Maro Itoje will captain a British and Irish Lions squad for the tour of Australia that contains 15 Irish players, just two Welshmen and an Englishman with barely 30 minutes of international rugby to his name.
A 38-man touring party was announced on Thursday in front of an audience of more than 2,000 rugby fans at The O2 arena in London, with the 30-year-old Itoje becoming the first English player to captain the Lions — one of the biggest honors in the sport — since Martin Johnson in 2001.
Itoje will be heading on his third tour, after 2017 and 2021, and completes his rise as a leader, having become the captain of England and Saracens only this season.
When his name was read out by Lions coach Andy Farrell, Itoje walked out in full Lions uniform — holding the lion mascot, Bill — to warm applause.
“It’s a tremendous honor and a tremendous privilege,” said Itoje, who has 93 caps for England. “It’s a bit of a surreal experience, to be honest.”
Farrell phoned Itoje on Tuesday to give him the good news but they could barely hear each other because of a poor signal, so Farrell hung up. He soon phoned back and quickly offered him the captaincy.
Itoje’s path to the Lions captaincy might have been cleared by Caelan Doris, the Ireland captain, who injured his shoulder playing for Leinster against Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup semifinals last weekend.
Doris, a star No. 8, would have been a certainty to make the squad but had to be left out.
“As you can imagine, he is devastated,” Farrell said. “Commiserations to those who thought they would be selected today. But things happen on tour or before you get on the plane as well. So everyone who has ambition, keep fighting, stay fit and we will be watching.”
Injuries are expected before the tourists leave for Australia in late June. In 2021, Ireland prop Andrew Porter withdrew because of a toe injury. He’s been picked again. Tour captain Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Lydiate were injured in the warm-up win over Japan. Jones recovered from a dislocated shoulder to play in the tests in South Africa.
Pollock the bolter
That Leinster-Northampton game was significant in another way, too.
Henry Pollock, a 20-year-old flanker who was largely unknown before this season, produced a man-of-the-match display for Northampton in its improbable win to cement his place in the Lions squad and continue his dramatic rise in rugby.
His only appearance for England was as a second-half, try-scoring replacement against Wales in the final round of the recent Six Nations. He started the championship with the England Under-20s and had played only one game in England’s top league before this season.
Pollock — the surprise name selected by Farrell in a squad containing the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales — was watching the squad announcement on TV with his Northampton teammates and was mobbed when his name was read out.
“If you’re good enough, you’re old enough,” Farrell said.
Father leaves out his son
An Englishman not picked was Owen Farrell, the son of the coach and someone hoping to go on a fourth straight Lions tour.
Fellow Englishmen Fin Smith and Marcus Smith and Scotland’s Finn Russell were the preferred options at flyhalf.
Farrell hasn’t played international rugby since the 2023 World Cup, after which he stepped down from national duty to protect his mental health. He has since quit English rugby and moved to France to play for Racing 92 in Paris, but he suffered a head injury last weekend in an injury-plagued season.
“He was in the conversation,” Andy Farrell said of his son. “We feel Owen is still trying to find his way back to fitness.”
Beside Farrell, other flyhalves contenders to miss out included Ireland starter Sam Prendergast and England veteran George Ford.
Country split
Only Ireland has more players than England’s 13.
Scotland will have eight representatives and one was born in Melbourne — center Sione Tuipulotu.
Just two players are from Wales — scrumhalf Tomos Williams and flanker Jac Morgan — with their nation on a losing run of 17 tests stretching back to 2023. It’s Wales’ smallest representation since World War II.
“I didn’t feel any pressure at all” to pick Welsh players, Farrell said.
Williams said he shed a tear when he heard his name, adding: “It’s the top of the mountain — you can’t get higher than this achievement.”
It’s an inexperienced squad, with 26 players set to be first-time tourists and nine going on a second tour.
Huwipulotu reunited
Scotland centers Tuipulotu and Huw Jones — nicknamed Huwipulotu — were chosen on long-ago form.
Tuipulotu was considered a nailed-on Lions starter until he tore a pectoral muscle in late January, dealing a damaging blow to Scotland’s Six Nations hopes. He’s close to returning to action. Jones hasn’t played since the Six Nations because of an ankle injury.
Scotland record try-scorer Duhan van der Merwe was also picked even though he hasn’t played since late March after ankle surgery. Rugged lock Scott Cummings was another to miss the Six Nations and has just returned from a three-month layoff.
Their national teammate Blair Kinghorn is also in, but if his Toulouse club reaches the French Top 14 final again on June 28, he won’t join the Lions until after their opening match in Australia.
The itinerary
The Lions won the test series against the Wallabies the last time they toured Australia, in 2013. They have since drawn the series against New Zealand in 2017 and lost in South Africa in 2021.
For the latest tour, the Lions will play three tests against the Wallabies, along with six more games in Australia — against Western Force, Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, ACT Brumbies, an Invitational Australia and New Zealand XV, and a First Nations and Pasifika XV.
The tour begins with a match against Argentina in Dublin on June 20 and ends with the series-closing third test on Aug. 2.
Squad
Forwards: Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), Ollie Chessum (England), Jack Conan (Ireland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), Scott Cummings (Scotland), Tom Curry (England), Ben Earl (England), Zander Fagerson (Scotland), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Ellis Genge (England), Maro Itoje (England, captain), Ronan Kelleher (Ireland), Joe McCarthy (Ireland), Jac Morgan (Wales), Henry Pollock (England), Andrew Porter (Ireland), James Ryan (Ireland), Pierre Schoeman (Scotland), Dan Sheehan (Ireland), Will Stuart (England), Josh van der Flier (Ireland).
Backs: Bundee Aki (Ireland), Elliot Daly (England), Tommy Freeman (England), Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland), Mack Hansen (Ireland), Huw Jones (Scotland), Hugo Keenan (Ireland), Blair Kinghorn (Scotland), James Lowe (Ireland), Alex Mitchell (England), Gary Ringrose (Ireland), Finn Russell (Scotland), Fin Smith (England), Marcus Smith (England), Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland), Duane van der Merwe (Scotland), Tomos Williams (Wales).
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
