British and Irish Lions update: England duo released as 15 players join the squad with one star missing
The British and Irish Lions squad will link up in Dublin today.
The British and Irish Lions will convene for the first time as an almost full squad today following the conclusion of the URC and Premiership.
Andy Farrell’s charges ramp up preparations for the tour to Australia with their 1888 Cup clash against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Friday evening.
British and Irish Lions squad update
Ahead of the match against Los Pumas, the squad have arrived back in Dublin following a training week in Portugal, where they trained with Os Lobos and have been bolstered by the arrival of the players selected from Leicester Tigers, Bath and Leinster.
This comes after Leinster defeated the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship Final while Bath edged Leicester Tigers in the Premiership finale on Saturday.
Toulouse star Blair Kinghorn is the only player from Farrell’s 38-man squad who will not be present on Monday as he remains on Top 14 duties with his club facing Bayonne in the semi-finals this weekend.
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However, 15 players will link up with the squad this afternoon. Premiership winners with Bath, Will Stuart and Finn Russell, will train for the first time on Tuesday, along with Leicester Tigers’ lock Ollie Chessum.
Twelve Leinster players will train for the first time tomorrow and they are: Jack Conan, Tadhg Furlong, Ronan Kelleher, Joe McCarthy, Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Dan Sheehan, Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan, James Lowe and Garry Ringrose.
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The British and Irish Lions also confirmed that Jamie George and Asher Opoku-Fordjour will train with the Lions today at UCD in Dublin on Monday before returning to their clubs.
This means that the England pair will not be available for selection for the clash against Argentina after joining the squad as training injury cover.
The only change to the initial squad named by Farrell is that of Ireland tighthead Finlay Bealham coming in for Scotland’s Zander Fagerson, with the latter ruled out of the start of the tour, but he could rejoin the squad at a later date, depending on his rehabilitation and team needs.
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Updated British & Irish Lions Squad
Forwards: Maro Itoje (c), Finlay Bealham, Tadhg Beirne, Ollie Chessum, Jack Conan, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Scott Cummings, Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Tadhg Furlong, Ellis Genge, 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
