Monday 21 March 2016 22:50, UK
Martin Johnson is backing England locks George Kruis and Maro Itoje to start for the British and Irish Lions in New Zealand next year.
Saracens team-mates Kruis and Itoje proved a formidable pairing for England as they secured the Grand Slam, completed on Saturday with a nervy 31-21 win over France in Paris.
Itoje, 21, only made his senior international debut against Italy in the second round of Six Nations matches but Johnson feels he has already joined the second-row elite, and can only improve.
"Paul O'Connell has gone but Alun Wyn Jones is still there, while Ireland are excited about Iain Henderson and Scotland's Richie Gray is working on his fundamentals," said Johnson, who captained the Lions to a series win over South Africa in 1997.
"I think Eddie Jones has handled Maro's rise very well, first using him from the bench and then getting him into the starting line-up. The guy is only 21 and is already being heralded as a saviour of the game.
"Let's let the kid play. I could see from watching him at club level that he was a fine athlete - at a level which we might not have seen in the second row before.
"But I was worried he was more of an athlete than a rugby player. Does he have that natural instinct for rugby? Quite clearly, we can say now that he does.
"Hopefully he can be managed properly by club and country and England can have him not just for 2019 World Cup, but through 2023 to 2027.
"Having said all that about Maro, George Kruis has just quietly gone about his business and got better and better with every game.
"They make a fantastic pairing - their lineout under the guidance of Steve Borthwick was very impressive and they are going to take some shifting between now and the Lions tour."
Johnson was asked to pick his starting Lions XV on the team's official website - lionsrugby.com - and he selected eight members of England's Six Nations-winning squad, including captain Dylan Hartley.
Flanker Chris Robshaw, No 8 Billy Vunipola, scrum-half Ben Youngs, centre Jonathan Joseph and wing Anthony Watson would also make his side.
Martin Johnson's British and Irish Lions XV: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 WP Nel, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 6 Chris Robshaw, 7 John Hardie, 8 Billy Vunipola.
