British and Irish Lions winners and losers: Young star named while concerns for Scottish centre’s injury rise

Jack Tunney 18 Jun 2025 3:31 PM

British and Irish Lions winners and losers: Young star named while Scottish centre shown the cold shoulder

The first official 2025 British and Irish Lions team has been named as the touring squad looks to take on Argentina in Portugal on Friday.

Head coach Andy Farrell has named an English-heavy 23, with most Irish players set to arrive within camp shortly following Leinster’s URC success.

As with all team selections, there’s always likely to be excitement and disappointment alike. Let’s look at the winners and losers of this first lineup.

Winners

Finlay Bealham: A late inclusion to the squad following an unfortunate injury to Zander Fagerson, Bealham goes straight in at prop. The Irish front-rower has been settling into the squad this week as a late arrival, meeting all his future team-mates as he prepares for the journey of a lifetime. When receiving the news that he would be touring Australia, the 33-year-old broke down in tears during what Andy Farrell would describe as “one of the best conversations” of his life.

Henry Pollock: At just 20 years old, Henry Pollock is the youngest member of the touring side. Despite making just one appearance for England, he is now set to come off the bench to play for the British and Irish Lions on Friday. His arrival onto the global scene has been nothing short of meteoric, helping his club side Northampton Saints to the final of the Champions Cup, being nominated for player of the tournament, and scoring two tries on his England debut – all within the past season.

Alex Mitchell: Just over a week ago, scrum-half rival Jamison Gibson-Park would have been dead set for a Test start, but following an unfortunate injury, Alex Mitchell now has the opportunity to take an early command of that nine shirt. Having confidently commanded the starting berth with England for the past couple of years, Mitchell will hope to demonstrate his impressive game control abilities within an untested squad.

Maro Itoje to skipper England heavy British and Irish Lions side in tour opener against Argentina

Losers

Jamison Gibson-Park – Having owned the Irish number nine shirt for many years now, Gibson-Park would have expected to see his name partnering Fin Smith at halfback this weekend, but sadly, a recent injury will see the zippy scrum-half sidelined – at least for this weekend. The concern for the 33-year-old is that the longer his minor glute strain takes to recover, the more credit his replacement, Alex Mitchell, will have in the bank.

Huw Jones – A gutting selection call for the talented Glasgow man – but it may not have been tactical – Jones has been suffering from an injury. He was widely expected to partner either Bundee Aki or Sione Tuipulotu in the centres, but instead, both players were given a starting spot. His playing time was confirmed to be nil when the versatile Elliot Daly filled the spot on the bench. Jones’ impressive ability to slot in at full-back and tremendous form for club and country this year raises more questions about the extent of his Achilles tendon issues.*

*Update: Andy Farrell has since confirmed that Jones is expected to return from injury next week.