Ireland's Finlay Bealham set to join up with Farrell's Lions
CONNACHT AND IRELAND prop Finlay Bealham is set to be called into the British and Irish Lions squad.
Lions boss Andy Farrell named Tadhg Furlong, Zander Fagerson, and Will Stuart as the three tighthead props in his initial 38-man group last month, but Furlong and Fagerson are currently sidelined due to injury, while Stuart will be involved in next weekend's Premiership final with Bath.
Furlong has had a troubled season so far, with calf and hamstring issues limiting him to just nine appearances for Leinster and Ireland. Scotland's Fagerson, meanwhile, has been out of action since early April with a calf injury.
Furlong and Fagerson both missed yesterday's URC semi-final between Leinster and Glasgow. Though it is still hoped that they will recover from injury ahead of the Lions tour to Australia, it seems that Farrell must look for cover for now.
As such, 33-year-old Bealham is set to be added to Farrell's Lions squad.
The Lions are gathering for a training camp in Portugal next week and will then move on to Dublin the following week ahead of their opening warm-up game against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on 20 June.
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The Lions depart for Australia after that match and it remains to be seen whether Bealham remains with the group for the trip to his native land, but it seems quite possible given Furlong and Fagerson's injury concerns.
Canberra man Bealham first moved to Ireland in 2010 and has since become a key figure for Connacht and in the Irish squad.
Earlier this week, 51-times capped Bealham was named in Ireland's summer squad to visit Georgia and Portugal, but he could end up touring with the Lions instead.
With Furlong sidelined, Bealham has been Ireland's first-choice tighthead this season and has been an impressive performer in green under Farrell in recent years. That meant he was always likely to be close to a Lions call-up if there were injury issues at tighthead.
When naming his 38-man squad, Farrell indicated that he would likely add more players ahead of the tour and Bealham looks set to be one of them. With Leinster in the URC final next weekend, Farrell will be missing that 12-man contingent of his Lions squad this week, while three players are involved in Bath's Premiership final clash with Leicester.
So Farrell will likely need to call in several players to the Lions squad, even if only for the Argentina fixture, which takes place just six days after the URC and Premiership finals.
Bealham touring with the Lions would mean Ireland losing one of the few experienced players in their summer squad and with a big scrum challenge to come against Georgia, it would be an undoubted blow for interim head coach Paul O'Connell.
Connacht's Jack Aungier, who trained with the Irish squad during the Six Nations and played for Ireland A during that window, is seen as the leading contender to replace Bealham if he goes on Lions duty.
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