The shutters have come down on Sir Clive Woodward's selection shop window after the 2005 RBS Six Nations saw his Lions selection landscape redrawn by Welsh rugby's renaissance men.

When Woodward was appointed Lions supremo in February last year, the prospect of Wales providing a dozen or more players to this summer's three-Test New Zealand tour was about as improbable as them being crowned Six Nations champions.

But now the latter feat has been achieved in such virtuoso style, mass recognition of Wales' achievement is likely to come when Woodward unveils his Lions squad on April 11.

Star performers such as Tom Shanklin, Brent Cockbain and Martyn Williams - who was yesterday named Six Nations player of the tournament - have forced their way into Woodward's thinking.

If sport is about form and momentum, then the Welsh representation will prove significantly greater than perhaps even their shrewd coaching operator Mike Ruddock thought possible pre-Six Nations.

While Wales reached the Six Nations summit though, others might just have fallen by the wayside.

What price - in Lions selection terms - will Ireland pay for their dismal finale? Defeats against France and then Wales suggested a significant collective mental weakness when the pressure was at its most intense.

And with Scotland struggling to offer anything serious, Wales and England could provide around threequarters of Woodward's 40-plus squad.

England's World Cupwinning mastermind spent a week with the Welsh camp before a classic Millennium Stadium Test against New Zealand last November.

To say he was impressed would be a huge understatement, and with Wales subsequently sweeping all before them, the reward of Lions selection is imminent.

" What Wales have achieved in the past few weeks has been terrific," enthused Woodward. " Everyone involved in the team has had an outstanding season.

"I've been at every single game of the Welsh team this year, and not only have they deserved to win the championship, but it's the way they have played as well."

England though, despite finishing three places and six points behind Wales in the championship, could still have the largest single Lions contingent.

On the surface, that seems a strange scenario, but not when you consider Woodward must surely select - if fit - proven England players who took little or no part in this season's Six Nations.

Jonny Wilkinson, Mike Tindall, Richard Hill, Phil Vickery and Lawrence Dallaglio are World Cup winners who know what is required to topple the All Blacks in New Zealand, because they have done it before - Wellington,2003.

Wilkinson, Tindall, Hill and Vickery are battling injuries, but that should not stop Woodward from naming them in his squad next month, unless medical advice suggests otherwise.

Since the Lions countdown began, Ireland were expected to provide significant numbers. Word on the street is Brian O'Driscoll has the Lions captaincy nailed down, but his travelling Irish companions might now prove just a single-figure delegation - Geordan Murphy, Gordon D'Arcy, Shane Byrne, Malcolm O'Kelly, Paul O'Connell and Jonny O'Connor.

As for Scotland, back-row ace Simon Taylor is that rare breed north of the border - a Lions certainty.

Chris Paterson, Chris Cusiter and Gordon Bulloch will all probably join him, but Woodward could draw a line in the sand at that point. No country can afford to have as bad a Six Nations as Scotland did, and then expect to mingle with the best of British.

In three weeks, the guessing games will be over, even if potential problem positions such as hooker and tighthead prop might continue to exercise Woodward's considerable rugby brain.

"If I get the selection right, I think we will have half a chance," he added.