'Another Aussie': Even Schmidt can't ignore elephant in Lions room

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To deal with the first question, it is helpful to look back at the original Lions squad of 2013, the most recent time they toured Australia.

There is certainly precedence for picking players who originate from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa - former Crusaders winger Sean Maitland, Dylan Hartley and Matt Stevens, a Junior Springbok, all made the initial selection.

There has been a long history of players from the SANZAAR countries finding their way into the Home Nations' Test teams: in that sense this Lions tour is nothing different, and the 'nothing to see here' argument put forward in some quarters in the northern hemisphere holds water.

There is no doubt, either, that all the SANZAAR Lions have displayed a level of personal commitment and passion for their adopted countries.

But this is really a numbers game, and the volume of SANZAAR players in this year's squad is atypical.

In fact, it might never be repeated because World Rugby changed the eligibility laws at the end of 2020 to extend the residential qualification period from three years to five years.