Short of beseeching his troops to take them on in the trenches and on the beaches, yesterday's largely predictable announcement of the 37-man squad for this summer's tour of Australia confirmed that the Lions' management have identified the set-pieces as the focal point of their invasion.
Graham Henry and his management team seem to have placed a heavy emphasis up front on fairly gnarled and grizzled performances, primarily front rowers who are reknowned scrummagers as well as locks and back rowers with the known ability to provide plenty of lineout ammunition, and the more bruising ball-carriers the better.
There are a few gestures toward pace out wide in the shape of Iain Balshaw and wildcard Jason Robinson - who has played only 18 matches for Sale since switching rugby codes and three as an England sub cameo - but this is augmented by a host of bulky backs with the exception of the excluded Scott Gibbs.
At yesterday's press conference Donal Lenihan repeatedly stressed the presence of 16 successful former Lions tourists in this latest party, not to mention eight players who have captained their national sides, as proof of their bona fides. Significantly, of the 16 to have toured South Africa four years ago, 13 of them are forwards.
This includes the three players who will be three-time Lions tourists, the props Jason Leonard and David Young (emulating Gareth Edwards as the only other Cardiff man to achieve the feat), as well as Martin Johnson, who predictably makes history as the first two-time Lions captain. And a fitting totem he is too for this squad.
There can be no escaping the national boundaries, with England's nomination of 18 a fair enough representation, but 10 Welshmen seems excessive relative to their championship performances, especially when compared to half a dozen Irish and just three Scots.
Though this is the best representation since the eight of 1983, it's disappointing when set against five wins out of their last six championship games and suggests Ireland's truncated campaign hurt them hard.
"If you are to be totally honest, the fact they were out of the representative scene for three months wasn't a plus," admitted Lenihan.
Still, only two of Ireland's first-choice pack this season and none of the current Munster pack as against the entire Welsh front row and entire Welsh back row hardly stacks up.
Scottish chagrin will be pretty acute too, their tally of three (Tom Smith, Scott Murray and surprise inclusion, 21-year-old back row Scott Taylor) being their lowest since the War, eclipsed only by Ireland's tally of two in '83.
Most of the toss-ups seemed to favour Wales, such as Dafydd James over Denis Hickie at wing, Robin McBryde over Scottish hooker Gordon Bulloch, Dai Young over Peter Clohessy or John Hayes, and openside Martyn Williams over David Wallace or Budge Pountney.
Most Scottish tears will be spilt for Gregor Townsend, who perhaps in part suffered because of the need for three goal-kicking outhalves.
It was the decisive factor in edging Ronan O'Gara towards inclusion, and the tour should add to the 24-year-old's steady development.
"The closer it got, the smaller I thought my chances were," said O'Gara.
Wales' one major casualty is Gibbs, but otherwise they should be guffawing in the valleys. Henry emphatically, and it has to be said impressively, denied that national considerations were an influential factor of any kind, which probably prompted more eyebrow-raising than at a Roger Moore lookalike convention.
