Why Chris Harris' Lions Test chances may depend on Warren Gatland’s judgment of Owen Farrell

Craig Chalmers was outstanding in his early years in a Scotland jersey, playing a key role in the 1990 Grand Slam.

Some sportsmen are like a frisky white wine best drunk young, others like a slow-maturing claret. One may be inclined to say of those in the first group that they didn’t fulfil their promise, but this might be as unfair as to chide the second sort for not being of Test match standard when they were 21. One should judge players by what they do in their best years.

Craig Chalmers, for instance, was only 20 when first capped against Wales in 1989. He toured Australia with the Lions that summer, played a key role in Scotland’s 1990 Grand Slam, and in 1993 was favourite to be that summer’s first-choice Lions fly-half. But he broke his arm at Twickenham and missed that tour. As the game became more physical and professionalism loomed, he bulked up, and was never quite the same player again. He had never been lightning-fast, but he was an elusive and intelligent runner. Now he lost a bit of speed. It wouldn’t be unfair to say he had played his best rugby before he was 26 or 27. He was still in or around the Scotland team till he was 31, but those who watched him in his later years probably didn’t realise just how good he had been from 1989 to 1995.

Compare him with Chris Harris today. He was born in December 1990 and was first capped in November 2017. Few Scottish supporters knew much about him and few were greatly impressed by his first Six Nations performance against Wales in Cardiff in 2018. It was a bad day for Scotland and for him too. Many of us failed to see what Gregor Townsend saw in him and continued to be doubters throughout the 2019 World Cup in Japan. But Townsend persisted with him. Harris’s skill in reading the play and defensive ability in the key outside centre position were then recognised.