Maro Itoje will captain a British and Irish Lions squad for the rugby tour of Australia that contains 15 Irish players, just two Welshmen and an Englishman with only one international cap to his name.
The 38-man squad 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 first English player to captain the Lions since Martin Johnson in 2001. The lock will be heading on his third tour, after 2017 and 2021.
When his name was read out by Lions coach Andy Farrell, Itoje walked out in full Lions uniform 鈥� holding the lion mascot, Bill 鈥� to warm applause.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a tremendous honor and a tremendous privilege,鈥� Itoje said.
He revealed he got a phone call from Farrell on Tuesday but could barely hear him speak because it was a bad line. After hanging up, Farrell needed to phone Itoje back to offer him the captaincy.
Itoje is England captain but only since January. He has just led his country to a second-place finish in the Six Nations and has made 93 caps for England across nine years.
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 last weekend. Doris, a star No. 8, didn't even make the squad.
Pollock the bolter but no Owen Farrell
Henry Pollock did, even though he has played only once for England 鈥� as a late, try-scoring replacement against Wales in the recent Six Nations. He started the championship with the England Under-20s.
The 20-year-old Pollock has been impressing at club level with Northampton Saints, including a man-of-the-match display in a Champions Cup semifinal win over Leinster last weekend, and was the surprise name selected by Farrell in a squad containing the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
An Englishman not picked was Owen Farrell, the son of the coach and someone hoping to go on a fourth straight Lions tour.
He was overlooked, however, as fellow Englishmen Fin Smith and Marcus Smith and Scotland's Finn Russell were the preferred options at flyhalf.
Farrell hasn鈥檛 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.
Country split
Only Ireland has more players than England's 13. Scotland will have eight representatives and just two are from Wales 鈥� scrumhalf Tomos Williams and flanker Jack Morgan 鈥� with their nation on a losing run of 17 tests stretching back to 2023. It's Wales smallest representation since World War II.
鈥淚t's the top of the mountain 鈥� you can't get higher than this achievement,鈥� said Williams, who shed a tear when he heard his name announced.
The tour Down Under
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 鈥� 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).
___
AP rugby:
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
