Ex-Ireland rugby star makes big claim about the Lions v Argentina in Dublin
Alan Quinlan claims that the Lions' historic first game on Irish soil is mostly about making money.
And the former Munster great believes that current Ireland star Mack Hansen, who is named on the bench against Argentina, was 50-50 to make the cut for Andy Farrell's travelling squad.
There has been a lot of criticism of the price of tickets for Friday night's 1888 Cup clash that pits the Lions against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium, a fixture that will not have full Test status.
However the game will be a sell-out at the 51,700 capacity ground in Dublin 4 as the Lions play their first game before flying to Australia for the tour proper on Saturday morning.
"There's a lot of spend on putting a Lions tour together, paying players, coaches, match fees, hotels," Quinlan told Grosvenor Sport.
"I know there's loads of sponsors there, but it has to generate some money. I'm sure this fixture is about that. The Argentina game is great for the players but it doesn't get the blood flowing really, does it?"
Former Ireland flanker Quinlan missed out on the Lions tour of South Africa in 2009 after picking up a 12-week ban in the Heineken Cup semi-final loss to Leinster.
There are 16 Ireland players due to be on the plane to Australia, with six involved against the Pumas - including Connacht's Hansen, who makes the bench after an ankle injury ended his season early for the province.
"He was someone who was possibly 50-50," said Quinlan. "He has had a few injuries, missed some games, during the Six Nations. I'm not saying that any of these Irish players didn't deserve to get selected.
"Obviously the head coach, who's been involved in numerous other British and Irish Lions tours, has the credibility to make these selections and make these calls based on the players he knows."
While most of the URC final winning Leinster contingent will be watching from the stands - only Rónan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong are involved on the bench - Quinlan predicts that compatriots Jack Conan and Josh van der Flier are in pole position to start in the back row with England's Tom Curry.
"I think the way the game has gone, there's a lot of guys who can play second or back row, Ollie Chessum, Tadhg Beirne among them, even Maro Itoje," he said.
"Jack Conan is probably your most natural out and out eight. Ben Earl has played there and done very well for England. So has Curr (Tom Curry), but he has started primarily as a Seven.
I think if you were picking a Test team tomorrow you are picking Curry, Conan plus possibly Josh van der Flier on what will be fast tracks in Australia.
"I think they all have arguments in their own right and on paper now you could pick numerous different options who would probably do a very good job and would have a strong argument to be there, which is a good place for this Lions squad to be in.
"They have six warm-up games, essentially there's time for guys to put their hand up and for permutations to appear. Farrell will mix and match.
"I don't think there's too many nailed down positions for the Test side, probably three or four and the rest are up for grabs. Itoje is one, obviously. Dan Sheehan is another one. He's probably the other nailed-on person there alongside Finn Russell and Tommy Freeman."
As for the Test games against the Wallabies to come, Quinlan expects Joe Schmidt to have the hosts primed for the challenge but he predicts that Farrell's squad will get the series victory they crave.
"I think the Lions will be favourites," he remarked. "Knowing Joe and seeing what he did with Ireland and what he did with New Zealand at the World Cup, he certainly pulled out a few opportunities and a few strike players against Ireland, which hurt them in that quarter-final.
"He's just so diligent in everything he does and he'll have a plan here, and I think he'll want to make sure that he goes out on a high. With Joe's knowledge of Northern Hemisphere rugby and knowing most of the Lions' players inside out he will have done his analysis.
"He will have been working overtime to find strategies and weaknesses and opportunities. He is someone who's going to have a group that will know what they're doing.
"The Lions are still favourites and rightly so, but if Australia get any sort of a platform around the set piece and a physical presence then they'll be very competitive."
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