Sam Warburton names ‘like-for-like’ Caelan Doris Lions replacement, suggests England rookie as ‘complete bolter’ at prop
Sam Warburton with the 2017 British and Irish Lions in New Zealand
Sam Warburton has become the latest pundit to name his preferred British and Irish Lions squad, with the two-time tour captain suggesting a squad of 40 is needed for the trip to Australia.
The ex-Wales skipper led the 37-strong tour that took on the Wallabies in 2013, a figure that grew to 41 when the squad was named four years later for New Zealand.
Last time out, in the covid era, Warren Gatland went with 37 players for the 2021 tour to South Africa, but Warburton believes that the return to Australia 12 years after he led the Lions to their 2-1 series win would be best done with a squad of 40.
Writing in his latest Times column ahead of this Thursday’s official reveal of the 2025 squad by head coach Andy Farrell, Warburton pondered: “How many to take? That is the first question… There are so many factors to consider, not least the cost, because just to take one extra player will not be cheap and will have to be ratified by the Lions board.”
In the end, Warburton settled on a figure of 40, broken down between 14 English, 13 Irish, eight Scottish and five Welsh, including his old Wales pal Taulupe Faletau. He wrote: “The back row selection was always going to be tough, and as we managed to fit in eight back rowers to the squad in 2017, I’ve done the same here.
‘Few players have as many X-factor moments as him…’
“The likes of Josh van der Flier, Jack Willis, Tom Willis, Jamie Ritchie and Rory Darge are unfortunate, but all the others have made such strong cases, especially after I’d seen Taulupe Faletau play for Cardiff against Munster recently.
“Few players have as many X-factor moments as him. You should never underestimate the importance of an experienced Lions tourist and this would be Faletau’s fourth tour.
“England’s Henry Pollock has obviously been making a lot of headlines and he is clearly a player of huge potential, but for me at the moment there are too many more deserving cases ahead of him. Even if Caelan Doris is ruled out, I would go for a like-for-like replacement at No8 in Tom Willis.”
Injuries have become a major talking point leading up to Thursday’s squad announcement in London, with touted tour skipper Doris potentially the major casualty after it was revealed on Monday by Leinster that he needed an operation on the shoulder issue that forced off after less than an hour of last Saturday’s Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton.
Warburton was of a mind to give these players currently struggling for fitness every chance of touring. “The fitness of certain players is obviously crucial, with Ireland’s Caelan Doris now a real doubt because he requires shoulder surgery,” he outlined.
“I have picked two England players in the wing, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and lock George Martin, who have got to prove their fitness first, but I do think they are two players who will be given that time, simply because they are so different.
“For me when fit, Feyi-Waboso is the best winger of the lot and even if he cannot make the very start of the tour, I would take that gamble. And Martin is a real old-school enforcer of the type I think you desperately need on these tours.
“And there are already some rumours about players who might be struggling to make the tour because of injury. Blair Kinghorn, the full-back, is one (and his participation at the beginning of the tour was always in doubt anyway because of his commitments at Toulouse), as are his compatriots, centre Huw Jones and prop Zander Fagerson.”
Curiously, Warburton went on to make a left-field call if Fagerson can’t ultimately pitch up fit. “If Fagerson does not make it at tighthead prop, then there is a distinct shortage of candidates to replace him, but I would go with a complete bolter as Gloucester’s uncapped Afolabi Fasogbon is my next in line.”
Versatility, meanwhile, was the reason he included Marcus Smith as one of his three out-halves, along with Finn Russell and Fin Smith. “Marcus Smith has made the cut ahead of George Ford and Ireland’s Sam Prendergast because of his versatility, so he could cover full-back too, and there are a couple of hybrid forwards in Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne and England’s Ollie Chessum, who can cover both lock and back row.”
Sam Warburton’s 40-man British and Irish Lions squad
Full-back (3): Blair Kinghorn, Hugo Keenan, Blair Murray
Wing (5): Duhan van der Merwe, James Lowe, Tommy Freeman, Darcy Graham, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
Centre (4): Sione Tuipulotu, Bundee Aki, Huw Jones, Robbie Henshaw
Fly-half (3): Finn Russell, Fin Smith, Marcus Smith
Scrum-half (3): Jamison Gibson-Park, Alex Mitchell, Tomos Williams
Prop (6): Ellis Genge, Andrew Porter, Pierre Schoeman, Tadhg Furlong, Will Stuart, Zander Fagerson
Hooker (3): Dan Sheehan, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Dewi Lake
Lock (5): Maro Itoje, George Martin, Ollie Chessum, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan
Back row (8): Tom Curry, Ben Curry, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl, Caelan Doris, Taulupe Faletau, Jack Conan, Tadhg Beirne
