British and Irish Lions 2025 . . .

The British and Irish Lions squad to tour Australia will be announced on Thursday 8 May.

The coach is Andy Farrell but we'll only know the captain on Thursday.

It looked like a two horse race between Ireland's Caelan Doris and England's Maro Itoje, but Doris picked up a shoulder injury in Leinster's game against Northampton over the weekend and apparently he will require surgery which effectively rules him out of the tour. It's a pity because apart from being a strong contender for captain, he was also the nailed on starting #8 in the side. His probable absence means Maro Itoje will very likely be the skipper . . . although he may well have got the job anyway because British Lions teams do tend to pick locks as captain . . . think Alun-Wyn Jones, Paul O'Connell, Martin Johnson, Bill Beaumont and Willie John McBride.

The other likely starter who appears to be out of the tour is Scotland's fullback Blair Kinghorn who has a sprained knee ligament and is also now a very doubtful tourist.

Here is the schedule:

My British Lions squad (assuming no Doris or Kinghorn) is as follows . . . my test starters in bold:

Loosehead Props: Andrew Porter (IRE), Ellis Genge (ENG), Pierre Schoeman (SCO)

Hookers: Dan Sheehan (IRE), Jamie George (ENG), Dewi Lake (WAL)

Tighthead Props:Tadhg Furlong (IRE), Zander Fagerson (SCO), Will Stuart (ENG)

Locks: Maro Itoje (ENG), Tadhg Beirne (IRE), Joe McCarthy (IRE), Ollie Chessum (ENG), Scott Cummings (SCO)

Loose Forwards: Josh van der Vlier (IRE), Henry Pollock (ENG), Ben Earl (ENG), Jac Morgan (WAL), Tom Curry (ENG), Jack Willis (ENG), Jack Conan (IRE)

Scrumhalves: Jamison Gibson-Park (IRE), Tomos Williams (WAL), Alex Mitchell (ENG)

Flyhalves: Finn Russel (SCO), Fin Smith (ENG), Marcus Smith (ENG)

Centres: Sione Tuipolotu (SCO), Bundee Aki (IRE), Huw Jones (SCO), Garry Ringrose (IRE)

Wings: Duhan van der Merwe (SCO), James Lowe (IRE), Tommy Freeman (ENG), Darcy Graham (SCO)

Fullbacks: Hugo Keenan (IRE), George Furbank/Freddie Steward (ENG)

Very sad for me to see so few Welshmen in contention and probably not a single test starter. My memories of British Lions tours are invariably of Welsh stars like Barry John, JPR Williams, Mervyn Davies, Phil Bennett, Gareth Edwards, JJ Williams, Jonathan Davies, Gavin Henson, Graham Price, Ieuan Evans, Neil Jenkins, Jamie Roberts, Alun-Wyn Jones and James Hook. This time around there are very few contenders for a place in the squad and Jac Morgan the only potential starter.

Whoever Farrell picks, I fully expect this Lions team to crush the Wallabies and win the series 3-0.

Come on Lions!!!

Furbank is still out injured so he’s a doubt.

Doris is out for months with a fracture/dislocation of the shoulder.

Kinghorn is out of the equation, so I believe.

Good squad - I’d been keen to include Wainright of Wales and James Ryan of Ireland

Coles at lock for Saints is a good call to

Given the current state of Ozzie rugby it’s hard to get too excited about this Lions tour. Watched the 1999 Ozzie semi against the Boks again recently. What great players the Aussies had:

Burke…he had a fabulous semi

Joe Cool

Tune

‘Herbert

Horan

Larkham

Gregan

Eales

Kefu

And what a great player Joost was….brilliant breaks, great open field tackles. I recommend that match for a rainy Sunday.

Well that Oz side under Schmidt had certainly turned the corner on their EOYT so I’m hoping it’s going to be a closer series than most predict it will be

I hope OZ wins.

Mpower ! How could you ?! :(

Becs you are the only English person I like :)

Oh crikey ! I’m honoured Mpower !

I meant to say the only English person from England:)

Right…….

“ Right….' as in ' Wow, how fascinating ' or ' Please stop Talking’?”

