Dean Richards continues his Lions picks for The Times, with Dwayne Peel getting the nod at scrum-half.
"Until you get an inkling of how Ian McGeechan and his coaches want to play on the tour to South Africa, it is hard to nominate the best choice at half back. To be frank, I think it is one of the weakest areas in the squad, particularly when you look at the combinations that were available to the most successful Lions sides.
"You think of Gareth Edwards and Barry John or Phil Bennett during the glory years of the 1970s, but, on the most recent trip to South Africa, in 1997, there was an unexpected pairing of Matt Dawson and Gregor Townsend and that didn't turn out too badly. Matt was the third-choice scrum half behind Rob Howley and Austin Healey, while Gregor had floated between fly half and centre for Scotland but was preferred at 10 to Neil Jenkins, who played full back.
"To my mind, Dwayne Peel is as good a scrum half as any, with the two Englishmen, Harry Ellis and Danny Care, behind him. He may not have been first choice for Wales this year, but Dwayne knows what a Lions tour is like and his skill set is greater than that of Mike Phillips, who may be first choice if the Lions want to play an intensely physical game."
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