08-05-2025
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.
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"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)
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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)
