Andy Farrell names 37-man British and Irish Lions squad for Australia
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Lions 2025.
British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell has named a 37-man squad for this summer’s tour of Australia.
Farrell wasn’t due to name his squad until next month, but has surprised us all with the announcement, way ahead of schedule this morning.
And in another huge twist, Farrell has announced that he has been granted access to pick Springbok players for his squad, adding to South Africa’s inclusion already in the URC and European competitions.
With that, Farrell has included no less than 16 Springboks in his team, with Siya Kolisi named as captain. He joins the likes of Eben Etzebeth, RG Snyman, Handre Pollard, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, and Cheslin Kolbe in the squad.
British and Irish Lions captain, Siya Kolisi.
Farrell has selected just one Welsh player, four England players, and four from Scotland, with Ireland making up the bulk of the rest of the squad, with 12 players.
“We’re delighted to be able to add South African players to our squad for this summer’s tour,” Farrell said.
“It’s huge to have players in the squad that are used to winning big games when it really matters.
“The South African fans would have made it about them anyway, so it’s great now that there are Springbok players in the squad, so the inevitable swarm of comments don’t look too out of place.”
The Lions take on Argentina in Dublin in June before flying out to Australia ahead of a three-game Test series with the Wallabies.
British and Irish Lions Australia Touring Squad
Forwards (19)
Andrew Porter (Leinster/Ireland)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Ireland)
Frans Malherbe (Stormers/South Africa)
Ox Nche (Sharks/South Africa)
Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Ireland)
Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears/South Africa)
Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks/South Africa)
Eben Etzebeth (Sharks/South Africa)
Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Ireland)
Maro Itoje (Saracens/England)
RG Snyman (Leinster/South Africa)
Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz/South Africa)
Siya Kolisi (C) (Sharks/South Africa)
Caelan Doris (Leinster/Ireland)
Jack Willis (Toulouse/England)
Josh van der Flier (Leinster/Ireland)
Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England)
Jack Conan (Leinster/Ireland)
Backs (18)
Faf de Klerk (Yokohama Canon Eagles/South Africa)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster/Ireland)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England)
Finn Russell (Bath/Scotland)
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers/South Africa)
Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers/South Africa)
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Ireland)
Damian de Allende (Wild Knights/South Africa)
Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland)
Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles/South Africa)
Bundee Aki (Connacht/Ireland)
Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls/South Africa)
Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath/South Africa)
James Lowe (Leinster/Ireland)
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh/Scotland)
Mack Hansen (Connacht/Ireland)
Damian Willemse (Stormers/South Africa)
Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland)
*This was nothing more than an April Fool’s Day joke. If you’re offended in any way, we suggest you head down to the shops, pick up a sense of humour, and then come back and read the article again. Have a good one!
