England back-row Henry Pollock’s remarkable rise continued after he was named in the British & Irish Lions squad for the 2025 tour in Australia, while Marcus Smith was also included but there was no place in the squad for Owen Farrell, Sam Prendergast, Darcy Graham, Tom Jordan, Jamie George, Caelan Doris or George Ford.
Andy Farrell named a 38-player squad on Thursday at the O2 Arena in London, with Maro Itoje crowned captain of the 2025 Lions. Pollock, 20, was the standout bolter for the tour given he only made his Test debut for England in March, but there were other eye-catching players included.
Fin Smith, Finn Russell and Marcus Smith travel as the three fly-halves, while Daly also makes the cut for what will be his third Test. Blair Kinghorn is the only France-based player chosen, meaning the much-admired Jack Willis misses out as Farrell named a squad of 21 forwards and 17 backs.
Other notable omissions include Doris who was seen as a front-runner for the captaincy, but he suffered a shoulder injury in Leinster’s Champions Cup defeat to Northampton on Saturday. He was set to undergo surgery this week, and it looks like injury has ruled him out of the tour.
The likes of Prendergast, Owen Farrell, Graham, Jordan, George and Ford were all in the mix but just miss out with Andy Farrell picking eight players from Scotland, two Wales players, 13 from England and 15 from Ireland.
In the front-row, Farrell has gone with Ireland duo Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher at hooker, alongside England’s Luke Cowan-Dickie. The props picked are England’s Ellis Genge and Will Stuart, Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter, and Scotland’s Zander Fagerson and Pierre Schoeman.
Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne, Joe McCarthy and James Ryan are picked in the second-row, with England’s Itoje and Ollie Chessum also selected alongside Scotland’s Scott Cummings. In the back-row, England’s Pollock, Tom Curry and Ben Earl are called up as are Ireland’s Jack Conan and Josh van der Flier and Wales’ Jac Morgan.
In the backs, Farrell has opted for three scrum-halves: England’s Alex Mitchell, Wales’ Tomos Williams and Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park.
The three fly-halves are Scotland’s Russell, England duo Fin Smith and Marcus Smith.
In the centres, Ireland’s Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose get the nod, alongside Scotland duo Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu and then the back three will be made up of England’s Elliot Daly and Tommy Freeman, Ireland’s James Lowe, Hugo Keenan and Mack Hansen, and Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe and Blair Kinghorn.
Full British and Irish Lions squad:
Forwards: Tadhg Beirne, Ollie Chessum, Jack Conan, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Scott Cummings, Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Zander Fagerson, Tadhg Furlong, Ellis Genge, Maro Itoje, Ronan Kelleher, Joe McCarthy, Jac Morgan, Henry Pollock, Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Pierre Schoeman, Dan Sheehan, Will Stuart, Josh van der Flier.
Backs: Bundee Aki, Elliot Daly, Tommy Freeman, Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Hugo Keenan, Blair Kinghorn, James Lowe, Alex Mitchell, Garry Ringrose, Finn Russell, Fin Smith, Marcus Smith, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Tomos Williams.
– British & Irish Lions fixtures for Australia tour
– NEWS: Ireland captain Caelan Doris to undergo surgery
– British and Irish Lions squad announcement: How it happened
Source: espn.com