Over to you, Andy Suddenly there are more doubts than certainties over Lions selections

Suddenly there are more doubts than certainties over Lions selections

- Robert Kitson

The streets of Cardiff on Saturday night made the last days of the Roman empire look sedate. There were almost as many puddles of sick outside the Queens Vaults pub as England had scored tries inside the Principality Stadium, the glossy veneer of "Super Saturday" replaced by the dejected stagger home. Truth be told, the pissed-up paying public weren't looking too flash either.

What a deeply sobering weekend to be a player in red. To lose 68-14 against anyone at Test level is a nightmare; to do so at home against England is zombie apocalypse stuff. An Aussie dollar or two, then, for Andy Farrell's thoughts as he left the ground pondering his options for the British & Irish Lions series against the Wallabies this year. As things stand, Wales's representatives will be hard pressed to fill a phone box.

Farrell's attention will also have been drawn to Ireland's uncomfortable final afternoon in Rome. Instead of a positive reaction to their Dublin disappointment against France there was further evidence to support the theory a great Irish side is no longer the same force. Given Farrell is in charge of that longer-term rebuild he has plenty to consider. Because many of the certainties upon which his Lions plans were supposedly based have melted. Is it really still wise to base the tour's foundations around a fading Irish side in increasing need of a reboot? Is Caelan Doris still his captaincy frontrunner? And to what extent should England's improving end to the Six Nations influence what he does next?