Scottish prop Fagerson out of Lions tour with injury, Bealham called up
June 9 (Reuters) - Scotland prop Zander Fagerson has been ruled out of the British & Irish Lions upcoming tour to Australia on Monday, having failed to recover from a calf injury, and Ireland's Finlay Bealham has been added to the squad.
Fagerson started all five of Scotland's Six Nations matches this year, but suffered the injury during training with his club Glasgow Warriors in April and the 29-year-old tighthead has not played since.
"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," Lions head coach Andy Farrell said.
"This is unfortunately part and parcel of the game, so we always have to be prepared for that."
The Lions squad gathered in Dublin on Monday ahead of a six-day training camp in Portugal with England's Jamie George and Asher Opoku-Fordjour also travelling to train with the squad.
Players involved in the Premiership and United Rugby Championship finals will join up next week in Ireland where the Lions begin with a game against Argentina on June 20.
The Lions will have five tour games before the first test in Brisbane on July 19. The second and third tests are on July 26 and August 2.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Cristiano Ronaldo deals with rude fan after Portugal's Nations League victory as he calls out behaviour of selfie-hunting supporter in Munich
Cristiano Ronaldo was forced to deal with a rude fan in Munich on the back of Portugal's Nations League victory. Ronaldo helped his country to their second title in the competition, scoring in both the semi-final and final out in Germany as Roberto Martinez's side claimed victory. First, the Al-Nassr forward was on hand to tap in the winner against home side Germany in the semi-finals, setting up a mouth-watering clash with Spain in the final two. Though the European champions were favourites, Portugal delivered, drawing 2-2 after trailing and then winning on penalties. Ronaldo, meanwhile, scored the equaliser. Portugal embarked on a series of celebrations and Ronaldo was no different. The 40-year-old was seen donning sunglasses and a shirt that read 'campeones' on the back of the win. In Munich, the forward greeted a handful of fans who were looking for autographs and selfies, though he took exception to one supporter's actions. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Daily Mail Sport (@dailymailsport) In a video shared by Mail Sport, Ronaldo was seen signing autographs as he made his way down the line. Eager fans waited in anticipation, but Ronaldo dodged one selfie before another fan jumped into his path, looking to a photo. The ex-Manchester United star almost walked into the supporter, taking a step back as his face dropped after he had seemingly suggested he needed to leave. He held out his hands, frustrated, exchanging some words with the supporter. That didn't put him off, however, and he tried again, before Ronaldo put his hand on his shoulder. Eventually, after rejecting that photo too, Ronaldo carried on down the line and did eventually pose for a photo - with a different supporter. Ronaldo confirmed after the win that he would be staying with Al-Nassr despite suggestions he could leave to head to the Club World Cup. 'The tears were of joy. When you win something for Portugal, it's always special, but there's nothing like winning for the national team, in my opinion,' the 40-year-old said. 'This generation deserved it and we were going to have a bit of luck and merit and we were going to win the final. 'We knew it was going to be difficult but we deserved it and this gives us confidence and allows us to go to the World Cup with more confidence. Future? It won't change anything. Al-Nassr, yes.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Scotland 'always scanning' for a future head coach
The Scottish FA is "always scanning to see who's available" to be their next national head coach, chief executive Ian Maxwell has admitted as Steve Clarke enters the final 13 months of his current appointed in May 2019, has led Scotland to back-to-back European Championships and is aiming to take the national side to a first men's World Cup since 61-year-old former Kilmarnock, Reading and West Bromwich Albion boss said in March that there is a "75% chance" he will not renew his deal."Succession planning, I always need to have an eye on what's about because managers can leave at any point for a variety of different reasons," Maxwell told BBC Scotland. "So that's always on the agenda. There's always a bit of scanning to see who's available, but the focus right now is on Steve and the team and on getting to USA, Mexico and Canada in 2026 and replicating the Germany experience [Euro 2024] for the Tartan Army."Scotland begin their quest for a place at World Cup 2026 away to Denmark on 5 September, with Greece and Belarus the other Group C opponents."The discussion has always been about getting to the World Cup," Maxwell said. "Steve is desperate to get there."We've got a squad that are desperate and fully capable of getting there. We've got a nation that want him to get there. We need to get behind everybody to make sure that we find ourselves in USA, Mexico and Canada next year."Clarke took over after a second spell for Alex McLeish and is just two games away from equalling the record 71 matches overseen by Craig Brown from Scotland have only won four of their latest 14 outings, with Monday's 4-0 friendly win over minnows Liechtenstein needed to lift the gloom after successive Hampden defeats by Greece and Iceland."I think, since Steve came in, the missing link for him is the World Cup," Maxwell added. "He's been to back-to-back Euros. He's taken us from League C to League A in the Nations League."So I would take a much broader view than the last 12 months. I think that's too short an outlook. "We need to be aware of the substantial impact that the team have had, the substantial improvements in the team from where we were and, as I said, focus everybody's energy on getting to the next World Cup."
