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19th April 2021
04:45pm BST
Tadhg Furlong is in line to make his second British & Irish Lions touring squad. (Credit: Getty Images)[/caption]
"It's going to be a big, big battle," says Mtawawira, "because the Lions will be highly motivated to get their revenge for what happened, and there's a lot of other stuff, more recently, that has happened.
"We had the Springboks beating Wales and England in the World Cup semis and final. There's some bitter feelings there. And if you look at the Springboks, there are guys that are relishing the opportunity to wear that jersey again."
A huge part of that 2009 Test Series was the front row war that raged throughout the three games, and that Mtawawira played a huge part in. His domination over Phil Vickery in the First Test was crucial, while Adam Jones' performance against 'The Beast' in the Second Test gave the tourists hope.
To that end, it was intriguing to get his reaction to Mike Ross' Lions front row selection. After mentioning Wyn Jones (Wales) and Kyle Sinckler (England) as his prop replacements, Ross went with:
"That's a good front row, Mike. I like Tadhg Furlong very much!"When it came to his own front row picks, the Springbok legend selected a fearsome trio that would take some shifting. All told, we have three gigantic forwards that all played key roles in South Africa's 2019 World Cup triumph, and who come in at a combined 353 kgs (just over 56-stone). Mtawawira's picks are:
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