Lions Countdown & Squad Announcement

2025 British & Irish Lions Squad

To kick off the team team selection we had Head Coach Andy Farrell confirm Maro Itoje as his Lions captain. The first Englishmen to do so since Martin Johnson in 2001.

Starting with the forwards: Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Ireland), Ollie Chessum (Leicester/England), Jack Conan (Leinster/Ireland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter/England), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England), Ben Earl (Saracens/England), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Ireland), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England), Maro Itoje (c) (Saracens/England), Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Ireland), Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Ireland), Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England), Andrew Porter (Leinster/Ireland), James Ryan (Leinster/Ireland), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh/Scotland), Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Ireland), Will Stuart (Bath/England), Josh van der Flier (Leinster/Ireland)

Backs: Bundee Aki (Connacht/Ireland), Elliot Daly (Saracens/England), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster/Ireland), Mack Hansen (Connacht/Ireland), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Hugo Keenan (Leinster/Ireland), Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland), James Lowe (Leinster/Ireland), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), Garry Ringrose (Leinster/Ireland), Finn Russell (Bath/Scotland), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/England), Marcus Smith (Harlequins/England), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh/Scotland), Tomos Williams (Gloucester/Wales)

Lions Countdown

With the Lions 2025 squad announcement for their tour of Australia less than 48 hours away, we here at Rugbystore thought we’d give you a breakdown of some of the biggest rumours and questions that surround the team.

Coaching staff

This is the first tour, since Sir Ian McGeechan in 2009, not led by Warren Gatland; Ireland Coach Andy Farrell takes the reins for his first tour. Simon Easterby, John Fogarty and Andrew Goodman join their Ireland head coach, with England coach Richard Wigglesworth, and Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel, also part of the coaching staff.

A late announcement in March added former Ireland and Lions fly-half Johnny Sexton to the backroom team. It may seem early in his coaching career to have such a high profile role, but it should be noted he was a key part of the Lions only test series win in the last 24 years.

Fixtures

The Lions have ten matches in total on this tour, the first against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on the 20^th of June. Once they deal with Los Pumas, the Lions will travel Down Under and get their first test of Aussie rugby when they play Western Force in Perth on the 28^th of June.  Three more Super Rugby sides wait after that, with the Queensland Reds, Waratahs and Brumbies offering opposition to Farrell’s men before they face an invitational Australian & New Zealand side.

Those six matches all set the side up for the first Test at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on July 19^th. Before the second Test there will still be one more match against a First Nations & Pasifika XV. Following that it’s all about the second Test in Melbourne before a potential series decider in Sydney on August 2^nd.

Players

While we wait in anticipation for the announcement on Thursday, here are some things we know in general about this squad.

1. Heavy Irish influence

While they may have lost their stranglehold over the Six Nations, there is no doubt that Ireland will still make up a large part of the squad. Just like Gatland before him, Andy Farrell won’t surprise anyone by picking the players that brought him so much success. They might not start, but should they be fit, you can expect names such as Caelan Doris, Dan Sheehan, Garry Ringrose and James Lowe amongst other Irish household names.

2. Best Scottish representation in a long time

In the 21^st century the Scots haven’t had the best of times getting players into the Lions squad let alone the starting XV, but this tour presents a great chance for change, with Finn Russell almost a guarantee for the squad and the favourite to start at number-10 in Brisbane come the first test. Others such as Zander Fagerson, Rory Darge, Huw Jones and Blair Kinghorn are also in contention, but the injured status of Duhan Van Der Merwe and Sione Tuipulotu leave questions around what would otherwise be considered surefire Scots in the team.

3. England’s stock continues to rise

Twelve months ago, you wouldn’t see much hype around the current crop of English players. But following a very strong 2^nd place finish in the Six Nations there is a lot of excitement around the players who have worked their way into contention. Marcus Smith offers versatility with his newly developed role as a full-back even though Will Stuart has jumped the queue in front of him to be a potential starter. Players like Finn Smith have caused further headache when deciding which of the two other 10’s will join Scotland’s Russell on the plane.

4. Sad, but ultimately fair showing for Wales

You don’t need us to tell you about the difficult state of Welsh Rugby following back-to-back Wooden Spoons, but there is a chance there will be a sprinkling of their talent across this squad. Jac Morgan is a shoe-in for the squad and should be considered for a starting berth following his inspired performances for his country, while players like Tomos Williams and Blair Murray have a chance to be named in the wider squad.

The Outside Chances

What has always been a big part of recent tours is the excitement around the rogue picks that catch us off-guard; Marcus Smith fresh from a breakthrough performance at Harlequins, or Shane Williams called in as an injury replacement while playing in Japan.

Every tour has a few surprises, and this one will be no different. There’s talk of 36-year-old Courtney Lawes making an appearance despite playing in France’s second tier. Or rumours of Andy Farrell’s son Owen following a return from injury.

While those are names many may know, there are a few at the other end of their career who could see themselves getting pick at the O2 on Thursday. Sam Pendergast is an obvious shout with the current buzz around the Irish star, but some poor performances in high profile matches have put that into question. The one that can’t keep his name out of the conversation is Henry Pollock. The English forward continues to impress following his England debut in March. His mixture of pace and power is something that just might get him a plane ticket to Australia.

All-in-all, there’s a lot to be excited about as we count away the minutes to Thursday’s announcement, and we here at Rugbystore hope you share that excitement while keeping an eye out on our site for deals and updates.