Lion-sized challenge for Cotton

Chris Rea says the Five Nations is not best preparation to tackle South Africa

I''ve always fondly imagined myself to be a half-full kind of a bloke, not a half-empty one. In other words a supreme optimist, but even with the sunniest of dispositions I find it impossible to join in the general euphoria which has attended this season's Five Nations' Championship. Indeed, there are several sound reasons for believing it to be one of the most depressing tournaments for many years. Lest this be interpreted as the sour outpourings of an embittered Celt, let me say that, during the past six years, I have been over, round and through the moon in delight at England's Grand Slams, swooned at their sustained artistry against the Wallabies on a magical day at Twickenham in 1988 and drooled over their flowing adventure against three-quarters of the opposition during the 1990 campaign which not even defeat at Murrayfield could completely erase.

No, it is not green-eyed jealousy which has prompted this bleak conclusion, but the fact that, of the five starters in the championship race, there are now only two regular finishers. Worse still is the fact that France and England do not even have to produce consistently good form to get into the frame. Out of the 320 playing minutes, England performed at full throttle for only 120 and half of that was against France which was easily their best display of the season. It should therefore be of serious concern that England were able to beat the three home countries, all by record margins, running at little more than 25 per cent efficiency. That is a truly disturbing reflection on the poverty of the opposition and a serious worry for those who believe that the Five Nations is in imminent danger of meltdown.

Despite John Richardson's vehement rejection of Fran Cotton's claim that the Rugby Football Union are considering opting out of the tournament in order to seek a higher calibre of opposition in the southern hemisphere, there is undoubtedly more than a shred of truth in the allegations. The inevitable consequence of that search would be the break-up of the Five Nations. For Richardson to be squealing about a campaign of disinformation orchestrated by Cotton and his supporters after the RFU's contortions in the past 12 months is rich indeed. The sad truth is that a once honourable body can no longer be trusted. However, we may get an early opportunity to assess the validity of the RFU's protestations in the light of the English and French clubs' stance on European competition next season.

In fairness to the RFU, their lack of enthusiasm for the Five Nations given this season's events is understandable. Sure, it was more entertaining than in the recent past but the gap between England and France and the other three is becoming wider with every passing season and even allowing for the cyclical nature of sport it is hard to believe that Scotland, Ireland and Wales will succeed in this professional age in competing with the financial resources and playing strength of Europe's market leaders.

The greatest challenge for Fran Cotton will be to raise the collective standards of the four countries sufficiently to beat the Springboks this summer. Even Martin Johnson, a certainty on every team sheet for the past four years, is showing signs of fatigue. He is still the best in the business but by the looks of him he needs about six weeks rest and recuperation. Jason Leonard's place is assured and the same goes for Robert Howley at scrum-half. It will also be hard on the evidence of this season's championship to omit Lawrence Dallaglio and Tim Rodber from the Test side although Eric Miller has played so well that he could come into the reckoning not only as a No 8, but also as a flanker who can play with equal facility on both sides of the scrum. But Cotton will not have forgotten the painful lesson learned by the last Lions team to tour South Africa in 1980 when, after just 50 seconds of the opening match, the Lions lost Stuart Lane, the one genuine openside in the party. By not replacing him with another specialist, the Lions surrendered this critical area to the opposition. As a result they came second in the loose and second in the series in which one of the most influential figures was the Springbok flanker Rob Louw.

So who will accompany Richard Hill this summer? The Welshman Colin Charvis was left out of the preliminary squad of 62, but it would be no surprise to see his name in the final party of 35. He has all the attributes Cotton and his fellow selectors are seeking. He is big, strong and, with the daily training routines on a tour such as this, would improve his speed sufficiently to keep apace with the fleetest of Springboks.

Charvis might not be the only Welshman at present on the outside to make the final selection. Despite the fact that Jonathan Davies laboured at times when the pace was raised at the Arms Park last Saturday, his decision- making against England was almost faultless. His tactical brain is as sharp as ever even if his limbs are not and he would bring a stability to the Lions which few others can match let alone surpass. Until the final quarter of the game against France, Paul Grayson was probably the Lions' choice at fly-half along with Gregor Townsend but now I'm not so sure. It is Ian McGeechan's belief that although Townsend's game suffered badly in the general mediocrity of the Scottish team, it will take no more than a brief refresher course to rehabilitate him. One of the things Townsend must quickly take on board is the need, when the battle is at its fiercest, to withdraw a little from the fire rather than stand so close to its heat.

Robert Howley is the undisputed master of his craft at scrum-half which leaves the Lions to choose two from Austin Healey, Bryan Redpath and Kyran Bracken. The England pack will surely go en bloc along with Phil Greening. Jeremy Guscott will, of course, be in the party and should, of course, have been in the England side. For Jack Rowell to argue that he and Cotton have different priorities is absurd. The priority is to pick the best available players particularly when they are central to the grand plan for world domination. And for all the brilliance of England's best bits this season they're still some way short of achieving that lofty aim.

It will, in all conscience, be hard enough for the Lions to hold the Springboks but here is my team to do it: Jenkins (Wales); Bentley (England), Bateman (Wales), Gibbs (Wales), Geoghegan (Ireland); Townsend (Scotland), Howley (Wales); Rowntree (England), Greening (England), Leonard (England), Johnson (England), Davidson (Ireland), Dallaglio (England), Hill (England), Miller (Ireland).