Willie John McBride and Gareth Edwards offer their thoughts on the Lions' chances in South Africa in the Sunday Telegraph.
"What did you make of the party? Is it one you're happy with? McBride: If anyone knows anything about the Lions and South Africa, it must be McGeechan. He's been through this all before and knows what he wants to get out of the tour. But I do have some concerns.
I'm not sure how many of these players have experience of South Africa because it's only when the sun is blazing down, the ground is as hard as hell, it's dusty and the air is thin that you know what you're up against. In those circumstances you don't want too many players on the wrong side of 30 and the Lions have plenty of those.
I'm talking particularly of the back row. I was 34 when I was last there, and I was lucky that there were guys who carried me. I used to train in the morning and go to bed after lunch. Professional players know how to pace themselves, but too often I've seen – and it happened in Australia – that players were whacked by the time the second or third Test came along. They weren't ready to play.
Edwards: I thought Tom Croft should have made the squad, but the Six Nations was so ordinary that nobody really stood out. Right up until the last game people were still wondering who should be going on the trip. Very few players put their hands up. I couldn't really tell you who the scrum-halves should have been, let alone the props."
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