logo
Marcus Smith keeps Owen Farrell out of Lions squad for first Test in Australia

Marcus Smith keeps Owen Farrell out of Lions squad for first Test in Australia

Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne have been given the nod in the ferociously competitive flanker positions and, alongside number eight Jack Conan, form the biggest and most physical back row available to head coach Andy Farrell.
The team's main source of creativity will be provided by an all-Scotland midfield trio of Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones with the hard-running Bundee Aki having to settle for a replacement role.
Beautiful Brisbane is open for Lions business 🦁🙌
The countdown to the 1st Test is ON ⏳#Lions2025 pic.twitter.com/8a4H9HrkwG
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 16, 2025
Blair Kinghorn's knee injury means Hugo Keenan is picked at full-back, with Smith providing cover at 15 and fly-half.
The bench options narrowed when Mack Hansen was ruled out by a foot injury, but Smith's presence still represents a personal triumph given his Test prospects looked bleak at the start of the tour and appeared to recede further when Owen Farrell was called up as an injury replacement for Elliot Daly.
Andy Farrell's son was expected to be given a supporting role at Suncorp Stadium but he misses out on the 23 entirely, as does the rising star of English rugby Pollock, who loses out to Ben Earl as back row cover.
Ireland dominate the starting XV with an eight-strong contingent, while England provide four players and Scotland three.
For the first time since 1899 there is no Welshman in the matchday squad. Jac Morgan is their only representative in the 44-man touring party, but he has lost out to Curry in the race for the number seven jersey.
Curry has yet to find his stride Down Under but the Lions coaching team view his physicality, work rate and big game experience as too valuable to leave out.
Beirne was locked in a selection duel with Ollie Chessum and he has won on this occasion, with his English rival present as a high-quality reinforcement off the bench.
There are no surprises in a front row consisting of Ellis Genge, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong, while captain Maro Itoje is joined by Joe McCarthy in the engine room and wings James Lowe and Tommy Freeman are present as expected.
'We are entering the business end of the tour and it is time to put in our best performance to date,' Andy Farrell said.
'We know how motivated the Wallabies will be and we know they are a well organised and dangerous side.
'It s a great occasion and a proud moment for Maro Itoje, who will captain the Test side, but also for those players who get the opportunity to represent the group on Saturday night.'
Lions team: H Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); T Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), H Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), S Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), J Lowe (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); F Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland), J Gibson-Park (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); E Genge (Bristol Bears/England), D Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), T Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), M Itoje (Saracens/England) (C), J McCarthy (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), T Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland), T Curry (Sale Sharks/England), J Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland).
Replacements: R Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), A Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), W Stuart (Bath Rugby/England), O Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England), B Earl (Saracens/England), A Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), M Smith (Harlequins/England), B Aki (Connacht Rugby/Ireland).
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Kerry name unchanged team for All-Ireland final
Kerry name unchanged team for All-Ireland final

BBC News

time15 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Kerry name unchanged team for All-Ireland final

Kerry have named an unchanged starting team for Sunday's All-Ireland Football final against Donegal at Croke Park (15:30 BST).A 28-player panel named by the Kingdom on Thursday evening will be cut to 26 for O'Connor has been deemed fit enough to be included in the extended squad, having not featured since the quarter-final stage of the O'Sullivan is absent because of team: Shane Ryan; Paul Murphy, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Brian O Beaglaoich, Mike Breen, Gavin White, Sean O'Brien, Mark O'Shea; Joe O'Connor, Sean O'Shea , Graham O'Sullivan; David Clifford, Paudie Clifford, Dylan players: Shane Murphy, Killian Spillane, Evan Looney, Tom Leo O'Sullivan, Tadhg Morley, Paul Geaney, Micheál Burns, Tony Brosnan, Armin Heinrich, Tomás Kennedy, Diarmuid O'Connor, Conor Geaney, Dara Moynihan.

Lionesses hero Keira Walsh forgets rivalry and prays Euro rivals Spain ‘enjoy' final after World Cup ‘kissgate' scandal
Lionesses hero Keira Walsh forgets rivalry and prays Euro rivals Spain ‘enjoy' final after World Cup ‘kissgate' scandal

Scottish Sun

timean hour ago

  • Scottish Sun

Lionesses hero Keira Walsh forgets rivalry and prays Euro rivals Spain ‘enjoy' final after World Cup ‘kissgate' scandal

Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) KEIRA WALSH is praying the Euro 2025 final is remembered for all the right reasons. England face Spain in Basel on Sunday in a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 Keira Walsh is hoping the Euro 2025 final on Sunday is remembered for the right reasons Credit: Getty 7 The 2023 Women's World Cup final was overshadowed by Luis Rubiales' kiss on Jenni Hermoso La Roja were crowned world champions with a 1-0 win in Sydney but their historic milestone was overshadowed over THAT KISS by then Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales on striker Jenni Hermoso. That smacker, which Hermoso said 'tarnished' her country's triumph, was ruled as a sexual assault in February this year. But Walsh is hoping Spain can 'enjoy' the final this time around with no more controversy. The England midfielder said: 'There's a lot of respect between both the teams. 'The most important thing for them is that they can enjoy this final. There's no controversy surrounding it. 'The girls deserve to be there, they play incredible football. So first and foremost, for them as human beings, that they can go out there and actually enjoy this game. 'They probably could have had more support. After the game there was a lot of controversy and I don't think for them there was enough spotlight on how incredible they played and how incredible some of their players were, it was all about the other stuff that had gone on. 'As a professional, that was disappointing to see. I have a lot of friends in that team and I think they probably deserved a little bit more than what they got.' 7 Spain beat England 1-0 in the 2023 World Cup final Credit: Getty 7 Walsh has insisted she is not dwelling on the defeat Credit: Getty CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Walsh also insisted that she is not dwelling on the World Cup final defeat ahead of the rematch. She said: 'It was a massive disappointment. 'From a collective we probably feel like we didn't have our best performance that day. England star Chloe Kelly speaks about her crucial Euros penalty against Italy 'But as a football player you can become too emotional. 'This is a new game, new team, we know what we bring in this tournament so we're going to keep doing that and focus on the positives, not try to draw on that too much.' The Lionesses have gone to extra-time in both their knockout matches — but have led for just ONE minute. They came from 2-0 down to beat Sweden on penalties in the quarter-finals before scoring a dramatic 119th-minute winner to book their final spot. Walsh believes their impressive resilience is 'just a part of being English'. She said: 'That's what we feel when we put the shirt on. It's that we give everything, we run ourselves into the ground. 'The beauty of this squad is that we know if we have to come off because we're tired, there's going to be someone else who can come on and finish the job. 'It's what we just speak about as a team, that English resilience and it's something that we really pride ourselves on. 'You can see from the last two games that it's something we really believe in.' Chloe Kelly's last-gasp strike against Italy on Tuesday to secure the extra-time victory was the latest goal ever recorded at a women's Euros. Walsh said: 'For us, you create those moments for yourself through belief, confidence, determination.' That never-say-die spirit was also shown in Michelle Agyemang's 96th-minute leveller that forced extra-time. Walsh added: 'I've heard people have been saying that it was luck. It's not by luck Michelle is in the box and scoring. 'It's not by luck that people are putting crosses into the box — it's thought out, it's purposeful. 'It's the absolute belief that no matter what minute it is, we're going to win it or we're going to get a result to take us to extra-time. That's the resilience of this team.' 7 England left it late to book their spot in the Euros final Credit: Getty 7 Teenager Michelle Agyemang scored deep into injury time to force extra time Credit: AP

Lionesses hero Keira Walsh forgets rivalry and prays Euro rivals Spain ‘enjoy' final after World Cup ‘kissgate' scandal
Lionesses hero Keira Walsh forgets rivalry and prays Euro rivals Spain ‘enjoy' final after World Cup ‘kissgate' scandal

The Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Sun

Lionesses hero Keira Walsh forgets rivalry and prays Euro rivals Spain ‘enjoy' final after World Cup ‘kissgate' scandal

KEIRA WALSH is praying the Euro 2025 final is remembered for all the right reasons. England face Spain in Basel on Sunday in a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final. 7 7 La Roja were crowned world champions with a 1-0 win in Sydney but their historic milestone was overshadowed over THAT KISS by then Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales on striker Jenni Hermoso. That smacker, which Hermoso said 'tarnished' her country's triumph, was ruled as a sexual assault in February this year. But Walsh is hoping Spain can 'enjoy' the final this time around with no more controversy. The England midfielder said: 'There's a lot of respect between both the teams. 'The most important thing for them is that they can enjoy this final. There's no controversy surrounding it. 'The girls deserve to be there, they play incredible football. So first and foremost, for them as human beings, that they can go out there and actually enjoy this game. 'They probably could have had more support. After the game there was a lot of controversy and I don't think for them there was enough spotlight on how incredible they played and how incredible some of their players were, it was all about the other stuff that had gone on. 'As a professional, that was disappointing to see. I have a lot of friends in that team and I think they probably deserved a little bit more than what they got.' 7 7 Walsh also insisted that she is not dwelling on the World Cup final defeat ahead of the rematch. She said: 'It was a massive disappointment. 'From a collective we probably feel like we didn't have our best performance that day. England star Chloe Kelly speaks about her crucial Euros penalty against Italy 'But as a football player you can become too emotional. 'This is a new game, new team, we know what we bring in this tournament so we're going to keep doing that and focus on the positives, not try to draw on that too much.' The Lionesses have gone to extra-time in both their knockout matches — but have led for just ONE minute. They came from 2-0 down to beat Sweden on penalties in the quarter-finals before scoring a dramatic 119th-minute winner to book their final spot. Walsh believes their impressive resilience is 'just a part of being English'. She said: 'That's what we feel when we put the shirt on. It's that we give everything, we run ourselves into the ground. 'The beauty of this squad is that we know if we have to come off because we're tired, there's going to be someone else who can come on and finish the job. 'It's what we just speak about as a team, that English resilience and it's something that we really pride ourselves on. 'You can see from the last two games that it's something we really believe in.' Chloe Kelly's last-gasp strike against Italy on Tuesday to secure the extra-time victory was the latest goal ever recorded at a women's Euros. Walsh said: 'For us, you create those moments for yourself through belief, confidence, determination.' That never-say-die spirit was also shown in Michelle Agyemang's 96th-minute leveller that forced extra-time. Walsh added: 'I've heard people have been saying that it was luck. It's not by luck Michelle is in the box and scoring. 'It's not by luck that people are putting crosses into the box — it's thought out, it's purposeful. 'It's the absolute belief that no matter what minute it is, we're going to win it or we're going to get a result to take us to extra-time. That's the resilience of this team.' 7 7 7

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store