Many Irish fans were disappointed that only four of our lads made the match-day 23 for the first Lions test against the Wallabies on Saturday, but according to the official press release, we have five in the squad.
The omission of Sean O’Brien from even the bench was the main talking point from the Lions team announcement yesterday morning but perhaps in an effort to appease angry Irish fans, Sean Maitland was listed as an Irish international on the official press release, even though that would be robbing Scotland of their only player in the match-day squad.
The screen-grab below was taken from The Irish Times but if Twitter is anything to go by they were far from the only media outlet guilty of inserting the squad listings as they appeared on the press release and in fairness to them and everyone else, you would expect the Lions media guys to get the finer details right.
If it was true, it would make Maitland a trailblazer of sorts given that we would be the fourth representative team he has played for after the New Zealand Maori, Scotland and, of course, the Lions themselves and sure if he’s being offered to us, we might as well take him, right?
Hat-tip to Eddie the Eagle, the official mascot of the Connacht Rugby Team, for sending this one into us
