Anyone else excited by the...

[hampsteadclaret]

- imminent announcement of the British and Irish Lions tour party of New Zealand...at lunchtime today....yes I thought so..

[Follow squad announcement live on BBC Sport website at midday, Wednesday 19 April...
Listen to a Lions squad announcement special on BBC Radio 5 live and online from 19:00 BST on Wednesday]

Speculation suggests that Sam Warburton will captain the Lions for the second time, that England captain Dylan Hartley may miss out and that Welsh centre Jamie Roberts may get a surprise inclusion..Scotland may only have 2 players in the squad..maybe 40 players in the squad..more information at the link. This will be a very tough tour with three Tests against the All Blacks...it should be excellent viewing.

Fixtures -

Lions tour to New Zealand -
June 3 - Provincial Union Team, Whangarei
June 7 - Blues, Auckland
June 10 - Crusaders, Christchurch
June 13 - Highlanders, Dunedin
June 17 - Maori All Blacks, Rotorua
June 20 - Chiefs, Hamilton
June 24 - All Blacks, Auckland
June 27 - Hurricanes, Wellington
July 1 - All Blacks, Wellington
July 8 - All Blacks, Auckland


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39636962" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ablueclaret]

No.

[LeadBelly]

Only just spotted that you beat me to the punch on this one.
I've seen the "Jamie Roberts is in" story in both the Grauniad and DT this morning, that is a surprise if correct. I dont think he's played that well for Wales or Quins this year and there are a lot of alternatives in the centre.
No great surprise re Hartley (if true), he's done well as England captain but there are quite a few better hookers around I think. Can't argue re Sam W as skipper either, a good player & captain (so long as he doesn't tip tackle opponents).

[hampsteadclaret]

Nice one LeadBelly...I guess 'our leaders' will merge these threads at some point.

Really looking forward to the tour down there..the NZs will make it difficult for us, no doubt about that.

That's fair enough abc, can't expect you to be an expert in two major international sports.

[ClaretDiver]

Didn't expect that squad....16 England players....

[hampsteadclaret]

Well..41 players in the squad..Dylan Hartley can be disappointed, captain of England in the last two seasons when England have been Champions..

Also..how can they leave out Joe Launchbury, one of the best players in the world in the last 12 months..?

Only 2 Scots..?

Nevertheless, it is a very strong party, full of strength, physicality and raw power...details below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39639299" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ClaretDiver]

Good grief didn't see that about Hartley....WTF???