Ha ha ha !

Right….as in I’m honoured to be the only English person from England you like.

Ok Becs:) how are you doing otherwise?? Has the wild Kitty calmed down?

I’m ok, thanks. Got bitten by a spider on my bad foot last week and I have two massive water blisters. Bit of a worry as I don’t heal well ! Blasted spider !

The kitty is still crazy but is spending nights with me in my room at the moment. So I have a little roommate…ha ha !

How are you doing ? No spider bites on your end, I hope :)

Sorry to hear about the spider bite Becs….and happy the Kitty is loving you….All good this side.

Had a scary experience the other day coming home finding Emma a Boxer dog smelling a Cape Cobra in a bush….

Surprisingly the cobra did not bite her…a Cobra is very poisonous armed with Neurotoxic venom…

I did not kill the snake and made sure that it leave back into the bush. I used a long stick gently pushing it.

Oh crikey ! Cobras are scary !

Really glad to hear it didn’t bite her….or you ! ……and glad you let it slither off back into the bush unharmed :)

Yes I am happy to… I have a video of the encounter, but struggling to put it on here from my phone gallery…

How do I do that? Admin Ed ?

I live on a wine farm in the Stellenbosch area….there is a lot of creepy crawlies here :)

Ooh gosh. Scary video then ?! I’ll watch if you can put it up.

Where you live sounds lovely, apart from the creepy crawlies ! I’d like a lion or two instead :)

Lions on a wine farm

Lions on a wine farm

Sorry for double post but this place is close to where I live…white lions and tigers there….

I Can’t get snake Video on here becs….and it looks like Admin Ed is sleeping already :)

Maybe he will help me tomorrow….have a lovely eve Becs.

I am trying to watch a movie on Netflix called primal fear with Richard gere ….

Beautiful animals :) Just love the big cats.

Oh that’s a good movie. Edward Norton was really good in it.

Yes it is a good movie, I just finish watching it….he fooled them all…

Yeah the animals are pretty, but on the other hand those animals belong in the wild….

I do realise some of them are rescued from a zoo. But some are bred and sold.

Rooi I’d want to add Scotland’s utility back Tom Jordan to the squad - I rate this lad

I haven't seen much of Jordan but I've heard a lot of people talking him up as a Lions bolter. Most Lions squads have included an uncapped bolter and the injury to Kinghorn means there's an extra spot for a fullback so you could be right.

I know Henry Pollock has an England cap but he's my idea of a bolter and while one of Tom Curry, Jac Morgan or Jack Willis is likely to get the #7 jersey, I'd give it to Pollock. I think he's that good.

Edit: Correction, I see Jordan already has 6 caps for Scotland so I'm not sure he'd be a "bolter".

Yes they would be stupid to leave Pollock out

Tom Jordan is a handful - often breaks that first tackle and is comfortable at 10, 12, 13 and 15

Sounds like a good player to have on the bench. Can't say I've noticed him much and I did watch a lot of the 6N this year.

It’s bizarre how Pollock has gone from a Saints Academy boy to England Cap and Lions prospect in what seems like five minutes ! He deserves it though. Let’s just see if Farrell is brave enough to include him.

Here's the squad:

Forwards (21):

Tadhg Beirne, Ollie Chessum, Jack Conan, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Scott Cummings, Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Zander Fagerson, Tadhg Furlong, Ellis Genge, Maro Itoje (c), Ronan Kelleher, Joe McCarthy, Jac Morgan, Henry Pollock, Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Pierre Schoeman, Dan Sheehan, Will Stuart, Josh van der Flier.

Backs (17):

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.

Too many foreign born players for my liking.

Becs don’t you think it’s time to get with the times it’s not 1925

Can’t believe Daly sneaks in again - he is a good player but I’d prefer to have seen Jordan of Scotland as the utility option

How does Genge continue to get selected one wonders.

Saffolk……it’s my team, I can think what I like :)

Take away his weekly allowance if he speaks to you like that again, Becs.

Will do, Pakie :)

Get with it Becs for fuck sake

Shut up, Saffolk.