Scotsman
2 hours ago
- Scotsman
Hearts goalkeeping issues played down as Craig Gordon discusses a new Scotland opportunity
Season 2025/26 is just around the corner Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Four Hearts goalkeepers are recovering from injury ahead of the new season following a series of fitness issues. First-team members Craig Gordon, Zander Clark and Ryan Fulton have been sidelined alongside reserve keeper Harry Stone. With players reporting to Riccarton for pre-season training next Friday, Gordon played down concerns over the lack of fully-fit goalies. He missed Hearts' last three Premiership games of the 2024/25 campaign as well as Scotland's friendlies against Iceland and Liechtenstein due to a shoulder problem. Clark had a foot ligament complaint which resurfaced in the final league game at Kilmarnock. Fulton took his place after 22 minutes of that match but then injured his groin. Stone returned from his loan at Ayr United with a knock which precluded him from their last four games of the season. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad New Hearts head coach Derek McInnes and his staff will assess the situation when players arrive back at the club's training ground. Gordon, though, is hopeful he and others will be fit and ready for competitive matches starting on 12 July in the Premier Sports Cup against Dunfermline. 'Just as well we didn't get to the [Scottish] cup final because I don't know who would have played in goal,' joked the 42-year-old. 'Yes, it's not a great place for the goalkeepers at the moment. Luckily enough, we've got a bit of time before the games start up again, so I think we'll all be fine.' Gordon has more reason than most to accelerate a recovery with his testimonial match due on 26 July against former club Sunderland. He has held talks with McInnes and believes the new manager is reinvigorated by the new season's challenge in Gorgie. 'I spoke to him last week. He phoned me from his holidays and he's very excited. He's really motivated to get in and get started,' said the keeper. 'I spoke to a few other players as well and that's the thing that's come through - how excited he is to get in and start getting things in place straight away. I think that's refreshed everybody, that positive mindset that he's put on everybody already. We're going to work hard, we're going to get ready for the season. I think everybody's really looking forward to getting started now.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Scotland keeper issue as Norwich and Ipswich EFL men feature at Hampden Goalkeeping injuries also struck the Scotland camp in Gordon's absence last week. Angus Gunn, who recently left Norwich City, was forced off with an ankle problem just minutes into Friday night's friendly with Iceland. Ipswich Town's Cieran Slicker took his place as substitute for an international debut which won't be fondly remembered. He was at fault for all three Iceland goals in the 3-1 defeat at Hampden Park. 'It's happened now. There's not really too much I can say about that,' admitted Gordon. 'I know he's a confident, strong young boy and this is right at the very beginning of his career. He's got a long time to come back from this and I think he will. He'll go back to his club and work away and try and get more game time. But that's part of his story now and it's now about the comeback. You can make that work for you. I think that's what he has to do now is accept that it's happened, move on and continue trying to improve and get more games. Get back there and have another shot at it.' Gordon intends to contact Slicker for a chat as a long-serving member of the goalkeepers' union. 'I'll probably let him have his holiday first and maybe get away for a little while,' he said. 'As a goalkeeper, you know you're going to make mistakes during a season. You're going to cost the team goals, that's every single goalkeeper for every single club all over the world. If you play a whole season, you're going to lose probably a couple of bad goals that are going to cost your team. You have to accept that. 'You have to accept that as part of playing the position that you are going to be the reason your team doesn't win from time to time. That's just the nature of it. You have to move past that, accept that that is the case and not be scared of it. Still do the right things, still make the decisions. That's the only way to move on from it. It's that acceptance that's going to happen. It wasn't great, but we move on. We try not to do the same thing again.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Slicker, 22, found himself thrust into the international fold despite playing just seven competitive games in his career to date. The situation highlighted the dearth of emerging Scottish keepers playing at the top level for national coach Steve Clarke to select. Aberdeen's second-choice, Ross Doohan, was then called up to face Liechtenstein. Gordon watched the games and acknowledged that the international goalkeeping spots are currently up for grabs. 'I think the opportunity is there right now for the next batch of goalkeepers to come through,' he stated. 'There's a few of them that have been out on loan, been down in the lower leagues and done quite well. It's about their progression now and getting that right and making sure they're still developing. Still getting games, but also still working on everything else they need to work on. I think this is the opportunity at this moment in time to focus on that, to concentrate and make sure we are getting the goalkeepers the right pathway to get them through.' Craig Gordon's future decided with new Hearts contract One of his long-term career ambitions is to become a goalkeeping coach and help nurture a new generation of top quality Scottish No.1s. 'Yeah, I think that's something that I would like to do,' said Gordon. 'That's an area that we need to look at and I need to try and improve. We need to bring through more goalkeepers. I don't know why that hasn't really happened, really, over a number of years. We have had good goalkeepers and guys that have played in the leagues for a lot of years. 'I think, obviously, the international team was quite a closed shop for such a long period of time. Perhaps the exposure to that wasn't there and maybe that was the reason why. But that's not the case anymore. So, hopefully we can get people in and even exposed to that level of training. Because when you go and train with the Scotland team, the level is so much quicker than what it is when you train at club level. Especially from the Scottish teams to the international team. You've got guys playing in the top leagues in the world. You notice a difference in the speed of the game. So, if we can push more goalkeepers towards that and give them that experience, then that will improve them as well.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Coaching is for the future, though. Gordon will remain purely a player for season 2025/26 after agreeing to extend his Hearts contract by another 12 months. A hectic first half of the season made him wonder if he wanted to continue, but a more regular schedule from Christmas onwards helped finalise the decision in his mind. 'It was right towards the end of the season. When things went down to one game a week, I felt better,' he explained. 'In the second part of the season, I actually felt myself getting stronger. That was the reason I felt that I could probably still do another year. The European games coming thick and fast in the middle of the first part of the season was difficult. Coming back from my leg break, that was the first time I'd played a stretch of games in a row. I think it always takes quite a while to actually get back to the level you were before. I felt towards the end of the season that I could start to feel that I was getting even stronger. So, that was why I thought I could still go another year and go better again.' • Tickets for the Craig Gordon Testimonial Match – Hearts v Sunderland, Tynecastle Park, 3pm, Saturday 26th July – are on sale now through Supporters can keep up to date with all of the latest Craig Gordon Testimonial information at
