Two-time Lions captain Martin Johnson believes Alun Wyn Jones is ahead of Rory Best in the pecking order to skipper the Lions tour to New Zealand this summer.
With the Six Nations done and dusted for another year, much focus will switch towards the make-up of the touring party, and who will be selected to lead the side out against the world champions.
The national captains, Dylan Hartley, Rory Best, Alun Wyn Jones and to a lesser extent Greig Laidlaw are in the mix, while the likes of Sam Warburton (the 2013 skipper), Owen Farrell and Johnny Sexton have also been mentioned as possible candidates for Warren Gatland.
Johnson, who led the Lions to victory over South Africa in 1997, says that while Ireland captain Best put in another impressive showing in the defeat of England at the Aviva Stadium, he sees his Welsh counterpart Jones as the most likely choice at this stage.
“I thought he played very well around the field, some turnovers, his set-piece work, obviously his captaincy and getting the team in the right place,” said Johnson, who is an ambassador for British & Irish Lions Principal Partner Standard Life Investments.
“Rory’s got the experience, it’s the right time in his career.
“I still think Alun Wyn Jones probably, for me, has his nose ahead in terms of captaincy.”
