Marcus Smith keeps Owen Farrell out of Lions squad for first Test in Australia
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).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
3 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Lee Westwood explains Open advantage as he eyes historic triumph at Portrush
Lee Westwood got off to a strong start at this year's Open and believes links courses give older players a chance of upsetting the odds at Royal Portrush Lee Westwood believes links courses give the oldies like him a real chance of Major success. The English veteran, 52, shot a 69 to give him a platform to mount a shock challenge this weekend at Royal Portrush. The 500/1 outsider is just two off the lead after a strong start was only slightly dampened by two bogeys on the back nine. Westwood is competing in his 90th Major and 28th Open but he has still yet to win one despite nine top-three finishes. Yet after this fine start, with wife Helen Storey on the bag, he is starting to believe he could join Phil Mickelson as a Major winner in his 50s and go one step further than Tom Watson, who at 58 came close to glory in 2009. He said: 'Links golf more than any golf gives you a chance when you're our age, shall I say? There's a bit more run on the ball. It's not a golf course where it's laid out where there's a massive advantage to carrying a trap at, say, 310 yards, which I don't have anymore. 'You've got to use the conditions and hold the ball up well in the side winds and cross-winds and be able to bring your ball flight down when you're going into the wind.' Westwood was asked if seeing his name up high on the leaderboard gets the juices flowing and said: 'Oh, yeah. Can't beat seeing your name up there on a Thursday. We'll talk again if it's up there on Sunday. It's nice to see it on the big yellow scoreboards, and it's nice to walk down the 18th here. I've always said that for a British player, it's the greatest walk in golf, especially if you're in with a chance on Sunday.' Westwood's wife caddies for him when she's available and this could be a big week for the married pair if he can stay in contention at the course where he finished fourth in 2019. He said: 'She caddied for me in the qualifying, and I prefer to have her caddieing for me whenever she can. We have a good record round here from finishing fourth six years ago. Yeah, it was an easy decision for me to make. Probably harder for her. She'd probably rather be at home riding a horse.' It wasn't such a good day for two-time winner and another veteran Padraig Harrington. The Irishman hit the first tee shot of the tournament but shot four over which will leave today as a battle to make the cut. 'I expected the nerves, I didn't expect that [emotion],' Harrington said. 'So I did have to adjust myself for that.'
Belfast Telegraph
5 minutes ago
- Belfast Telegraph
The Open: Rory McIlroy one off the lead and meet the Buddhist monk who's also in contention
Key updates Meet the Buddhist monk who's one shot off the lead Pivotal point in Rory's week already? The Open Guinness tracker: Where's the cheapest pint in Portrush this week? Darren Clarke on shooting a 75: 'Maybe I should have spent more time in the Harbour Bar!' Round one tee times one minute ago Gareth Hanna Hands across Hadrian's Wall Scot Robert MacIntyre and English Justin Rose are having a nice battle in their group, both under par since the middle of their front nines. It's just gone advantage England as Rose holed for birdie on 11 to go to -2, one clear of MacIntyre who was forced to make a nice recovery for par. Solid. 6 minutes ago BIRDIE! The crowd go wild as this one drops for McIlroy and he's one shot off the lead at -3 after his third birdie in six holes! 9 minutes ago Rory's roring again The approach play over the last few holes in particular has been sublime from McIlroy and he's pulled another rabbit out of the hat on the par-four 10th, chopping it out of the rough to the left of the fairway and using the contours of the green to roll it up to six feet shy of the pin and another birdie chance. It doesn't have to drop but, after the disappointment of the eighth, it would be a very timely one to see go in. 15 minutes ago Gareth Hanna What about the adopted Ulsterman? A huge hit with the fans this week but Bryson DeChambeau hasn't made a single birdie out there today at +3 through 10. A double at four, when he had trouble on the bank, did most of the damage. Also successfully birdie-free is Jordan Spieth in the afternoon's second featured group, and a shot worse off after a front nine 40. Ouch. 20 minutes ago Gareth Hanna Is there a hole there? Three putts, three misses for Rory's group on nine which means par for McIlroy (-2), bogey for Fleetwood (+2) and double for Thomas (E). 'I thought I was going to black out': Estonian amateur Richard Teder, who chipped in in a Play-Off to qualify for the event and shot 74 His nerves over his first tee shot:"A bit crazy on the 1st hole. I thought I was going to black out. I told myself it's another golf shot. It's a 2-iron, my favourite club. The whole day was just unbelievable. The crowds, the fans. It was special." Royal Portrush:"The course is very difficult. If you hit a bad shot, you're not in a good spot. Hit loads of great shots today, just my putter wasn't really working today, which just happens. It's golf, right? But I'm happy about today." Can he make the cut?:"Just try to hang in there, to be honest. Make a lot of pars. Just couldn't make any putts, which 3-over is not that bad for not making anything. I'm happy." 