{"id":11120,"date":"2025-04-11T15:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T15:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/11120\/"},"modified":"2025-04-11T15:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T15:58:10","slug":"andy-goodes-5-lions-wannabes-looking-to-make-their-pitch-to-farrell-planet-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/11120\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Goode’s 5 Lions wannabes looking to ‘make their pitch’ to Farrell : Planet Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former England star Andy Goode has named the FIVE Lions wannabes he believes have most to gain on Investec Champions Cup quarter-final weekend.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The two-time tournament winner bills the four matches as the last major audition for Andy Farrell\u2019s British and Irish tour given the semi-final round comes so close to the May 8 squad announcement.<\/p>\n

He says the cross-border showdowns, to be played in Ireland, England and France, offer a gilt-edged chance for players to catch the eye of the head coach and his assistants.<\/p>\n

Ahead of crackerjack Champions Cup<\/a> ties between Leinster and Glasgow, Bordeaux and Munster, Northampton and Castres and Toulon and Toulouse, Goode has revealed the quintet he wants to see seize the moment.<\/p>\n

Leinster v Glasgow: Sam Prendergast<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a former fly-half I have obvious interest in selection at 10,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd this quarter-final round offers Sam, Jack Crowley and Fin Smith one helluva platform to make their pitch to Andy Farrell.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaz is probably thinking Finn Russell is nailed on to tour, then you\u2019ve got to have another two. How does that look across Fin, Sam, Jack and Marcus [Smith]?<\/p>\n

\u201cThis weekend is the closest the contenders are going to get to Test match intensity between now and when the squad is picked. For my money it\u2019s going to have a huge bearing on players\u2019 prospects.\u201d<\/p>\n

A week ago Prendergast<\/a> went up against No.10 rival Marcus Smith and enjoyed much the better of the contest. Leinster scored 10 unanswered tries in what was a horror show for Smith\u2019s Harlequins.<\/p>\n

Goode<\/a> is a fan of the England man. \u201cI enjoy watching Marcus because he can do a lot of stuff I never could as a player.\u201d But he fears Quins\u2019 62-0 shellacking, in front of a watching Farrell, will hurt his chances unless Smith\u2019s value is viewed through the prism of versatility, as a 10 and 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the players from Harlequins just gave up,\u201d Goode told Jim Hamilton on their podcast, The Rugby Pod. \u201cThere was no pride in the jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talking to Planet Rugby he preferred to shower praise on Prendergast. \u201cI thought he played exceptionally well \u2013 picking good options, good ball distribution. His skill set was great.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it comes down to a 50-50 decision between Prendergast and Marcus Smith and you\u2019re going off a bit of ticker from that game last week, of course it doesn\u2019t do you any favours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Champions Cup teams: Six Nations superstar returns to face Munster while Toulouse missing box office threat<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Bordeaux v Munster: Jack Crowley<\/p>\n

If tonight\u2019s Glasgow game is big for Prendergast, Goode says Munster\u2019s tie at Bordeaux offers Crowley<\/a> a seismic opportunity to build on his Player of the Match display at La Rochelle in the Round of 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cJack\u2019s performance last weekend should certainly put him in the Lions conversation,\u201d Goode says. \u201cSpuds of steel. What he did against Ronan O\u2019Gara\u2019s team [drop goal] was O\u2019Gara-esque.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo question for me, it puts him in the Lions frame. And I like his half-back partner Craig Casey too as a bolter.<\/p>\n

