Announcement of one Lions player leaves 2,000-strong crowd in stitches
Announcement of one Lions player leaves 2,000-strong crowd in stitches
The British & Irish Lions squad has been named and one player announcement left the crowd more than amused
Lions chairman Ieuan Evans made the announcement on stage in London
(Image: Sky Sports )
The talking is over and the news is now out after Andy Farrell's British & Irish Lions squad for the tour of Australia was unveiled on Thursday afternoon.
A huge crowd packed into the O2 Arena in London to hear Lions chairman Ieuan Evans read out the 38 names who will be travelling Down Under later this summer.
The Wales and Lions wing took to the podium to reveal the identities of the touring party, first the forwards, then the backs.
And when Evans got to the scrum-halves, one of the picks - or more specifically his headshot on the big screen - prompted the assembled supporters to crack up laughing. Join WalesOnline Rugby's WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park - tipped by many to be the starting Test nine in Australia - was shown standing to attention, hands behind his back sporting a lovely shiner to his right eye from an injury picked up at the time the prospective Lions pictures were taken.
Every squad member of each home Six Nations team was actually pictured in Lions gear during the tournament in case they made today's cut.
Article continues below
"I hope he looks better for when we are on tour!" Evans quipped after the crowd were left laughing at the Leinsterman's appearance, which drew more chuckles from the gallery.
Gibson-Park has been selected as one of three scrum-halves to face the Wallabies, alongside Wales' Tomos Williams and England's Alex Mitchell.
Williams was just one of two Welshmen to make the cut, with Jac Morgan named by Farrell for a place on the plane.
There was no place for Taulupe Faletau, Dewi Lake, Dafydd Jenkins, Nicky Smith or Blair Murray.
Farrell said: "Since we met as a coaching unit for the very first time six weeks ago we have been discussing more than 75 players of interest.
"But the key job is getting that squad balance right as we prepare for a long and demanding tour that finishes with a three-Test series against the Wallabies.
"I am very excited about working with this group and believe they have the capacity to achieve something special and add to the Lions legacy."
Lions' 38-man squad in full
PROPS: Zander Fagerson (Scotland), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Ellis Genge (England), Andrew Porter (Ireland), Pierre Schoeman (Scotland), Will Stuart (England)
HOOKERS: Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), Ronan Kelleher (Ireland), Dan Sheehan (Ireland)
SECOND ROW: Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), Ollie Chessum (England), Scott Cummings (Scotland), Maro Itoje (England), Joe McCarthy (Ireland), James Ryan (Ireland)
BACK ROW: Jack Conan (Ireland), Tom Curry (England), Ben Earl (England), Jac Morgan (Wales), Henry Pollock (England), Josh van der Flier (Ireland)
SCRUM-HALVES: Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland), Alex Mitchell (England), Tomos Williams (Wales)
Article continues below
FLY-HALVES: Finn Russell (Scotland), Fin Smith (England), Marcus Smith (England)
CENTRES: Bundee Aki (Ireland), Huw Jones (Scotland), Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland), Garry Ringrose (Ireland)
BACK THREE: Elliot Daly (England), Tommy Freeman (England), Mack Hansen (Ireland), Hugo Keenan (Ireland), Blair Kinghorn (Scotland), James Lowe (Ireland), Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
36 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
World Cup of Darts 2025 LIVE RESULTS: Gerwyn Price's Wales taking on Northern Ireland in huge final
All recommendations within this article are informed by expert editorial opinion. If you click on a link in this story we may earn affiliate revenue. AROUND THE WORLD World Cup of Darts 2025 LIVE RESULTS: Gerwyn Price's Wales taking on Northern Ireland in huge final – updates Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE WORLD CUP of Darts final is here with Northern Ireland taking on Wales RIGHT NOW! Northern Ireland - featuring the pair of Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney - have sailed into the final after thrashing Germany 8-1 on home soil. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up Wales - with Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton - downed the Netherlands 8-5 to reach the final. Defending champions and top seeds England - with World No 1 Luke Humphries and world champ Luke Littler - were stunned 8-4 to Germany's pair of Ricardo Pietreczko and Martin Schindler. Start time: From 12pm BST From 12pm BST TV channel: Sky Sports Action Sky Sports Action Live stream: NOW/Sky Sports app CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Follow our live blog below...