34 minutes ago Gareth Hanna Mixed fortunes at nine Iron off the tee for Rory and it's perfectly 259 yards down the middle, while Fleetwood and JT find the rough either side of the fairway. Rory safely on in two while the other pair can only pitch out short. With his third, JT short-sides himself again and that's a very tough up and down just to save bogey. He could be on his way back to level par. Fleetwood gives himself a chance for par from 15 feet. 34 minutes ago Anybody else want the lead? It's now a SIX-way tie as Lucas Glover, who started birdie-eagle but had done nothing since, has taken advantage of the par-five seventh and he gets to -4 too! Will anybody actually bother to get to -5 or is that as good as it's going to get? There's also a move from France's Romain Langasque, who has picked up three shots in two holes by birdieing the 11th and then eagling the 12th to get to -3! 42 minutes ago Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Rory misses the birdie putt. Gave it too much break on the right-hand side and the six-footer stays above ground. That would have been the one to light the touch paper. Instead he stays -2 and two back of the leading quintet. Meanwhile, it ended up being a good hole for Justin Thomas as he chips in from short of the green for birdie and he's up to -2! 44 minutes ago You Bez believe it again! We have a five-way tie for the lead as Christiaan Bezuidenhout comes up with the goods on the par-five 12th, hitting the green in two and driving in the 27-foot eagle putt to move to -4! 46 minutes ago Rory. McIlroy. Fresh off nearly holing out for eagle on the seventh, Rory McIlroy nearly does the same thing on the par-four eighth as he follows up a 300-yard drive into the wind with a majestic wedge that carves through the air and lands an inch from the pin! That'll be another short putt for birdie to go one shot off the lead! 49 minutes ago Hot Harris I haven't seen a single shot he has played today, even though he's in the group behind Rory McIlroy and is now tied for the lead, but Harris English moves to four-under-par with his fifth birdie in his opening seven holes! He's even had time to drop a shot and, amazingly, it was on the par-four fifth which is the easiest hole on the course! This has to go down as a psycho scorecard. 54 minutes ago He's in the zone McIlroy. Eighth tee. Pulverised straight down the middle and the tee is out of the ground before the ball has even reached its apex. We're cooking with gas now. 57 minutes ago Gareth Hanna Rory McIlroy - within two Tap in putt secured and the crowd goes up another notch. They feel like it's on! Birdies all round - Fleetwood is having one of those days where every putt is a near miss. And such is the case for his eagle attempt. After 7 McIlroy -2 Thomas -1 Fleetwood +1 57 minutes ago Worth a few Bob Robert MacIntyre is a links specialist and he's proven it once again with back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth to move to -3 and one shot off the lead! He's talked in the build-up to this tournament that he loves Royal Portrush - will the course give some love back to him this week? Meanwhile, Tyrrell Hatton is still at -3 after finishing the ninth hole but only after draining a monster putt for par following a chip shot that went too long from right of the green. Those are momentum savers. Today 04:22 PM Gareth Hanna It's getting going out here now Super pitch nipped in and Rory has what looks like a kick in birdie from here. He should pitch out on every hole! The fans are going for it now. That should be him up to -2 and they can sense a march is coming. Eagle attempt up the hill coming for Fleetwood after a super second while JT is just out the back in two. Today 04:14 PM Gareth Hanna Hold up on hole seven A long wait as three groups are all on the par five seventh at once. Never does anybody any good, that. And Rory hits it left. It's thick and lying down with some thick stuff folding in around it. Won't be getting up in two but that did him a favour on the second. Rory lucky enough with the second shot as it takes one hop in the thick stuff and comes back down into the semi rough. He can't see it from where he is and will be pleasantly surprised with that result. Fleetwood and JT are all good off the tee so could go for it in two. Today 04:10 PM Meet the Buddhist monk who's one shot off the lead Sadom Kaewkanjana is 262nd in the world rankings. Sadom Kaewkanjana has never played at a level higher than the Asian Tour. Sadom Kaewkanjana has played in just one event since May and missed the cut in it. Sadom Kaewkanjana is an ordained Buddhist monk. Sadom Kaewkanjana didn't have any luggage until 8pm on Wednesday because it got lost in transit from Thailand. Sadom Kaewkanjana is currently one shot off the lead at The Open Championship after parring the last for a three-under-par 68, the same score as the World No.1. Because golf. Today 03:59 PM Keep your Hatton Tyrrell Hatton, who has finished in the top-10 of a Major twice in the last two years, is threatening again as he has an eagle putt on the par-five seventh to take a share of the lead... no. It stays short but it's a tap-in for birdie and the Englishman makes it another LIV player in the mix as he moves one shot back of the lead trio. All of a sudden the leaderboard is becoming quite bunched, to the extent that -1 is tied-19th. Live Blog Software
BBC News
6 minutes ago
- BBC News
Listen to latest episode of BBC Scotland Rugby Pod
The latest episode of the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast is now O'Neill is joined by former Scotland 7s international Colin Gregor and BBC Scotland's chief sports writer, Tom talk British and Irish Lions selection, with Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones all picked to start Saturday's first Test against Australia, Scotland's defeat by Fiji and their upcoming Test against and listen to the episode in full.
