Brian O’Driscoll picks his British and Irish Lions 13 to play alongside nailed on Scotland star Sione Tuipulotu

Brian O’Driscoll believes that, injury depending, Sione Tuipulotu is a certainty for the British and Irish Lions inside centre role and chose the player who he would like to see play alongside the Scotland powerhouse.

Tuipulotu has enjoyed a stunning couple of seasons for both club and country, and has put himself firmly on Andy Farrell’s radar ahead of the series in Australia.

, who famously donned the 13 shirt on four tours, currently considers him to be nailed on to take that jersey and would ‘veer’ towards fellow Irishman Garry Ringrose for the outside centre position.

over the years.

Ringrose ‘offers something different’

13. Defensively, he’s very, very good, but he does offer something different than the other 13s,” O’Driscoll told

With the Lions having little time to come together, head coach Farrell could prefer the continuity of the Scotland pairing, but O’Driscoll believes that Ringrose offers slightly more than Huw Jones.

“Huw Jones I don’t think has the ball playing quite like Garry, albeit he runs great lines,” he said.

“At the moment it’s Tuipulotu plus one and with an inclination to probably veer towards Garry Ringrose. I’m sure Huw Jones in his partnership with Tuipulotu will have something to say about it.”

Ireland predicted team: ‘Generational talent’ wins key positional battle as Simon Easterby ‘puts faith’ in tried and trusted combinations

Ringrose’s best work this season has arguably come in defence as he is one of Leinster’s rearguard leaders in the Jacques Nienaber-designed system, but the Ireland star is also outstanding with ball in hand.

“His bravery is one of his real strengths and you don’t want to dilute that too much, but his attack is massively important to that Leinster team as well,” O’Driscoll said.

“I think Leinster are a different side with him at 13, so try and find the happy medium. He’s always been a very good reader of those plays.”

Leinster Champions Cup selection

Interestingly, Ringrose has been shifted out of the 13 jersey for Leinster’s Investec Champions Cup clash with Bath on Saturday and placed on the wing.

All Black Jordie Barrett will therefore combine with Robbie Henshaw at centre, but O’Driscoll disagrees with that call.

“I think he’s a better attacking option at 13. I think the footwork that he has, the evasiveness that he has, his acceleration – he’s a different sort of 13 than Robbie Henshaw,” he said.

“When [Hugo] Keenan’s back and fit, it’ll be interesting to see what does transpire, but for me Garry is the 13.

“If Jordie is on the bench, you can bring him on at 12 and you can push Robbie out to 13 and Garry on the wing, but I think you want to start with him at 13. That’s my take on it.”