Former England Prop Believes the Lions Shouldn’t Play the Provincial Sides Anymore

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As the game has gone professional over the last 25 years we have still managed to hold on to a Lions tour and if anything it’s got even bigger and better and former English prop David Flatman makes a very interesting point on The XV ahead of the first test on Saturday against the Springboks in Cape Town.

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“Can anyone reasonably expect the Aussies to field five or six savage Super Rugby teams in the build-up to the test series to really hammer in to and prepare the Lions?”

“Will it be a Lions tour for the ages, one during which we see every player pushed to his limit and given hell before the career-defining days arrive? Right now, it seems unlikely.

“As counter-intuitive as it may sound, I’d love to see the French included in Australia. Not in Lions selection, of course, but as opposition.

“Bring in a fully loaded Tonga, Fiji and Samoa too, as proper opposition. One match versus each of the South Sea Islands and one or two against France, and you’d be talking about a globally-engaging rugby happening.”

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