Selectors play politics but get my vote

Picking the first 30 players of the Lions squad was never going to be difficult. The hard part was the other seven men who had question marks against their names and must now live up to their selection to ensure a successful tour.

The problem confronting the selectors was do they pick all of England's 22-strong Six Nations match squad, or do they reduce that number in order to appease the other countries and hopefully find the right balance of spirit across the four home unions?

Selection at this level is without doubt the most political in sport.

No other team is selected from four countries and most selectors have a problem choosing a team from a single country as anyone over the Severn Bridge can testify.

For example, the inclusion of Scotland's Simon Taylor in the back row must be because the selectors are concerned at the lack of line-out presence at the tail. However, this somewhat odd decision is at the expense of Leicester's Martin Corry or Joe Worsley of London Wasps, who are both outstanding line-out exponents and just as powerful as Taylor as ball carriers.

One also presumes that the choice of David Young ahead of Saracens prop Julian White is because of the Welshman's massive experience and ability to captain teams.

I wonder if Young has been invited to captain the midweek team, a vital element to the overall success of the touring party and one in which the manager Donal Lenihan did brilliantly 12 years ago.

Ronan O'Gara's goal-kicking ability was probably why he just shaded his battle with Gregor Townsend. However, the lack of rugby in Ireland recently meant O'Gara was not at his best for Munster in last weekend's European Cup semi-final and there are question marks over his ability to cope with the physical confrontation that awaits him in Australia.