Lion Hunting #2 - Centers

Centre will be a difficult selection for Gatland and the boys. There is not the wealth of talent there once was in the three quarters. It is unlikely that the Roberts, O'Driscoll partnership will line-up like they did in South Africa where they were very impressive. O'Driscoll has aged another 4 years and lost another few yards of pace. He has been hampered by injury also which hasn't helped. He was once the best runner with ball in hand in the game, quick, powerful and evasive but unfortunately his body will no-longer allow him to do this. He was never a playmaking center and although he is still a world class defender and reader of the game and his experience would be an asset it is time for a changing of the guard.

If I was to simply pick the best outside centre and the best inside centre I would pick Tuilagi at 13 and Roberts at 12 but in my opinion it is crucially important to pick a balanced centre partnership which this is not as Tuilagi and Roberts are both direct runners. This would make the team's attack one dimensional and I think they have to offer a different threat in one of the centre positions.

Manu Tuilagi is the outstanding centre in the Northern Hemisphere at the moment. He is accustomed to playing at 13 where he has more space to run into but I believe he is also capable of being a class second five. He can fix defenders with his hard running opening up space out wide as Nonu does for the All Blacks but he can also bring other player into play outside him by using his freakish power to break the line and utilising his offload game.



Jonathan Davies offers this 'different threat' I was talking about. He is used to playing outside a direct running centre with Wales and he is very good in exploiting the space in wide areas created by a hard running second five inside of him. He reads the game very well and spots space which he exploits with his strong running. He also has the ability to be a playmaker and bring other players into play outside him.

Another potential candidate is the impressive versatile Scotsman Stuart Hogg. Brad Barrit may also be considered because of his defensive solidity

Starting : 13) Davies, 12) Tuilagi
Backup : O'Driscoll, Roberts, Hogg (Covering fullback also)

Tighthead