Looking for Lions

Status	Change	Name	Club	Country
Fullback
Test XV	up	Geordan Murphy	Leicester	Ireland
Tourist 2	switch	Jason Robinson	Sale	England
Tourist 3	-	Chris Paterson	Edinburgh	Scotland
1	-	Kevin Morgan	Dragons	Wales
2	-	Girvan Dempsey	Leinster	Ireland
Wing
Test XV (left)	-	Shane Williams	Ospreys	Wales
Test XV (right)	up	Josh Lewsey	Wasps	England
Tourist 3	-	Denis Hickie	Leinster	Ireland
Tourist 4	-	Shane Horgan	Leinster	Ireland
1	up	Mark Cueto	Sale	England
2	up	Sean Lamont	Glasgow	Scotland
Centre
Test XV (12)	-	Brian O'Driscoll	Leinster	Ireland
Test XV (13)	-	Gavin Henson	Ospreys	Wales
Tourist 3	-	Gordon D'Arcy	Leinster	Ireland
Tourist 4	-	Tom Shanklin	Cardiff	Wales
Tourist 5	-	Olly Barkley	Bath	England
1	up	Jamie Noon	Newcastle	England
2	down	Ollie Smith	Leicester	England
Fly-half
Test XV	-	Stephen Jones	Clermont-Auvergne	Wales
Tourist 2	-	Ronan O'Gara	Munster	Ireland
Tourist 3	up	Charlie Hodgson	Sale	England
Tourist 4	down	David Humphreys	Ulster	Ireland
1	-	Andy Goode	Leicester	uncapped
2	-	Ceri Sweeney	Dragons	Wales
Scrum-half
Test XV	up	Chris Cusiter	The Borders	Scotland
Tourist 2	down	Dwayne Peel	Llanelli	Wales
Tourist 3	-	Peter Stringer	Munster	Ireland
Tourist 4	-	Gareth Cooper	Dragons	Wales
1	up	Harry Ellis	Leicester	England
2	down	Matt Dawson	Wasps	England
No.8
Test XV	-	Anthony Foley	Munster	Ireland
Tourist 2	up	Martin Corry	Leicester	England
Tourist 3	down	Allister Hogg	Edinburgh	Scotland
1	-	Lawrence Dallaglio	Wasps	England
2	-	Michael Owen	Dragons	Wales
Flanker
Test XV (open)	-	Martyn Williams	Cardiff	Wales
Test XV (blind)	up	Lewis Moody	Leicester	England
Tourist 3	-	Johnny O'Connor	Wasps	Ireland
Tourist 4	down	Jason White	Sale	Scotland
Tourist 5	down	Eric Miller	Leinster	Ireland
1	-	Joe Worsley	Wasps	England
2	up	Simon Taylor	Munster	Ireland
Lock
Test XV (left)	-	Malcolm O'Kelly	Leinster	Ireland
Test XV (right)	-	Paul O'Connell	Munster	Ireland
Tourist 3	up	Danny Grewcock	Bath	England
Tourist 4	down	Scott Murray	Edinburgh	Scotland
Tourist 5	-	Ben Kay	Leicester	England
Tourist 6	-	Stuart Grimes	Newcastle	Scotland
1	-	Steve Borthwick	Bath	England
2	-	Donnacha O'Callaghan	Munster	Ireland
Prop
Test XV (tight)	up	John Hayes	Munster	Ireland
Test XV (loose)	-	Gethin Jenkins	Cardiff	Wales
Tourist 3	up	Reggie Corrigan	Leinster	Ireland
Tourist 4	-	Adam Jones	Ospreys	Wales
Tourist 5	up	Graham Rowntree	Leicester	England
Tourist 6	down	Tom Smith	Northampton	Scotland
1	-	Marcus Horan	Munster	Ireland
2	up	Chris Horsman	Worcester	uncapped
Hooker
Test XV	-	Shane Byrne	Leinster	Ireland
Tourist 2	-	Gordon Bulloch	Glasgow	Scotland
Tourist 3	-	Mefin Davies	Gloucester	Wales
Tourist 4	-	Steve Thompson	Northampton	England
1	-	Frankie Sheahan	Munster	Ireland
2	-	Andy Titterrell	Sale	England
Current XV: England 2, Ireland 7, Wales 5, Scotland 1

Weekend movement - February 26/27

What a weekend! The Welsh and Irish head for the podium after shrugging off France and England respectively. This quirky old tournament never ceases to amaze and entertain!

Bad news first ... Gareth Thomas drops out of our XV after breaking his thumb in Paris. But fear ye not, we have no qualms about handing the No.15 shirt to Geordan Murphy - the boy is on fire.

Denis Hickie and Josh Lewsey also impressed in Dublin, and the indefatigable Englishman gets the nod on the wing after rediscovering his form.

