Keith Wood: 'British and Irish Lions squad will mainly be Welsh'

Former Ireland international Keith Wood has said that he expects the majority of the British and Irish Lions squad to come from Wales.

Warren Gatland is due to name a 37-man squad on Tuesday ahead of the 10-match tour of Australia in June and July.

The retired hooker told BBC Sport: "I think there will be an awful lot of Welsh. I don't know how tied down it is to 37 and it has proved to be a movable feast after such declarations in the past.

"There will be a lot of Welsh guys in there, because barring the first half against Ireland [in the 2013 Six Nations] when defensively they were absolutely out to a lunch, Wales have played the best rugby and shown great skills. I think there will be a big chunk of Welsh there.

"Rory Best will go with the Lions. He is a class act. He struggled in the Six Nations with his lineout which hasn't been a flaw in his game He will get there and then it becomes an incredible battle to try and make sure he has the number two jersey."

Wales flanker Sam Warburton is the favourite for the captaincy.