The wait is almost over with just over a month and a half left until the British and Irish Lions touch down on Australian shores. The Lions will be looking for their first series win since they were last in Australia having drawn with New Zealand in 2016 and South Africa in 2021. Darry Worthington picks his squad.
With the team announcement set for Thursday 7 May, our scribe thought it would be prudent to get the ball rolling with a forecast of who he reckons will make it on the plane to Australia. He’ll give his reasons why he reckons Andy Farrell may pick a couple of bolters and some forgotten vets below.
Andy’s Angles
Farrell comes into this one with some big shoes to fill having taken over from Warren Gatland who was in charge for the last three tours. While Gatland’s stock has been on the wane, Farrell’s has been rising due to his exploits with the Irish national squad.
The former England Union and League double international will have known who he wanted to take on tour at the start of the year but a few players may have just worked their way into his thinking after solid domestic and European campaigns.
While we might in for a couple of shocks come Thursday evening, what I would expect is an Irish heavy squad. Not only does Farrell have extensive experience coaching these lads but they are by far the best performing home nations side at the minute. Family ties could come into it as well but we’ll delve deeper into that later in the piece.
Darry’s Squad of 37
- Props: Tadgh Furlong (IRL), Andrew Porter (IRL), Ellis Genge (ENG), Pierre Schoeman (SCO), Will Stuart (ENG), Zander Fagerson (SCO) (6)
- Hookers: Dan Sheenan (IRL), Dewi Lake (WAL), Jamie George (ENG) (3)
- Locks: Maro Itoje (ENG), Joe McCarthy (IRL), James Ryan (IRL), Tadgh Beirne (IRL) Ollie Chessum (ENG), (5)
- Loose Forwards: Henry Pollock (ENG), Josh Van Der Flier (IRL), Jack Willis (ENG), Jac Morgan (WAL), Jack Conan (IRL) (6)
- Scrum Halves: Jamison Gibson-Parks (IRL), Tomos Williams (WAL), Alex Mitchell (ENG) (3)
- Fly Halves: Marcus Smith (ENG), Finn Russell (SCO), Sam Pendergrast (IRL), Owen Farrell (ENG) (4)
- Centres: Bundee Aki (IRL), Gary Ringrose (IRL), Sione Tuipulotu (SCO), Huw Jones (SCO) (4)
- Outside Backs: James Lowe (IRL), Duhan van der Merve (SCO), Mack Hansen (IRL), Hugo Keenan (IRL), and Blair Kinghorn (IRL) (6)
I put my Andy Farrell hat on for this one and went strong with the Irish boys who dominate my selection. There are some absolute shoe-ins especially in the forward pack, while one could argue that Mack Hansen’s place is not secure due to a drop in form while Sam Pendergrast is the joker in the pack. I do think Farrell has a lot of trust in Hansen, and Pendergrast is a young gun he rates highly.
A couple Welsh boys make the cut with young hooker Dewi Lake edging English veteran Jamie George, while Jac Morgan is likely to join Lake in the midweek team for my money. Tomos Williams could get into the Test side as the back-up scrum half with his battle with Alex Mitchell likely to be hotly contested.
While Farrell will be aware that there needs to be Welsh representation – this will likely see at least two of the Dragons listed above hop on the plane – I don’t think he’ll be afraid to chuck a couple bolters in which is where I think Henry Pollock gets the nod. The Northampton flanker has been pulling up trees this season and his showing against Leinster last weekend should be enough to see him head down under. The loosies are likely to prove key on this tour as well with the Australians possessing some serious talent on the side of the scrum which is why I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pollock get a decent crack at the Test team. If Farrell can get something going between Jack Willis and Pollock, then the Lions may just have a backrow that dominates proceedings in ‘Aus.
I suppose the biggest shock here is my inclusion of Farrell Junior in the side. And while I do feel there’s certainly a couple Dad and Lad ideas floating through Farell’s head – it would be a remarkable experience for the duo to head on a Lions tour together and it would be a bit of a full circle moment with the duo having trained and played at Saracens together when Owen was coming through – I think the younger Farrell offers some serious value. He’s been on a couple Lions tours already and can cover 10 and 12 if need be. Farrell is also the perfect man to lead a midweek team. He’s a seasoned professional, who is well respected and he’ll push the young boys too.
Fixtures
Warm-Up Fixture
20 June – British & Irish Lions v Argentina Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Tour Game 1
28 June – Western Force v British & Irish Lions Perth Stadium, Perth
Tour Game 2
2 July – Queensland Reds v British & Irish Lions Lang Park, Brisbane
Tour Game 3
5 July – New South Wales Waratahs v British & Irish Lions Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Tour Game 4
9 July – ACT Brumbies v British & Irish Lions Canberra Stadium, Canberra
Tour Game 5
12 July – Invitational AU & NZ v British & Irish Lions Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
First Test
19 July – Australia v British & Irish Lions Lang Park, Brisbane
Tour Game 6
22 July – First Nations & Pasifika XV v British & Irish Lions Docklands Stadium, Melbourne
Second Test
26 July – Australia v British & Irish Lions Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Third Test
2 August – Australia v British & Irish Lions Stadium Australia, Sydney
Coaching Staff
- Head Coach – Andy Farrell (ENG)
- General Manager – David Nucifora (NZ)
- Performance Coach – Aled Walters (WAL)
- Forwards Coach – John Dazell (SCO)
- Assistant Coach – Johnny Sexton (IRL)
- Assistant Coach – Simon Easterby (IRL)
- Assistant Coach – John Foggarty (IRL)
- Assistant Coach – Andrew Goodman (NZ)
- Assistant Coach – Richard Wigglesworth (ENG)