\u201cMunster have kind of slipped behind Leinster as Ireland\u2019s No.1 team. But that was a proper knotty, hard-nosed performance by them. Hopefully for Munster fans they can do it again this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northampton v Castres: Henry Pollock and Fin Smith<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re being honest, you wouldn\u2019t say a huge number of players emerged from the Six Nations as nailed-on starters for the Lions<\/a>\u2018 Test series,\u201d Goode continues. \u201cWhich makes these big European knockout games so important.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at Theo Dan last week. Before Saracens\u2019 game at Toulon, England\u2019s \u2013 what is he, third-choice? \u2013 hooker would not have been in the conversation. Dan Sheehan is head and shoulders above the rest. Then Ronan Kelleher, he\u2019s pretty special.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Dan showed in that game he has got traits of Sheehan that not many other hookers have, in terms of power and off-loading ability. All you can do is put yourself in the shop window. That\u2019s what Theo did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which brings Goode to Pollock<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve got to stop talking about him,\u201d laughs the Coventry-born 44-year-old, who will be at Franklin\u2019s Gardens for Premier Sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst Clermont he was again outstanding. The way he\u2019s performed going back to that Wales game, what he\u2019s produced individually and collectively in teams since then, certainly puts him in the shopwindow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing I\u2019d say is back-row is probably the most congested area of selection. There is so much quality. Jack Willis as Toulouse, Josh van der Flier at Leinster, Jac Morgan had a storming Six Nations in a really poor Wales team. Rory Darge also impressed, and he\u2019s still alive in Europe with Glasgow.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Pollock is an X-factor player who is producing. Look at his ball-carrying prowess, his footwork and speed, his gainline breaking ability. He has more turnovers (13) than anyone else in this competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people see the way he looks at the camera a lot and judge him (negatively) on that. But I think we should celebrate young players like him. Build them up, allow them to flourish.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big performance against Castres certainly keeps him right in Andy Farrell\u2019s eye line to potentially be part of the mix. And I\u2019d say the same applies to Fin Smith<\/a>, who came into the England team only two months ago but has done a wonderful job at 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe played beautifully last week against Clermont. Another performance like that, with the prospect of a semi-final against Leinster, and he puts himself firmly in the mix.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019s like the lost Jedi\u2019 \u2013 Why \u2018god\u2019 Jonny Wilkinson is still inspiring Toulon as they prepare for Toulouse showdown<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Toulon v Toulouse: Jack Willis<\/p>\n

As statements go, Willis<\/a>\u2018 man of the match performance for Toulouse against Sale, up against Lions selection rivals Tom and Ben Curry, was emphatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was ineligible for England in the Six Nations but thoroughly deserves to go on ability and talent and what he\u2019s shown in performances,\u201d says Goode.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaz left the door open to players in France and I have a feeling that when he made that statement he was thinking firmly about Willis who, in Antoine Dupont\u2019s absence, is first on the team sheet for Toulouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Ugo Mola quite well from my days at Brive and he can\u2019t speak highly enough of Willis. Trust me, having been coached by Ugo at Brive, it\u2019s very difficult to get a compliment about an Englishman out of his mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook,\u201d adds Goode. \u201cThis is a game of opinions and we can all put a squad of 38 together, or whatever the number is, and I guarantee very few will come up with the same squad as Andy Farrell.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the lads can do is rock up in the big games and put their biggest performance in \u2013 to say to Faz, \u2018at this level, at this intensity, I\u2019m the man\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andy Goode is part of the Premier Sports team showing every game live in the Investec Champions Cup, including Saturday\u2019s big quarter-final between Northampton Saints and Castres (Premier Sports 1 from 5.15pm). All eight quarter-finals across both EPCR competitions will be shown live on Premier Sports this weekend. Join the home of rugby for just \u00a311.99 a month. Visit www.premiersports.tv<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Simon Shaw\u2019s Team of My Life: All Blacks great \u2018sneaks in\u2019 over Richie McCaw as \u2018special player\u2019 completes Springboks engine room<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former England star Andy Goode has named the FIVE Lions wannabes he believes have most to gain on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[7612,5313,2383,126,7613,7614,225,7615,2387,12,4151,7616,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-11120","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-andy-goode","9":"tag-british-and-irish-lions","10":"tag-champions-cup","11":"tag-features","12":"tag-fin-smith","13":"tag-henry-pollock","14":"tag-home-page","15":"tag-jack-crowley","16":"tag-jack-willis","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-rugby","19":"tag-sam-prendergast","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114320159912750153","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}