Former Lions captain Martin Johnson believes Alun Wyn Jones should skipper the tourists in New Zealand this summer.
Johnson – who led the Lions in both 1997 and 2001 – believes the Wales second row should be coach Warren Gatland’s choice to front the squad that takes on the All Blacks.
Gatland has said Sam Warburton, Owen Farrell, Rory Best and Dylan Hartley are all captaincy candidates, but Johnson believes Ospreys skipper Jones, who led the Lions in the final Test against Australia four ago, should stay in charge.
The former England skipper said: “As the tournament has gone on I just thought Alun Wyn Jones has played really well.
“Right now if you’re picking a Test team I’d pick him in the second row and I’d pick him as captain. That would by my choice.”
Gatland names his squad on April 19, but it could be that Jones plays little rugby before then because of a shoulder injury suffered in Wales’ final Six Nations match against France.
“I think he’s got some really tough calls,” said Johnson. “Like anything there’s obviously some guys who are in the ‘definites’, some guys in the ‘highly likelys’, the ‘probables’, and there’s a bunch that you’re going to have to pick the rest from – the ‘possibles’.
“I think a No 8 like Billy Vunipola will go, but who else will go? [Taulupe] Faletau has not played that much in the Six Nations but we know he’s a quality player, and then there’s some young guys like Ross Moriarty.”
Johnson says his old position of second row is an area of particularly acute competition for places in the squad.
“I think Alun Wyn Jones for me has nailed one down, I think Maro Itoje has nailed one down.
“Richie Gray for me was the best Scottish second row – there was a lot of talk about Jonny Gray and numbers, but I think Richie Gray had more impact. He’s a more mature player than he was four years ago.
“The challenge is the biggest in rugby, simple as that. New Zealand are always very good – that goes back from the dawn of rugby time.
“Win a series down there, you go with the immortals straight away in a very special group of players. It’s worth the effort, it’s worth the sacrifice to put everything into that six or seven weeks.”
Jones is expected to receive the results of a scan on his injured shoulder on Wednesday and already looks certain to miss the Ospreys’ Pro12 game at Treviso on Saturday, as well as their clash against Stade Francais in a European Challenge Cup quarter-final on 2 April.