Connacht's Finlay Bealham called into the British and Irish Lions squad
Connacht and Ireland prop Finlay Bealham has been added to the British & Irish Lions squad for next month's tour to Australia following the withdrawal of Scotland's Zander Fagerson, due to injury.
The Connacht tighthead, with 51 Ireland caps, joined the group of 23 other available players which has assembled in Dublin ahead of departure for a six-day training camp in Portugal, with the squad set to leave for Quinta Do Lago on the Algarve on Tuesday. Head coach Andy Farrell will be without his selected players from URC finalists Leinster, and English Premiership finalists Bath and Leicester Tigers, whose domestic finals take place this Saturday, while Blair Kinghorn remains in Toulouse for the Top 14 play-offs.
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 Tadhg Furlong, though the one-cap Englishman can play on both sides of the scrum.
Bealham's inclusion will bring the total Ireland representation, for now, to 16, although with 12 of them from Leinster, there will be four Irishmen in Portugal, the prop joining Munster's Tadhg Beirne and provincial team-mates Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen as preparations on the training field get underway ahead of a pre-tour 1888 Cup fixture against Argentina at a sold-out Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Friday, June 20.
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.
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.'
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).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Dara O'Shea issues update on club future amid Premier League interest as he details Kieran McKenna talks
IRELAND defender Dara O'Shea is preparing for the Championship — even though he knows he is Premier League class. SunSport revealed last week there is interest from Ipswich do not want to lose him a year after And the Tractor Boys are believed to be ready to offer him an improved contract with no relegation release clause. O'Shea has already spoken to Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna about going back to the Prem. Read more on Irish football He said: 'I'm not going to think about it until the season ends and I've got one more game to focus on and then I can sit down and relax. 'But I'm fully committed to Ipswich at the moment. "I've got another four years there and I want to get the club back into the Premier League. 'I'm ambitious as a player. I want to be playing in the Premier League but I know it's not as easy as that. Most read in Football 'Whatever happens in football happens for a reason. You have a journey and you've got to stick to that sometimes. 'I feel like I'm well capable of playing in the Premier League and competing. England's biggest divers of the season crowned... as shocking record revealed "Obviously it's hard when you get relegated and I've got to get myself back there now. 'It's going to be a tough season next season but I think we've got more than enough to get back there. 'I think it doesn't matter where I am next season. "I've got to still play like I'm a Premier League player. That's the main aim for me. 1 The Dublin native has Ireland duty to focus on before he makes crucial decisions on his future "I've spoken to the gaffer and that's the task he set for me. He wants me to carry on the standards of a Premier League player.'
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
RTÉ Soccer Podcast: Ireland positives, Ryan Manning insights and COYBIG youth tournament nostalgia
Former Republic of Ireland and Tottenham Hotspur defender Stephen Kelly and ex-Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers and Ireland youth international Richie Towell join Raf Diallo on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast to analyse the Boys in Green's draw with Senegal on Friday and put the microscope over some of the individual displays including Ryan Manning, while also getting nostalgic about their major tournament experiences at underage level, while Shelbourne's Rachel Graham talks takeaways from the Girls in Green's win over Slovenia and she is also getting ready to face Athlone in a SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division top-of-the-table clash on Saturday. TIMESTAMPS 00:45 Stephen and Richie reminisce about their times at Rotherham United, including the Irish players on the books at the time. 04:30 Richie and Stephen analyse Ireland's performance against Senegal, focusing particularly on Ryan Manning's intriguing tactical role, Killian Phillips debut, Bosun Lawal's long-term potential to give the Boys in Green a new dimension in midfield and Kasey McAteer's Player of the Match display. 30:45 Stephen gives his take on Caoimhin Kelleher's move to Brentford in the context of the Bees' manager Thomas Frank being linked with a move to his former club Spurs. 34:30 Richie and Stephen recall their experiences playing for the Irish underage teams at major tournaments, facing future superstars like Thiago Alcantara. 45:30 Richie reacts to the Sports Direct Men's FAI Cup second round draw and looks ahead to this Friday's clash between Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers. 48:30 Rachel reacts to the Women's FAI Cup first round draw which pits her Shelbourne team against Galway United. 50:30 Rachel reflects on Ireland's win over Slovenia in the Women's Nations League encounter in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and the Girls in Green's trajectory ahead of upcoming friendlies against the USA and October's promotion/relegation play-off against Belgium. 1:00.30 Rachel talks Shelbourne's dominant win over Sligo Rovers in the Avenir Sport All-Island Cup final group game and looks ahead to the blockbuster league fixture against Athlone Town at Tolka Park this Saturday. Watch Luxembourg v Republic of Ireland on Tuesday from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app.
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Jarlath Burns: Gaelic football's new rules going 'really well at club level'
GAA president Jarlath Burns said there were concerns about how Gaelic football's new rules would translate to club level but those have now been allayed. "Now that the club leagues around the country are in full swing and we're watching it, I think it has gone really, really well at club level," Burns told RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland show. "I'm talking to club referees all the time. They love the fact that the discipline has improved. If you just look at a statistic from the U20 All-Ireland final two weeks ago between Louth and Tyrone: No red cards, no black cards, no yellow cards - not even a tick. One of the big advantages from this has been the increase and the improvement in the discipline of the players. "We are gradually changing that culture. Having to hand the ball over, after you give it away a free, it doesn't allow for anybody who is in the mood to be disruptive, or cantalach, as they would say in Irish, to achieve that. There is no benefit in doing that anymore." Burns also said that the GAA would examine the addition of a third tier All-Ireland championship, joining the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cups, should the demand from counties for its creation arise. "We would always say that if there's an appetite around the country for that, in those counties, we would certainly consider that," said Burns. "Last year, when we did the consultation, we do consultations all the time in the provinces. When we went to the provinces, we found that there was an appetite in Munster for it, but not in Leinster. "We're not just ready for that yet. We don't want it to become a glorified Division 4 of the National League, because those teams already see each other. "And there is a big novelty if a team rocks up against Kildare, let's say, and beats them, or Fermanagh, or some of the teams that you might raise eyebrows at for being in it. These competitions don't lie. If you're in the Tailteann Cup, you're in it for a reason."