Scotland's Chris Cusiter is back in the XV after tasting his first major win in a Scotland shirt. He leapfrogs Dwayne Peel.

Lewis Moody ousts injured Jason White from the flank, and Martin Corry moves ahead of Allister Hogg in the standings.

We also say a big hello to Scotland star Simon Taylor - he sneaks into contention following his victorious return to Scottish colours.

Elsewhere in the pack, big John Hayes assumes the tighthead berth due to the on-going injury to Julian White.

Finally, Worcester prop Chris Horsman moves into the standings as reward for his role in the Warriors' brilliant run of results.

Weekend movement - February 19/20

Not too much movement in the charts this week, but readers did like nominate a few Tigers for a nudge up the leaderboard after their 83-10 demolition of Newcastle Falcons - Andy Goode and Ollie Smith are duly awarded.

The bad news for our increasingly poxy-looking front row is that Phil Vickery has once again falling out of contention after sustaining a long-term injury.

Weekend movement - February 12/13

Well, we're down to just one Englishman in our XV - and he wasn't even involved in England's defeat to France! Take a bow, Julian White.

Jason Robinson drops out of the XV due to some pretty ineffectual running on Sunday. France cracked that drift-then-an-inward-step routine, and swallowed him up each time he came into the line.

Shane Williams gets the nod to take up the vacant spot on the strength of his performance in Rome. 'Saturday Night Fever' meets 'Catch me if You Can', said the critics.

Another largely anonymous - and indisciplined - display by Lewis Moody sees Scotland's Jason White commander the berth on the blindside of the scrum.

The final two Test XV changes see Dwayne Peel overhaul Chris Cusiter and Shane Byrne leapfrog Gordon Bulloch.

The good news for England is that Jamie Noon, Martin Corry and Matt Dawson all work their way up the leaderboard - as does Ireland flank Johnny O'Connor and Scotland prop Tom Smith.

We'll end this week with a little appeal. Can anyone link Serge Betsen to any British or Irish ancestry?

* NB: To all those who have queried the on-going inclusion of the likes Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy and Julian White - our selection policy stipulates that only 'long-term' injuries are to be excluded from our musings.

Weekend movement - February 5/6

The first round of the weekend's Six Nations seemed to have proven what you have been telling us for a while - that the English will not dominate the Lions XV on current form.

Naturally, Wales are reward for their Cardiff heroics.

Stephen Jones pinches the No.10 jersey off Charlie Hodgson's back, Martyn Williams clinches the openside spot, and Gethin Jenkins reclaims his position at loosehead.

Other Welshmen bumped up the batting order include Mefin Davies and Tom Shanklin.

Scotland's Gordon Bulloch reclaims the No.2 jersey after a good showing against the French and another wayward display from Steve Thompson.

Allister Hogg - he of the one stud in touch - also climbs up the leaderboard, as does Jason White who had a stormer in Paris.

Hogg's skipper, Scott Murray, also nudges his way up the charts, and Ben Kay makes his first appearance in the standings.

We also welcome back Ronan O'Gara. The Munsterman didn't have the best game in Rome, but we have opted to slot him in behind Jones and ahead of Hodgson.

Weekend movement - January 29/30

Not a huge amount of changes this week, but we bid a tearful goodbye (temporarily, we hope) to yet another Test starter - Colin Charvis.

The Wales skipper is unlikely to play for at least a month while he recovers from a foot injury. He is replaced by England's Lewis Moody who is playing an integral role in Leicester's romp across the Zurich Premiership.

The other major changes are just straight promotions.

Sale Sharks star Charlie Hodgson becomes the fourth man to occupy the No.10 jersey after a mesmeric display against Northampton Saints. He ousts Stephen Jones from the XV.

Ospreys star Gavin Henson has recovered from a couple of dicey European outings and reunites with the immovable Brian O'Driscoll.

Henson dislodges Shane Horgan, but the big Irishman retains his place in the XV by giving Shane Williams the heavy-ho on the wing.

So that's it for now, but don't you sense this could be just the calm before the storm?

Weekend movement - January 22/23

You warned us, but we didn't want to listen - and now you have been proved horribly right. Well done.

Yes, Lions legend Martin Johnson has officially ruled himself out of the tour and drops out of contention for ever. Sniff. They're dancing in the streets of Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland...

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Johnno's berth is fill by the copious frame of Malcolm O'Kelly who just so happens to be in the form of his life. Take that, New Zealand!  Fit-again Edinburgh lock Scott Murray sneaks onto the leaderboard to fill the vacant spot.

Borders scrum-half Chris Cusiter continues to work miracles behind a creaky set of forwards and almost single-handedly took Leinster apart at the weekend. What we would give to see this boy play his rugby off the front-foot. He ousts Dwayne Peel from the Test spot.

