And Irvine, who toured three times with the Lions as a player and was chairman for the 2009 trip to South Africa, expects the huge amount of hype that has already surrounded the latest Lions adventure to grow even greater once the world knows the names of the fortunate few.

"There's been a lot of hard work put in over the last few months but the tour is really going to come alive once we know what the compilation of the squad is," said Irvine, who is keen to start the next stage of planning for the 10-match tour.

"We're all looking forward to the team announcement and then we can start looking towards combinations for the first and second games.

"It will be great once the team has been selected because you really are at the point now where you want to start doing something concrete and positive, but until you know the players you can't plan.

"The hype, the interest and the support so far has been quite phenomenal. That's a good thing because it raises the profile of the tour.

"The players are so desperate to be selected and there's a fantastic sense of anticipation from the supporters and we're very fortunate that there will be thousands coming out to help us. It all just adds to the whole excitement of the tour and what lies ahead this summer."

Andy Irvine says things will get even more exciting after Warren Gatland names his squad

The world and his dog have been selecting their own squads over recent weeks and months, with the vast amount of discussion on our Facebook page and Twitter account showing just how difficult a task Gatland and co face.

Everyone has their own tour favourites and tips for a surprise selection and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone picking the exact same squad as their neighbour.

Irvine admits that choosing the final tour party will be an excruciating decision as the quantity and quality of players in the running means that some big names will inevitably miss out.

"We've got an abundance of choices and we're going to be leaving some very, very good players back home because of the competition," added Irvine.

"I feel for these lads because, in normal circumstances they would be a British & Irish Lion but, because of the level of competition, one or two are going to lose out and they'll be very upset and disappointed, there's no doubt about that."

Gatland and assistant coaches Andy Farrell, Rob Howley and Graham Rowntree first met to talk about the potential squad back in December, before continuing those discussions before, during and after the RBS 6 Nations.

Irvine says that those discussions will have naturally evolved as the season progressed and that the squad set to be announced is likely to be considerably different to the one selected at the back end of last year.

"It's been a really interesting two or three months, especially with the Six Nations. It's certainly the case that selection discussions will have changed over recent times, and it usually is, to be honest.

"If you go even further back and look at a team you might have picked at the end of the Six Nations last year and then compare it to the squad that you might have selected after the autumn series, there would have been quite a bit of change.

"And then if you looked at what you thought the squad might be just before the Six Nations started and then again at the end of the tournament, there would be quite a considerable difference.

"Some players have been consistent, others have had poor games then very good games the following week, and a number of young players have really announced themselves and put both hands up for selection to give the selectors a bit of a headache."