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
World Cup of Darts 2025 LIVE RESULTS: Gerwyn Price's Wales taking on Northern Ireland in huge final
THE WORLD CUP of Darts final is here with Northern Ireland taking on Wales RIGHT NOW! Northern Ireland - featuring the pair of Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney - have sailed into the final after thrashing Germany 8-1 on home soil. Wales - with Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton - downed the Netherlands 8-5 to reach the final. Defending champions and top seeds England - with World No 1 Luke Humphries and world champ Luke Littler - were stunned 8-4 to Germany's pair of Ricardo Pietreczko and Martin Schindler. 12th Jun 2025, 18:21 By Kieran Davies Sweden vs Lithuania Jeffrey de Graaf and Oskar Lukasiak represent seeded Sweden in this opening match. They will face Darius Labanauskas and Mindaugas Barauskas in Frankfurt this evening. At this stage of the competition it is the best of seven legs to find a winner. 12th Jun 2025, 18:16 By Kieran Davies Early victory key to success With twelve groups of three in the first round, winning your first game can be key to progression. Only the pairing top of the group makes it through to the next round. They will be then be randomly drawn for the next phase, with the four top seeds added to the mix. 12th Jun 2025, 18:09 By Kieran Davies World Cup of Darts winner odds Here are the favourites with the bookies for the tournament: England – 4/9 Wales – 5/1 Netherlands – 12/1 Scotland – 12/1 Belgium – 18/1 Northern Ireland – 20/1 Germany – 28/1 Australia – 40/1 Poland – 66/1 Republic or Ireland – 66/1 All odds brought to you by Betway. 12th Jun 2025, 17:50 By Laurence Ryan Strong seeds The top four ranking nations can sit back and relax today as they are automatically through to the second round. Here are the seeded nations: 1. England (Luke Humphries and Luke Littler) 2. Wales (Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price) 3. Scotland (Gary Anderson and Peter Wright) 4. Northern Ireland (Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney) 12th Jun 2025, 17:40 By Laurence Ryan World Cup of Darts format The top four ranking nations, based on the lowest cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two players, will be seeded and begin their campaigns in the second round. England, along with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, are the four seeded nations at this year's tournament. The 36 other teams are split into 12 groups of three for the round-robin phase, from which each group winner will progress. Each group will contain one seeded nation that is outside the top four, who progress automatically. The four seeded nations will be pre-allocated into the draw for the last-16, with the 12 group winners drawn at random. The second round will take place across two sessions on Saturday, followed by a blockbuster Finals Day on Sunday, which will feature the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. 12th Jun 2025, 17:30 By Laurence Ryan Welsh Warriors England are the favourites, but Wales pair Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton are 'ready to do damage' at this year's World Cup of Darts. Speaking to BBC Sport Wales, Clayton said: "All the talk is about the two Lukes, but I'm sure me and Gez can do something about that," said Clayton. "Gezzy is a great front runner and I think I'm a pretty good number two, so we click as a team. "Hopefully we will do some damage this year. If we can lift that trophy for a third time it'd be great." 12th Jun 2025, 17:20 By Laurence Ryan Darts Dollars Should Littler and Humphries go all the way, they will receive a huge pot of prize money. Here is the breakdown of the World Cup of Darts prize money below: Winners - £80,000 Runners-up - £50,000 Semi-final losers - £30,000 Quarter-final losers - £20,000 Last 16 losers - £9,000 Second in group - £5,000 Third in group - £4,000 Total - £450,000 12th Jun 2025, 17:10 By Laurence Ryan Double dose of Luke Teen sensation Luke Littler and Premier League winner Luke Humphries are undoubtedly the favourites. And they'll be determined to retain England's title from last year's 10-6 win against Austria. By Laurence Ryan Welcome to SunSport's coverage of the World Cup of Darts Darts lovers will have something to cheer about over the next four days as the World Cup of Darts gets underway today - and we'll be all over it! The men's England football team failed to bring it home during the Euro 2024, but Luke Humphries and Michael Smith made the nation proud in last year's World Cup of Darts. A combination of composure and superb throwing saw Cool Hand and Bully Boy beat their Austrian opponents 10-6 in an epic final. And it was a result that wrote England's name in the history books as they now hold the record for the most amount of wins in the iconic competition with five. Sadly for Smith, his world ranking positioning means he will miss out on the chance to retain back-to-back titles. However, he has a more than capable replacement of 2024 Premier League winner and teen millionaire, Luke Littler. Welsh stars Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price will pose a huge threat to England's title, and Gary Anderson and Peter Wright should also fancy themselves. But as for the Netherlands, they have suffered a massive blow to their chances with Michael van Gerwen pulling out of all upcoming tournaments due to his split with wife Daphne.
