Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

STEVE SCOTT: Scots’ eight Lions may lure back those who lost love of the brand

Hamish Watson, Duhan van der Merwe and Rory Sutherland of Edinburgh and the Lions.
Hamish Watson, Duhan van der Merwe and Rory Sutherland of Edinburgh and the Lions.

Well, that wasn’t so bad, was it?

For all that, yes, the selection team didn’t see nationalities but players, and for all that Warren Gatland didn’t really hate Scotland, this was a tipping point for the British and Irish Lions brand north of the border.

Another perceived slight, another embarrassing show of two original selections, then I’d imagine a lot of Scots would discard the notion of the touring team altogether. Some had already.

Putting aside nationalities works for the players, but not the fans

Instead, they might be lured back. The idea that nationalities can be put aside for the Lions is all very good for the squad, indeed it’s a prerequisite. But for the fans, it’s not remotely the same, and Irish outrage at Jonny Sexton and James Ryan’s omission will show it’s not purely a Caledonian affliction.

Eight players is the best Scottish contingent on a Lions Tour since Australia in 1989. Rugby had six more years of being purely amateur left then.

Gatland was true to his word – show some backbone, particularly winning away from Murrayfield, and Scotland’s representation would surely rise. The concept of having “a voice” in selection meetings with Gregor Townsend and Steve Tandy aboard also has held true, despite everyone denying it was a factor yesterday.

Rory Sutherland (some story from a guy who couldn’t go for a pee without his partner’s assistance three years ago) and Zander Fagerson found spots in the front row. Gatland said that Scotland had the best scrummage in the Six Nations.

Ali Price probably benefitted by Ben Youngs choosing not to tour, but he outplayed him in their only head-to-head this season anyway.

Watson, Hogg and van der Merwe were certainties

Hamish Watson was a certainty despite the outlandish and selective trolling of some London journalists. Gatland did indicate he’d have work to do to get to the test side. That’s fine, that’s exactly how it should be.

Stuart Hogg and Duhan van der Merwe, after the way they played in the Six Nations just passed, had to tour. Chris Harris’s stock has grown the more he’s played.

Finn Russell was the one many thought might be a step too far for the arch-pragmatist Gatland. But he’s there instead of Sexton and the coach sung his praises without anyone visibly holding his arm up his back.

Sure there are odd picks here and there, but that’s Lions selections for you. How England have 11 tourists after a dire Six Nations is at least curious. But there are no outright total miscarriages of justice here…well maybe Jonny Hill and/or Courtney Lawes for James Ryan.

Who makes the test team? Who knows? No-one in their right mind prior to 1997 would have picked Scotland’s last starting test match Lion, Tom Smith, and he ended up playing six successive tests for them.

The fact that Scots are there, and in good numbers, is what makes the difference already.