Gibson-Park backs 'hugely popular' Bealham to go well on Lions tour
Fagerson, named by head coach Andy Farrell in his initial 38-man squad on May 8, has been unable to shake off a calf injury he picked up in April and was on Monday ruled out of the tour. That opened the door for Connacht and Ireland tighthead Bealham to become Ireland's 16th player selected for the 2025 Lions and he will be one of four non-Leinster representatives alongside Munster's Tadhg Beirne and Connacht team-mates Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen leaving Dublin for a six-day training camp in Portugal on Tuesday. They form part of a 24-man squad preparing for the pre-tour match against Argentina at a sold-out Aviva Stadium on Friday, June 20.
Ireland Test team-mate and fellow first-time Lions tourist Gibson-Park, one of a dozen Leinstermen not to travel with a URC Grand Final against the Bulls to prepare for this Saturday at Croke Park, said he believed the 51-cap front-rower has all the experience necessary to make a success of his latest stand-in role having deputised regularly for Tadhg Furlong in the green number three jersey.
'He has been immense really, hasn't he, in that role of stepping in,' the scrum-half said. 'He's done that role for a few years for Tadhg and he has been exceptional. If I think back to 2023, the Grand Slam year, he was outstanding there as well.
'So he has done unbelievably well, consistently, with Ireland and he is hugely deserving of his spot for sure. He is a great fella to have around, hugely popular among the squad and I think he will go well.' Gibson-Park added: 'He is a tough bugger and looks to get stuck in. He is strong all around, great with the detail, he is nailed on.'
With English Premiership finalists Bath and Leicester Tigers also set to play this weekend, Farrell will be without another three players on club duty this week in Bath fly-half Finn Russell and prop Will Stuart, as well as Tigers forward Ollie Chessum, while Blair Kinghorn remains with Toulouse with the French Top 14 play-offs set to get underway.
In addition to tour replacement Bealham, with Fagerson ruled out with a calf injury, Farrell has also added two-time Lions tourist Jamie George and fellow front-rower Asher Opoku-Fordjur for the Portugal training camp as cover at hooker and prop respectively. Saracens hooker George, who was a Test selection on the 2017 and 2021 tours to New Zealand and then South Africa, will stand in with two of Farrell's hookers on Leinster duty, Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher. Sale's Opoku-Fordjur is a potential touring replacement for injured Irish tighthead Furlong, though the one-cap Englishman can play on both sides of the scrum.
Head coach Farrell commiserated with the injured Fagerson and said: 'It's tough on Zander to miss out so close to the Tour, but now Finlay gets an opportunity to come in and add to the group. This is unfortunately part and parcel of the game, so we always have to be prepared for that.
'But it's great to finally be at the stage where we can get onto the training ground and get to work with these players.
'Portugal will be really important for us as we look to get our house in order with only a few training sessions before we take on Argentina in the 1888 Cup in Dublin.'
The squad flies to Perth the following day and opens its tour against Western Force on June 28 with the first Test against the Wallabies on July 19.
Bealham's call-up for the Lions has had a knock-on effect on Paul O'Connell's preparations for Ireland's summer Tests in Georgia and Portugal. The Connacht prop had been the most experienced member of the interim head coach's squad and his place has now gone to another Connacht tighthead, the uncapped Jack Aungier, who trained with the Six Nations squad earlier this year having toured with Emerging Ireland last autumn.
British & Irish Lions Squad (Portugal Camp)
Forwards (13): Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Ireland), Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Ireland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/England), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England), Ben Earl (Saracens/England), Jamie George (Saracens/England), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England), Maro Itoje (Saracens/England) – captain, Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks/England), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh/Scotland).
Backs (11): Bundee Aki (Connacht/Ireland), Elliot Daly (Saracens/England), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), Mack Hansen (Connacht/Ireland), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/England), Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh/Scotland), Tomos Williams (Gloucester/Wales).
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