with the coaching staff with Wales they were talking about succession planning and Alun Wyn said he had ambitions to go to the next World Cup.
Going off how he is playing and there is nobody coming through to knock him off his pedestal you can't argue with that.
How much does previous Lions experience count for compared to current Six Nations form?
Out of those Saracens boys I think Jamie George, Owen and Maro will 100 per cent go on tour because Warren really backs his training methods of getting players match fit without having to play.
He did it with a lot of players like myself over the years. I think he’ll take comfort from the fact he’s got 4-5 games to get those guys ready for the first Test. Even if they’re not ready for the first, the second and third are arguably more important. because he knows he’s got that buffer I think he’ll take them and he has to, because their ceiling is so high if they play well.
I do worry whether somebody like Elliot Daly or Billy might miss out because whether he thinks Elliot has fallen out of form and it might take Billy too much time to get back up to speed from a fitness perspective.
To be honest we need those Sarries boys playing well to have a good chance. Not even as starters. Even to have on the bench. From knowing them personally and having played with and against them, they are top players.
Which is why I still think despite all that Maro is a top contender to be captain. He’ll have watched England wanting those guys to do well because he needs them.
Eddie Jones wrongly pinned faith on players training at above game intensity? Why do you believe Gatland will be able to achieve that?
I don’t think he’ll get it for the first game. I heard Jamie George before the Six Nations saying ‘oh it’s a bit like a pre-season it will be great’.
That was the same party line that I used before Lions tours, because I got injured for two months and was under-cooked for the first three or four weeks. It’s only game time combined with training really.
That’s why I don’t think he’ll expect those guys to be hitting their straps when they’re playing SA clubs in the first few weeks. he’s probably got the longer term goal of first, second, third test for those boys. Hopefully they can get two starts, maybe one off the bench, before they play a Test match to get the cobwebs off.
Plus, when you play for the Lions, no disrespect to anyone else, it brings out a different player, a different mentality. Only certain players of a certain mentality thrive off that. That’s why I pretty much guarantee all the Lions coaching staff will have picked Owen Farrell to go on tour.
You’d be foolish not to because, even if he was not going to start, as a leader to have around you he’s phenomenal. And if he plays himself into form then that’s a bonus. He’s massively beneficial.
What are the qualities of each Welsh potential Lions back-rower?
From a hard ground perspective, I imagine Gregor Townsend will really be pushing for Tipuric.
When Gatland said all the coaches had picked their own squad, I'm sure Tipuric would have been in Gregor Townsend's squad.
There's not an attack coach in the world who wouldn't want him in their team. Then every defence coach would probably pick Josh Navidi because he's so good in defence.
He's actually great in attack but for different reasons. He's got good hands, but he's so good at actually securing 30 rucks a game. People take it for granted and it goes unnoticed.
Toby (Faletau) is a shoe-in. One of the classiest players I've played with. I said in the autumn Toby would be Lions No. 8 and I got a bit of heat on Twitter. I knew he'd turn up and lo and behold, he turned up for the Six Nations.
Anyone that writes him off is a fool. You ask any coach, they'll tell you they don't really tell Toby what to do. There's a lot of structure in rugby and they say Toby is one of those players who is just so naturally gifted, you just let him fit in.
He knows when to drop back or be front-line. It's innate and he knows without really knowing he knows it.
Unfortunately I don't think all three will go on tour.
I don't know who will miss out and it will be incredibly cruel. But I think (Hamish) Watson and (Tom) Curry will go. I think Sam Simmonds will go.
Then you've also got people who can cover six like Maro (Itoje), (Courtney) Lawes and (Tadhg) Beirne.
All of those players and the three Welsh boys don't fit. There's going to be some big, big omissions.
I think if Sam Underhill keeps playing well for Bath, he could go. England missed him and Lawes massively. You can't overlook them just because they missed the Six Nations.
Those guys have way too much of an impact and they're two of the most physical guys you can have. That's why Courtney Lawes went on the last Lions tour over other second-rows because they knew his physicality and aggressiveness would pay dividends down in New Zealand.
He was there in the Test squad. Gatland likes his style and the fact he covers six.
All these brilliant back-rows aren't going to go.
Unfortunately, I'd love to see them all go and they're all worthy of going, but I think there's going to be a Welsh casualty.
No Test since November 2019 for South Africa, is there any way they can be at their best?
It will be difficult. They have, I think, four games before the series. Of course you’d have liked them to have more game time but when you have players that good, you don’t need that long to get going.
You don’t forget how to run lines, how to run plays. It’s just getting the calls ingrained in your head. I reckon come the series it will be a pretty level playing field. I don’t think either team will use lack of playing time as an excuse.
There's been talk of launching a Women's Lions programme - what's your reaction to that?
It'd be amazing. I'd absolutely love it
Obviously right now, it'd be dominated with England players but then I think the incentive to play rugby would grow massively and the funding would grow massively in the other nations as well.
I think a ladies' Lions tour would be awesome. I would absolutely love to see that.
Sam Warburton was speaking as Canterbury launched the British & Irish Lions Test Jersey. Get yours from www.canterbury.com