More good news for Scotland - Chris Paterson is back from injury, and comes straight back into contention. Jittery Gloucester playmaker Henry Paul is the man to make way for the Edinburgh star.

Finally, Leeds hooker Mark Regan appears to be enjoying life after England. He comes onto the leaderboard in place of Matthew Rees of Llanelli on the back of a couple of good games for the Tykes.

This is a tough call, as many of our readers have bemoaned the histrionics that followed the brush between Mark Robinson's boot and Ronnie's head at the weekend.

Weekend movement - January 15/16

Thankfully our injury bogey held off this weekend, so the only changes we have made are tactical.

Wales skipper Gareth Thomas had a wonderful game for Toulouse on Friday night, and scored a blistering try that left egg on the faces of a few of his compatriots.

Llanelli lock Chris Wyatt comes into contention after a solid try-scoring performance in the defeat to Toulouse, with Stuart Grimes stepping out of the picture for now.

Ireland Anthony Foley continued to impress for Munster, and - with the blessing of not a few readers - is promoted to No.8 at the expense of Lawrence Dallaglio.

Denis Leamy, Foley's young back row partner at Munster, also comes into the equation after an outstanding showing against Quins at Twickenham.

Gloucester wing James Simpson-Daniel was head and shoulders above his utterly ordinary team-mates on Sunday, and appears on the leaderboard for the first time. Tom Shanklin is the man to make way.

One common concern raised by a huge number of our readers to that the current XV lacks 'grunt' and proven performers. Any solutions?

Weekend movement - January 8/9

Another bruising weekend of European rugby has left us short of another first-choice player.

Just a week after nailing down the fly-half berth in the absence of the injured Ronan O'Gara, England star Jonny Wilkinson looks set to be out for another six weeks.

Stephen Jones moves up to pivot, with Gareth Bowen coming into contention following a good showing against the Northampton Saints.

Leinster's pack are punished for their shocking performance in Bath. Yes, the Irish won the game, but it was no thanks to their forwards who looked like they had enjoyed a very cidery Friday night in the West Country.

Consequently, Shane Byrne and Malcolm O'Kelly drop out of the 1st XV with their places being taken by Steve Thompson and Martin Johnson respectively.

Thompson and Johnson win their places on account of two good individual performances at the weekend - Thomo's coming in the open (his line-out work is still woeful) and Johnno's in the tight.

The inclusion of the English pair is also influenced by concern amongst our readers that our XV contains too many fresh faces and "not enough gargoyles".

Ospreys prodigy Gavin Henson's unproductive day at the office against Munster was noted by plenty of you, and he is duly forced to hand in his No.12 shirt. Leinster's Shane Horgan - who played wing on Saturday - is the man to profit from the Welshman's lacklustre display.

Another man to lose out is Leicester's Lewis Moody who was left dumbstruck by the brilliance of Biarritz (what a shame we can't pick any of those guys!). Johnny O'Connor steps up into the openside berth after a good showing against Calvisano.

Other men moving up the ladder on the back of decent work at weekend are Bath locks Steve Borthwick and Danny Grewcock, and Munster pair Donnacha O'Callaghan and Marcus Horan - the latter winning a Test spot.

Leinster's Victor Costello was a beacon of strength amid the mediocrity that surrounded him, and duly moves into contention for a No.8 tour spot.

The final new entry of the week is Llanelli hooker Matthew Rees who didn't put a foot wrong against the Saints.

Two men to drop down a few rings down the ladder are Andy Goode and Harry Ellis, Leicester halfback pairing.

Goode's recent form deserted him at Welford Road, whilst not a few readers opined that Ellis was a "petulant little s**t" who would be on the first flight home - in plaster - if he tried out his off-the-ball 'moves' on the New Zealand provinces. We tend to agree.

Weekend movement - January 1/2:

Disaster! The year - the Lions year - is but two days old and we've lost our first-choice fly-half (Ronan O'Gara) and No.8 (Martin Corry) to middle-term injuries.

Tourist Chris Paterson also drops out of contention - temporarily, we hope - with a hip/thigh problem.

On the plus side, Jonny Wilkinson put a terrible 2004 behind him with a match-winning performance against Sale Sharks and assumes the Test spot in O'Gara's absence.

Colin Charvis steps into a re-jigged back row, along with Lawrence Dallaglio. Joe Worsley is the man ousted - a demand from our readers who felt that Charvis deserved a spot on the blindside.

Meanwhile, Munster hooker Frankie Sheahan got the better of Ireland rival Shane Byrne during Munster's win over Leinster and moves a few rungs up the ladder.

Phil Vickery also returns to action, and - due to public demands - makes an immediate appearance on the propping leaderboard.  Adam Jones is the man who makes way.

