Shane Williams picks his ideal Lions backline

Wales and Lions legend Shane Williams has picked what he believes will be the best backline to come up against the Springboks in July. 

 

Williams, a three-time tourist with the Lions, selected two of his countrymen and agonised over the wingers, although he found the 15 jersey a straight-forward pick. 

 

Speaking to walesonline.co.uk, Willaims said: “The easiest one for me is that Stuart Hogg has to be at 15. 

 

“He’s an integral part of what the Lions are all about and is the form full-back in world rugby. 

 

“The difficult bit is the wingers. I’m a big fan of Watson – he’s been there and done it before. As has Liam Williams. 

 

“If they were playing tomorrow and you wanted a proven Test team, Anthony Watson and Liam Williams would be playing. 

 

“That means you leave Josh Adams and Louis Rees-Zammit out. That’s a very difficult choice for me because I’ve been writing up those boys for the last two years. 

 

“I could quite easily see Rees-Zammit coming in and playing Test rugby but I think he’ll be blooded quite a bit in the midweek matches, as I was in ‘09, just to see if he’s ready. 

 

“This will be the toughest rugby of his life so far. I’d love to see him come through and have an opportunity. 

 

“Rees-Zammit, Josh Adams and Duhan van der Merwe could quite easily slot in there.” 

 

The diminutive Williams, who was famed the world over for his lethal side-stepping ability from the wing, boasts great experience with 87 international caps for Wales as well as 4 for the Lions. 

 

With regard to the midfield, Williams had the following to say: 

 

"Henshaw has deserved his place in the centre at the moment but we may see players like Bundee Aki coming through,” he said. 

 

“He has plenty of experience, is playing with a lot of form and he loves an outside break. 

 

“Also, when you have wingers with all the pace the Lions have on your outside, it makes him more dangerous because defences pay more attention to that. 

 

“It would be a no-nonsense 12 and 13. 

 

“South Africa won the World Cup by doing the basics right, being aggressive, winning the set pieces. Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel were just tough, hard and ran straight. 

 

“It can win you a Lions tour as well and I think we’ve got that. 

 

“Even though Farrell hasn’t been playing particularly well for England, he is still a big occasion player. 

 

“With him at 12 alongside Dan Biggar, that could do some real damage. 

 

“You’d have two 10s and I like teams who play with two fly-halves. You see it in Super Rugby Aotearoa and it gives teams options on both sides.” 

 

On to the flyhalf channel, the pick seems an easy one for Williams: 

 

“I think Dan Biggar starts at 10,” he said. 

 

“Along with Farrell, defensively, Dan is the best fly-half in the world. He’s got a fantastic kicking game – he can kick against where the ball is coming from, he can kick into open space, he’ll put a bomb up and catch it himself. 

 

“That, in itself, is one of the best skills you can have in rugby because you make 40 yards just from one effort. 

 

“Northampton has brought a bit more out of Dan. He takes the ball flat to the line more than he used to. He used to be a very deep 10 but he now has a more attacking game about him, he’s got a great offloading game too. 

 

“Generally, all round, he’s one of the best 10s in world rugby. He was a great player when I played alongside him but I look at him now and think I’d have really loved playing with Dan now because he’s adapted his game.” 

 

In terms of Biggar’s halfback partner, Williams reiterated what seems to be in the minds of most rugby fans. 

 

“It’s probably someone like a Conor Murray, who has got that experience having played in a number of Lions tests. 

 

“He won’t have his old faithful in Johnny Sexton alongside him but Biggar is a carbon copy of Sexton. I’m sure they’ll work perfectly well together."

Williams reminisced on his own experiences of South Africa while reinforcing his optimism about the Lions' chances.

“It will be a tough tour to South Africa, to face the world champions. It was the most physical tour I’d ever been on,” he recalls.

“But we should win this series. This is a team that can go to South Africa and beat the world champions.

“Northern hemisphere rugby is very strong at the moment.

“England have quality players, Wales winning the Six Nations, Irish provinces doing well.

“We’ve just got quality players. Hogg becoming captain of Scotland has just elevated him to become a better player again.

“Alun Wyn is playing out of his skin at the ripe old age of 64!

“You’ve got players like Tadhg Beirne playing with confidence.

“It’s such a confident team. The ability and physicality has never been questioned but there are a lot of good players playing with confidence at the moment.

“You have players in the English Premiership playing well for their clubs.

“The confidence Sam Simmonds must take on this tour will be fantastic.

“It’ll be tough, don’t get me wrong, South Africa are world champions and a great side. Cheslin Kolbe, de Allende, Pieter-Steph du Toit – these guys are world class.

“But what a team to be playing against.”

Shane Williams' B&I Lions backline:

9. Conor Murray

10. Dan Biggar

11. Liam Williams

12. Owen Farrell

13. Robbie Henshaw

14. Anthony Watson

15. Stuart Hogg