British and Irish Lions: Our 37-man squad following the Six Nations as Maro Itoje emerges as the ‘clear’ captain
We pick our 37-man British and Irish Lions squad tour Australia.
With the 2025 Six Nations done and dusted, here’s Planet Rugby’s 37-man British and Irish Lions squad to travel to Australia.
Leadership
Up until the last couple of rounds of the 2025 Guinness Six Nations, the Lions captaincy has been all but Caelan Doris’ to lose.
However, as the tournament progressed, we believe that a new candidate emerged and that the Irish influence isn’t going to be as deep as you might believe.
A Lions captain needs a number of qualities and, ideally, one of them is actual experience of being a Test British and Irish Lion and there is a question mark over the pressure that might be put upon the captain elect, Doris. But it’s worth remembering that didn’t stop Warren Gatland in 2013 and the same could be true for his successor.
The key dynamic here, however, is lack of Lions experience- something that really isn’t Doris’ fault, but injuries conspired to make him miss the 2021 Test series, where you’d have expected him to be a Test starter.
Enter Maro Itoje, a six-time Test Lion, a man who’s beaten both South Africa and New Zealand in the famous red shirt, and someone who is likely to be one of the first three names on the teamsheet.
We believe that Itoje has now emerged as a clear option for the Lions captaincy and we expect to see his name at the top of the touring squad when it’s announced on 8th May, and it will be interesting to see if he or Doris leads the Lions in Australia.
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The backs
We’ve picked from 37 players, using precisely the same structure of the 2021 tour, although we’ve picked an extra back row and one less fly-half. With the ability to parachute players in quickly and with only eight tour matches in the schedule, we cannot see an increase in squad size.
Back Three (6): Blair Kinghorn (Scotland), Hugo Keenan (Ireland), Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), James Lowe (Ireland), Darcy Graham (Scotland), and Tommy Freeman (England).
With Kinghorn able to play on the wing, we believe Andy Farrell will take no more than six back three players. Tom Rogers (Wales) and Mack Hansen (Ireland) will be the reserve players, with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso unable to get back in time for the tour.
Centres (4): Huw Jones (Scotland), Tom Jordan OR Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland), Bundee Aki (Ireland) and Garry Ringrose (Ireland)
The absence of Tuipulotu has been massive for the Scots in the Six Nations and if fit and firing, he will go. If he doesn’t make the deadline, then one of Tom Jordan or Robbie Henshaw will fit into the four, with the other as a non-travelling reserve.
Fly-halves (3): Finn Russell (Scotland), Fin Smith (England) and Marcus Smith (England)
Last time it was four, but this time it’ll be three outside halves going, with one, Marcus Smith, as a utility player. Owen Farrell’s lack of form means he’ll miss out but don’t discount him joining the tour as an oven-baked replacement to cover the entire midfield if necessary. It’s also worth noting that Blair Kinghorn is quite capable of leading an international backline from ten.
Scrum-halves (3): Tomos Williams (Wales), Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland) and Ben White (Scotland)
Alex Mitchell just misses out. The tight call is between White and Mitchell, but the Scotsman has had a great Six Nations campaign and we think he’ll pip it.
Forwards
Loose forwards (8): Ben Earl, Tom Curry, Jack Willis (all England), Caelan Doris, Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier (all Ireland), Jac Morgan (Wales) and Jamie Ritchie (Scotland)
The Back row is so competitive that we believe eight will go on tour. Jack Willis is a curve ball, and it all depends on the TOP 14 and EPCR campaign for Toulouse that might affect his (and Blair Kinghorn’s) availability.
The number eights come in the shape of Earl, Doris and Conan, with Jamie Ritchie finally getting the selection he missed out on so narrowly in 2021.
Ben Curry and Rory Darge will be the non-travelling reserves. The curveball is Chandler Cunningham-South and it might be his versatility that edges out one of the others, perhaps Jack Conan. We will see.
Locks (5): James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne (both Ireland), Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum (both England) and Dafydd Jenkins (Wales)
The former quintet are all certainties for selection, leaving one place between Dafydd Jenkins, Joe McCarthy, George Martin, Grant Gilchrist and, the leading lock in the TOP 14 this season, England’s former star, David Ribbans, another curve ball but a very realistic one.
On balance, the daring choice is Ribbans, but we’d probably go with Jenkins, knowing he can also cover six if required.
Hookers (3): Dan Sheehan (Ireland), Jamie George (England) and Dewi Lake (Wales)
Three outstanding players, all Test leaders, all world-class in every aspect of their trade. Luke Cowan Dickie’s throwing will mean he misses out but expect Theo Dan to also be mentioned in despatches.
Props (6): Will Stuart (England), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Zander Fagerson (Scotland), Andrew Porter (Ireland), Ellis Genge (England) and Pierre Schoeman (Scotland).
The former trio are our tightheads and the latter the looseheads in a fairly simple pick. Expect Finlay Bealham and Nicky Smith to provide cover for either side.
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Likely British and Irish Lions Test Team
15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Duhan van der Merwe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu or Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Jamison Gibson Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements (6-2 split): 16 Jamie George, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Jack Willis, 22 Tomos Williams, 23 Marcus Smith
