The British and Irish Lions' squad for their 2025 tour of Australia has been confirmed, with head coach Andy Farrell naming 38 players for this year's highly-anticipated trip Down Under.
Four years after the COVID-affected tour of South Africa, the Lions head to Australia for a triple-header with the Wallabies this summer, as well as a selection of fixtures against Super Rugby sides.
Farrell's selection was unveiled in front of a live audience at the O2 Arena on Thursday afternoon, and as expected, Saracens lock Maro Itoje was named as the Lions' captain for the 2025 tour.
The 30-year-old is the first English captain of the Lions since Martin Johnson in 2001, in addition to being the first-ever black player to captain the Test squad as he benefits from the absence of Caelan Doris.
The 27-year-old Irishman was recently confirmed to be undergoing surgery on a serious shoulder injury sustained at the weekend, meaning that there is no place for him among the 38.
2025 British and Irish Lions squad in full:
HENRY POLLOCK IS A BRITISH AND IRISH LION! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/txY5GUDEwW
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) May 8, 2025
Forwards: Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Ireland), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England), Jack Conan (Leinster/Ireland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/England), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England), Ben Earl (Saracens/England), Zander Ferguson (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Ireland), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England), Maro Itoje (c) (Saracens/England), Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Ireland), Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Ireland), Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England), Andrew Porter (Leinster/Ireland), James Ryan (Leinster/Ireland), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh/Scotland), Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Ireland), Will Stuart (Bath/England), Josh van der Flier (Leinster/Ireland)
Backs: Bundee Aki (Connacht/Ireland), Elliot Daly (Saracens/England), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster/Ireland), Mack Hansen (Connacht/Ireland), Huw Jones (Glasgow/Scotland), Hugo Keenan (Leinster/Ireland), Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland), James Lowe (Leinster/Ireland), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), Garry Ringrose (Leinster/Ireland), Finn Russell (Bath/Scotland), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/England), Marcus Smith (Harlequins/England), Sione Tiupulotu (Glasgow/Scotland), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh/Scotland), Tomos Williams (Gloucester/Wales)
2025 British and Irish Lions schedule
© Imago
Before making the long journey to the Southern Hemisphere, the Lions will battle Argentina in a warm-up contest on June 20 in Dublin, marking their first-ever match in the Republic of Ireland.
Eight days later, Farrell's side commence their tour against Western Force at the Perth Stadium, which precedes a trip to Brisbane to face the Queensland Reds on July 2, a meeting with the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney on July 5, and a visit to Canberra to battle the ACT Brumbies four days later.
On July 12, the Lions then head to Adelaide to take on an Invitational Australia and New Zealand side, which comes seven days before the first of their three-part series with the Wallabies in Brisbane.
Melbourne then awaits Farrell's men on July 22, when they face a First Nations & Pasifika XV, prior to the second match of their Test series with Australia on July 26 and the grand finale on August 2 in Sydney.
Ben Knapton
