British and Irish Lions: Tim Visser and CJ Stander impress, George North’s place on tour is in doubt

Ireland’s scrum-half is the standout candidate for his position on the evidence of the opening three rounds of the Six Nations. The Irish 9’s sniping runs, excellent distribution and strong kicking game make him a dead-cert for the squad and a likely Test starter, and he showed the very best of those qualities in a masterclass against France.

The second row is going to be one of the most hotly contested areas of selection this summer, but Joe Launchbury has put his name squarely in the mix and delivered another Man of the Match display against Italy. It's going to be hard for Eddie Jones to leave him out of the England XV now and on form he deserves a touring place. The only problem for Launchbury is the quality of the competition he's up against.

Scotland have found their scoring touch of late, but it’s not just Stuart Hogg who’s providing the spark in the back three. Winger Tim Visser is developing into a world-class finisher, but he silenced a few doubters with his defensive display on Saturday, producing one particularly eye-catching try-saving tackle in an all-round solid performance.

Ireland’s fly-half returned from injury and immediately showed why he is many pundits’ favourite to wear the 10 jersey in the summer. Sexton ran the show against France, but it’s still his fitness that will be the most important factor in his involvement in the Lions tour.

The Wasps back was barely in the conversation for Lions selection prior to the Six Nations… but he’s done more than enough to catch Gatland’s eye in England’s first three matches. His versatility makes Daly a particularly useful pick for a squad that could easily become bloated, but even if he was being considered purely as a winger he’d still be in with a chance, such has been the impact he’s made in an England shirt.

A number of Welsh players will be sweating on their involvement in the summer. However, scrum-half Webb should not be one of them. He carried more than any other 9 over the weekend, standing out despite a lack of quality ball against Scotland. It should be an interesting battle between him and Murray for the starting berth.

Scotland’s fly-half was outstanding against Wales, brilliant with the ball in hand and impressively reliable with the boot. It’s unlikely that he’d start, given the quality of the other 10s in contention, but he has the style and swagger to be a very useful tourist.

Ireland’s big ball-carrying flanker is a classic Gatland player. Offloading might not be his friend, but Stander’s ability to break the gain-line was again used to full effect against an intimidatingly huge French defence on Saturday. The Lions are going to need plenty of muscle on tour and the South-Africa born 26-year-old certainly isn’t lacking in that department.

The older of the Gray brothers already has a Lions cap to his name and has defied those who suggest his game has faded in the last four years with a string of brilliant performances. Against Wales he was the best lock on the park, which is some praise given the quality of brother Jonny alongside him and Alun Wyn Jones as his opposite number.

Ireland’s talismanic flanker has troubled the All Blacks in the past and, if his barnstorming display against France was anything to go by, he’s returning close to his best after a number of injury problems. O’Brien has the look of a Lions starter about him and fitness is the biggest thing standing between him and a spot in the Test XV.

Wales’ back-line have left a lot to be desired as a collective, but Williams has still been able to shine despite the limitations of the players inside him. His finishing has never been in doubt and he brings an unpredictable quality with him – which the Lions may well need to unlock such a solid New Zealand defence. Another versatile player, that ability to play as a wing and a full-back should see him make the plane, although a poor defensive error won't have gone unnoticed.

Thirteen is a shirt for the taking and Leinster’s young outside centre has the quality to make it his own. He started the tournament shakily, but held up well against France’s powerful ball-carriers and will have impressed on a weekend when Jonathan Joseph was dropped from the England side and Ben Teo’o and Huw Jones could have done more to stake their claims.

The Wales lock is the bookies’ favourite to be named Lions captain, but the moment when he was overruled by his team against Scotland will be a major black mark against his name. Away from the captaincy, AWJ was out-played by both Gray brothers, which will complicate the selection debate in a position where there is so much quality available to Gatland and Co. The veteran’s experience and leadership qualities mean he’s still likely to make the trip, but he’ll be lucky to do so if he fails to up his game in the remaining two matches.

The big Welsh winger was a headline name for the Lions’ touring party in Australia four years ago. But against Scotland he showed exactly why he’s in serious danger of not making the trip. North’s defence left a lot to be desired and he failed to trouble a Scottish defence with the ball in hand.

Biggar’s one-dimensional approach to the No. 10 role has been exposed in this tournament and the Wales fly-half was badly off colour against Scotland. Of the two playmakers on show it was Russell who looked like a Lions player, not the more experienced Welshman.

Ford was thrown off his game by Italy’s disruptive tactics at Twickenham on Sunday and showed a worrying lack of ability to deal with poor-quality ball. The England fly-half needed to show something special in this tournament to make up for doubts over his defence, but he’s not done enough yet to stake a decent claim for a place in the squad.

The Fijian-born back row powerhouse has the physical attributes to be a very dangerous ball carrier in international rugby. But against Italy he made a number of early handling errors and didn’t get over the gainline anything like as much as he would have hoped for against one of the weaker defences in the northern hemisphere. He’ll need barnstorming performances against Scotland and Ireland to force his way into selection reckoning.