The withdrawals of Corry, O'Gara and Paterson see - respectively - James Forrester, Ceri Sweeney and Kevin Morgan sneak into contention.

Weekend movement - December 26/27:

Not too many players made strong claims this week - we put it down to too much Christmas pud.

We are forced to make a change in the centre following Will Greenwood's injury. Gordon D'Arcy gets the seat on the plane whilst Olly Barkley joins the leaderboard by dint of his versatility.

Meanwhile, Shane Williams weighed in with a fine brace of tries for the Ospreys during their victory over Llanelli Scarlets and duly knocks Josh Lewsey out of the Test XV - Lewsey paying the price for Wasps' recent dip in form.

Despite the loss, the Scarlets' pack was impressive and prop Duncan Jones gets bumped up the order and into the XV as a reward for his efforts. Graham Rowntree makes way for the Welshman.

Weekend movement - December 18/19:

Only a few changes this weekend, and most stem from public feedback rather than clangers or heroics on the field of play.

Jason Robinson switches from fullback to left-wing, ousting Denis Hickie and making room for Geordan Murphy in the XV.

Many punters believe that the versatile talents of Scotland's Chris Paterson need to be included in the tour party, so we hand him one of the fullback tickets.

Gareth Cooper climbs back into the scrum-half leader-board after we were roundly mocked for dropping him last weekend. Matt Dawson is the unlucky man who misses out, the England man taking a hit for Wasps' indifferent form of late.

Harry Ellis also drops a rung or two - his recent elevation was perhaps based more on hype than on habitual brilliance. Peter Stringer is the man to benefit. As our readers pointed out, how can Ronan O'Gara travel without his bosom buddy?

The return of Gordon D'Arcy has been widely acclaimed, and he moves onto the centres' leader-board, ousting his compatriot Rob Henderson.

Andy Goode has been another firm favourite of the readers, and his versatility and form sees him join the list of fly-half contenders, slotting in above Jonny Wilkinson who had a mixed cameo at the weekend.

The forwards remain pretty much intact, bar one major exception.

A huge swathe of our readership believes that former England captain Martin Johnson has already ruled himself out of the Lions tour.

We haven't actually heard him say that in so many words, so we can't bring ourselves to drop him completely.

But the masses have spoken, so the great man drops out of the XV and onto the bench for the moment, with Malcolm O'Kelly stepping into the breach.

Sorry Johnno - they made us do it!

Weekend movement - December 11/12:

Plenty of movement following Round Four of the European tournaments, and there are five changes to our Test XV.

Leicester are reward for their clinical 35-27 Heineken Cup win over Wasps, Graham Rowntree inclusion in the XV means there are five Tigers in the Lions pack. Gethin Jenkins makes way for the big England veteran.

Joe Worsley made a few dents in the Leicester line on Sunday, and moves into the starting line-up at the expense of Colin Charvis.

Not great news for the Scots - Shane Byrne ousts Gordon Bulloch from the No.2 jersey and Dwayne Peel moves ahead of Chris Cusiter.

Ronan O'Gara pulled all the strings during Munster's solid win over Castres on Saturday and is rewarded with the fly-half berth - Stephen Jones steps down.

Shane Williams, David Humphreys, Harry Ellis, Sonny Parker and Anthony Foley all get tickets for the plane to New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Jonny Wilkinson, Robin McBryde and Rob Henderson all appear on the leaderboard for the first time.

Iain Balshaw, Ceri Sweeney, Mefin Davies, Neil Back, Gareth Copper all get their airfares revoked - for now at least.

Mike Tindall drops out of contention - and off the plane - due to his recent injury.

Explanation:

Over the next few months we will track the form of those players who are in with a chance of being selected to tour New Zealand with the 2005 British and Irish Lions.

The table above is made up of those players who are currently occupying the top rungs of the selectorial ladder, and operates in accordance with a loose as-good-as-your-last-game policy.

The chart will be refreshed every Monday to reflect the performances put in by the various contenders at the weekend - from readers (and from the pub) will also be take into account.

Consequently, players are free to move up and down the chart - and off and on.

One assumption we have had to make is that the 44-man Lions party will be made up as follows:

3 fullbacks
4 wings
5 centres
4 fly-halves
4 scrum-halves
3 No.8s
5 flanks
6 locks
6 props
4 hookers
(2 'stand-by' names have also been included in each position)

As on all tours, versatility will win a player a march on a one-trick pony - but given the size of the squad being assembled by Sir Clive Woodward, this advantage is negligible.

In keeping with the as-good-as-your-last-game policy, players nursing long-term injuries will not be considered until they return to duty. Hence no Richard Hill, Mike Tindall, Will Greenwood, Keith Gleeson etc.

Furthermore, until we hear news to the contrary, former internationals (Dallaglio, Regan et al) are included in the deliberations.