As a former hard-nosed hooker in his playing days, the battle for the famous British & Irish Lions No 2 jersey on the 2017 Tour will be of particular interest to Warren Gatland.

With Rory Best and Dylan Hartley both captains of their countries as well, the debate surrounding who will Tour New Zealand later this year is raging.

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With two rounds of games in the 2017 RBS 6 Nations still to come, not to mention the European quarter-finals, before Gatland announces his squad on April 19 much could still change.

But after three rounds of games as part of our LionsWatch series, we dig a little deeper and see which hookers have impressed so far.

LINEOUT KEY TO SUCCESS

As part of our ongoing series we have already looked

at the second rows

and Gatland has made it clear just how important the lineout will be in New Zealand.