By Neal Collins

I'm glad I'm only a quarter Welsh.

Watching the British and Irish Lions in Invercargill would have been torture if my leek levels were anything like 50%.

I mean there they were, those glorious 2005 Grand Slam winners, dictating the play against Southlands like their countrymen have for so much of this arduous tour Down Under.

Gavin Henson scored two marvellous tries and out-muscled all manner of plodding Polynesians.

Tom Shanklin, the centre forced to play on the wing so often by coach Sir Clive Woodward, came on and shone alongside his Welsh team-mate.

With the score at 10-10, who was it who muscled in with Scotland's Gordon Bulloch to secure the possession for Henson's vital second try? Welshman Martyn Williams of course.

Of course, these are the men who probably won't feature in Saturday's first Test against the All Blacks.

And there are many Grand Slam winners, particularly up front, who never got on the plane.

Woodward, already taking huge flak from JPR Williams and the like, can't have been too happy watching Welshmen, shrugging off the ignominy of playing for the dirttrackers, orchestrate another slightly uncomfortable win.

We await the Test team with some trepidation.

Of the 13 Englishmen in contention, seven are World Cup winners.And we all know what's happened to England since that epic night in Sydney in 2003.

Third and then fourth in the Six Nations, roundly beaten in these parts a year ago. Not that successful in the two rounds of autumn internationals either.

Sir Clive is on the finishing stretch as a rugby coach. He appears prepared to go back to the tried and trusted for his final sprint, the three Tests against New Zealand.

Neil Back, the man he discarded as too old for England two years ago, and Richard Hill, injured for most of the season, will line up in the loose.

Lawrence Dallaglio would have joined them if he was fit, Martin Johnson would have loomed large in front of them if he'd been persuaded to make one more tour.

Jonny Wilkinson, without an international since the World Cup-winning drop goal, looks like he'll start ahead of Grand Slam-winning Stephen Jones.

Ben Kay and Steve Thompson, shaky since the draining seven-week World Cup epic, remain in contention for the vital forward roles ahead of steadier, non-English contenders.

The same can be said for Jason Robinson, Matt Dawson and Will Greenwood in the backs. Curiously Mark Cueto, the young pretender, appears out of favour, along with Ollie Smith and Charlie Hodgson while Joe Worsley and Jamie Noon were left at home.

Sir Clive may be right. Perhaps he needs the old reliables. Experience before youth. Ball retention and long relieving kicks ahead of slick running and fancy-pants try-scoring.

Perhaps a grim, defensive mental approach is necessary to give these free-flowing All Blacks a game.

It's an approach typified by Ronan O'Gara's decision to kick a penalty in the last minute in Invercargill with the crowd booing their disapproval.

I've had dozens of emails about my suggested Lions Test line-up...most from angry Welshmen (and Irishmen, they have gripes too), several from curious Kiwis, a few from self-satisfied Englishmen.

Few predicted Henson, Owen, Shanklin and Williams would all end up trying to beat Southlands. I did.

Most accused me of pro-England bias. That's not fair.

I'm just trying to read Sir Clive's mind. I've spent a few nights out with him, one memorable dinner sat next to him in the Long Room at Lord's gave me a real insight in to his detailed, almost obsessive approach to life, football and the universe, not just rugby.

Sir Clive will do it his way. JPR can rabbit on as long as he likes.

The first Test team WILL be dominated by Englishmen. Henson will not be drafted in at the last minute because he was superb when fired up against Southlands.

That's a panic selection, something Sir Clive won't consider. He's seen the hair, the boots, the ego, the girlfriend. He will feel he's taught Henson a vital lesson.

If the Lions shock us all and win in Christchurch on Saturday, Sir Clive will be a hero.

If they don't, all hell will break loose.

That's the risk Sir Clive took when he decided to do the job, spending more money, using more backroom staff and flying out 49 players for the toughest task in the rugby world.

You've got to admire the man. But you don't have to agree with him.

Many disputed his major decisions during the World Cup campaign, but he came home with the William Webb Ellis trophy.

I think Henson should be in, just like two other Welshmen who have sparked on this tour, Ryan Jones and Gethin Jenkins.

Dwayne Peel and Stephen Jones won a Grand Slam and have twice put the All Blacks under pressure. They deserve to be the half-back combination.

The knives are being sharpened around the Celtic nations, the pressure is on.

The first Test looms.