OUTRAGEOUS - that's about the best way of describing the make-up of the British Lions tour party to take on New Zealand this summer.

No fewer than 20, yes 20, English players are among the 44 going Down Under, which is almost half the party, yet where did they finish in the Six Nations? In fourth place behind Wales, France and Ireland.

And 11 Ireland players are on the tour, one more than the Welsh representation, and where did they end up in the Six Nations? Down in third place.

Wales won the Grand Slam, they won the Triple Crown and they were Six Nations champions. But they have a miserly 10 players on the tour which just can't be right.

It's all very well Sir Clive Woodward saying nationalities don't come into it when picking a Lions tour party, but that's not going to wash with anyone when he's the former England coach and his country supply so many players when they have had such a poor season.

Why, he's even said three more not included could go on the tour provided they prove their fitness - Jonny Wilkinson, Mike Tindall and Phil Vickery. And what country do they play for?

Colin Charvis comes into the same category as the other three, but no mention of him.

Woodward has decided to reward England players for retiring from international rugby and not going through the Six Nations toils this season. Players like Lawrence Dallaglio and Neil Back, surely a mistake. He's gone for England players who have hardly played because of injury like Iain Balshaw, Will Greenwood and Richard Hill. He's gone for yesterday's England men like Back, Dallaglio and Matt Dawson. He's gone for England players who hardly get a look-in at international level like Andrew Sheridan, Andy Titterrell and Matt Stevens, and he's gone for an England player like Charlie Hodgson who is surely not good enough.

It's all England, and it's just not going to be accepted here. In fact, it could well be divisive when the tour does finally get under way.

And what justification is there for taking so many Irishmen? John Hayes and Shane Byrne are past their best, Malcolm O'Kelly is getting that way, Ronan O'Gara is out of form and Doncha O'Callaghan is the third choice Irish lock.

To those who ask which other Welsh players deserve to be going to New Zealand, how many of the above England and Ireland players ought to be on the plane? Not that many I would suggest.

Woodward's selection is an insult to Wales, it's a slight, and it is no reward at all for all their achievements this season.

Take Kevin Morgan as an example. He was the best attacking full back in the Six Nations, a player with a real cutting edge, yet he fails to make it with players like Balshaw and Denis Hickie preferred.

Is Ireland's third choice lock better than Brent Cockbain? I doubt it. Is England's second choice hooker better than Wales' first. Surely not. And what about the claims of Ryan Jones? He emerged as one of the best young ball carrying forwards in the championship, but comes from the wrong country.

And I don't believe Woodward's comment for one minute that if he was picking the Lions Test team now it would be based around Wales and there would be just two English players in it.

That is purely a sop to Wales and an attempt to fend off the hostile reaction which he will rightly get from this side of the Severn Bridge. Another quirk comes from his choice of players from Scotland. Not that they deserve many after the season they've had, but surely their best players are Chris Paterson and Jason White while the Lamont brothers are emerging as a force on the wings.

Yet none of them makes the tour. How odd is that? But the important thing is that almost every English player without a stick of some sort, and even a few in need of one, is either on the tour or still being considered for it.

This does not appear to be a tour made from Heaven and it looks like England ganging up on the Celts, making that all-important harmony on a trip like this even more difficult to obtain.