British & Irish Lions Squad Announced for Australia Tour

The British & Irish Lions squad announcement for the 2025 Australia tour, featuring captain Maro Itoje and a talented group of players from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

20-year-old England flanker Henry Pollock has been named in the British & Irish Lions squad for the upcoming Australia tour. Despite having only 30 minutes of international rugby experience, Pollock's impressive performances earned him a spot in Andy Farrell's squad.

Pollock's selection was largely due to his standout display for Northampton against Leinster, which caught Farrell's attention. His rapid rise from playing for the England under-20s earlier this year to a Lions squad member highlights his potential and talent.

The England Rugby team squad for the upcoming tour was announced at the O2 Arena in London, with Maro Itoje confirmed as captain. The rest of the team was revealed in alphabetical order, first the forwards and then the backs.

South Africa-born prop Trevor Davison's name wasn't mentioned, but Courtney Lawes and others were, however one name stood out - Marcus Smith wasn't part of the group with Courtney Lawes and Ollie Chessum in the forward list read out, and then when the backs were read out in alphabetical order, one name got a huge reaction - George Ford wasn’t mentioned but Thomas Freeman and Johnny May were, and Pollock got the loudest cheer from the crowd.

Here is your FULL SQUAD for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia 🦁🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/OCD2CKXPfg

— Sky Sports (@SkySports) May 8, 2025

The selected flyhalves for the tour were revealed to be England's Marcus Smith and Fin Smith, alongside Scotland's Finn Russell, leaving out notable names like Arthur Vincent and others.

Wales' Tomos Williams and flanker Jac Morgan are the only Welsh representatives in the squad. Williams will compete with England's Alex Mitchell and Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park for the scrum-half position. The squad notably features 12 players from Leinster.

The selection process was undoubtedly tough for some, notably Ben Curry, who missed out on a spot despite his brother Tom making the list. The back row area is highly competitive, making it a challenging decision for selectors.

Several players, including Scotland centre Sione Tuipulotu, were included in the squad despite being injured. Tuipulotu has been out with a chest injury during the Six Nations. Fellow Scots Duhan Van der Merwe and Blair Kinghorn, who are also currently injured, earned a spot on the tour. Kinghorn's Toulouse commitments in the French Top-14 mean he might miss the tour's first three games.

”First and foremost can I just say congratulations to everyone who has been selected, it's a special day. It's something they'll remember forever,” 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.”

The British & Irish Lions will kick off their tour with a match against Argentina in Dublin on June 20th. Before the first Test against Australia in Brisbane on July 19th, they'll play five tour games. The series against Australia continues with the second Test on July 26th and the third Test on August 2nd.

British & Irish Lions Squad

The British & Irish Lions squad for the upcoming Australian tour has been announced, featuring 38 players. Here's a breakdown of the squad:

Forwards

England:

• Captain: Maro Itoje
• Ollie Chessum
• Tom Curry
• Ben Earl
• Ellis Genge
• Henry Pollock
• Will Stuart
• MLuke Cowan-Dickie

Ireland:

• Jack Conan
• Tadhg Beirne
• Tadhg Furlong
• Ronan Kelleher
• Joe McCarthy
• Andrew Porter
• James Ryan
• Dan Sheehan
• Josh van der Flier

Scotland:

• Scott Cummings
• Zander Fagerson
• Pierre Schoeman

Wales:

• Jac Morgan

Backs

Ireland:

• Bundee Aki
• Jamison Gibson-Park
• Mack Hansen
• Hugo Keenan
• James Lowe
• Garry Ringrose

England:

Elliot Daly

Tommy Freeman

Alex Mitchell

Fin Smith

Marcus Smith

Scotland:

• Blair Kinghorn
• Finn Russell
• Sione Tuipulotu
• Duhan van der Merwe
• Huw Jones

Wales:

•     Tomos Williams