Wales Online
3 hours ago
- Wales Online
The best young Welsh players ready to take on the world this summer
The best young Welsh players ready to take on the world this summer Wales U20s are confident they can go deep into the World Rugby U20s Championship this summer Wales U20s wing Aidan Boshoff will be an important player this summer (Image: Mark Lewis/Huw Evans Agency ) Wales' best young rugby talents will compete at the World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy this summer and will want to lay down a marker. Richard Whiffin's side made great strides during the U20s Six Nations, claiming victories over Italy U20s, Ireland U20s and England U20s, respectively, so will be full of confidence when they travel out to Italy. They have been drawn in a difficult pool alongside France U20s, Argentina U20s and Spain U20s but will be confident of giving a good account of themselves. Whiffin will name his full squad on Tuesday but it would be a shock if he moved away from the bulk of the players who did well in the U20s Six Nations. Here are the players who could really kick on in Italy. Harri Wilde The Cardiff outside-half is a talented footballer with all the raw materials needed to make an impact as a professional over the next couple of seasons. Wilde is a triple threat player who has the speed and agility to break the line while his passing game is also very good and he has a lot of peripheral vision. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. Article continues below The 20-year-old has blown hot and cold in the past but everything came together in that famous Six Nations victory over England at the Arms Park in March. It was Wilde's chip over the top of the England defence which resulted in a try for Steffan Emanuel while his pass at the line released Tom Bowen down the touchline to put Harry Rees-Weldon over for a score. He will face competition from Harri Ford but Wilde will be a key player for Wales this summer. Sam Scott Warren Gatland saw huge potential in the tighthead prop as does Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam. The Bristol prop is a very good scrummager who gets through tons of work around the park, Scott's numbers were very high throughout the Six Nations whether through tackling, carrying or his work at the breakdown. Welsh rugby in general are short of strong scrummaging tightheads but Scott is a player with an extremely high ceiling. If Wales are going to go deep into the World Cup this summer then they are going to need a solid platform at the set-piece which means Scott is a player of paramount importance. Harry Thomas The Scarlets hooker was outstanding throughout the U20s Six Nations and was named player of the match for his efforts in that stunning victory over England U20s. Thomas is a very dynamic and powerful carrier who does not find it hard making significant post contact metres. In Wales' backs against the wall 20-12 victory over Ireland U20s at Rodney Parade Thomas made a remarkable 22 tackles while he is also a jackal threat at the breakdown. Join WalesOnline Rugby's WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free His throwing in does need to be a little more consistent but the 20-year-old has all the attributes needed to develop into a top class professional over the next few seasons. Aidan Boshoff The 19-year-old wing will head into the World Championship in red-hot form after claiming a brace of tries in the 47-19 victory over Italy U20s at the Arms Park last Friday. Boshoff bases his game on a high-work rate and excels in the air, defensively and on the kick-chase. The Bristol Bears wing is another young Welshman rated by Pat Lam who believes he has a big future ahead of him. Boshoff is also not short of gas and is an excellent finisher but there is nothing flashy about the long-haired wing who relishes the physical confrontations. With Harry Rees-Weldon ruled out through injury there will be an onus on Boshoff and Cardiff wing Tom Bowen to get on the scoreboard as often as possible. Luke Evans If Wales are to mix it with the likes of England, France and South Africa this summer they will have to win the physical confrontations. That is where the likes of Exeter Chiefs second-row Luke Evans come in. Evans is a giant at 6ft 8in so clearly has the size to make a big impact and is exactly the profile of second-row which is in short supply in Wales. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here. Having represented England U18s he has decided to switch his allegiance back to Wales which can only be seen as a positive. Article continues below He is an excellent lineout forward who carries a lot of ball and is highly rated by the Wales coaches.
