British & Irish Lions: Jamison Gibson-Park setback as England nine answers SOS for Argentina Test
Leicester Tigers and England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet and Leinster and Ireland counterpart Jamison Gibson-Park.
Leicester Tigers and England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet has been drafted into the British and Irish Lions squad for training ahead of their Test against Argentina in Dublin on Friday.
The 24-year-old will fly into Dublin on Tuesday morning to train with the famous touring team as they continue with their preparations for the 1888 Cup fixture against Los Pumas at the Aviva Stadium.
He will join as cover for Ireland and Leinster star Jamison Gibson-Park, who is currently managing a minor glute strain which ruled him out of the Irish province’s victory over the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship final at the weekend.
Late setback for Leinster
Gibson-Park was initially named in Leinster’s starting line-up but dropped out of the matchday 23 entirely mere hours before his side’s 32-7 triumph at Croke Park.
His withdrawal meant fellow Ireland international and double Leinster centurion Luke McGrath was promoted to the starting line-up to fill the British and Irish Lions’ void.
Meanwhile, Leinster academy scrum-half Fintan Gunne took McGrath’s spot on the replacements bench.
Van Poortvliet was also included in England head coach Steve Borthwick’s 36-player training squad ahead of the Red Rose’s match against a France XV at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday and their tour to the Americas.
He has spent his entire senior career at Leicester Tigers and joined the Premiership outfit’s development programmes while still in school, transitioning to the academy before being part of back-to-back U18 Academy League title-winning squads.
Van Poortvliet made his senior debut for Leicester at the start of 2019/20 season and was a vital cog in the Tigers side who were crowned Premiership champions in 2022.
He went on to make his England debut against Australia in Perth later that year and has since won 15 caps for his country.
Third England player training with the Lions
Van Poortvliet is the latest England player who has been training with the Lions squad despite not being part of head coach Andy Farrell’s group, alongside Sale Sharks prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Saracens hooker Jamie George.
Opoku-Fordjour and George travelled with the Lions to Quinta do Lago to train with the squad earlier this month and also trained with the team at UCD in Dublin on Monday.
The only alteration to Farrell’s initial Lions squad 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.
After Friday’s clash with Argentina, the Lions will head to Australia where their first match will be against the Western Force in Perth on Saturday, June 28.
They will then have eight more matches on their tour including three Tests against the Wallabies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney respectively.
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