Andy Farrell is set to call some new faces into his squad before the plane to Australia takes off
After months of speculation, we now know who has made it into Andy Farrell’s squad for this summer’s British & Irish Lions tour of Australia.
The coach’s selections were made public for the first time at the offical squad announcement ceremony at the O2 Arena in London last week, with surprises few and far between. England captain Maro Itoje was named skipper after previous favourite Caelan Doris underwent surgery on a shoulder injury, while 20-year-old Henry Pollock was also included as the squad bolter.
But while 38 players made it into Farrell’s squad, the Lions boss also said that further call-ups were “definitely going to happen” with plenty of rugby still to be played between now and the plane to Australia taking off.
Indeed, it has been reported in the wake of the squad announcement that Farrell and his assistants have planned to add players to the squad ahead of leaving for Down Under, with many of those named likely to be involved in the United Rugby Championship or Gallagher Premiership finals.
Those finals will take place just six days before the first Lions fixture of the summer, when they take on Argentina in Dublin on Friday, June 20. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free.
As many as 22 of those named in the Lions squad could be involved in the finals, meaning they would miss a pre-tour camp in Portugal the previous week and would only be able to join up with their tour teammates just five days before the clash with Los Pumas.
Reinforcements will therefore be needed, not only to provide cover in training but also for the Argentina game, with Farrell set to turn to his standby list before the campaign gets underway. With that in mind, who is the next cab off the rank?
Obviously, it all depends on where the big gaps are come finals weekend, but it has already been suggested that the Lions boss could call upon the ‘Dublin Four’ to tackle Argentina.
However, unlike Warren Gatland’s infamous ‘Geography Six’ call-ups on the 2017 tour, they would not be there to simply protect the wider squad, with some of those who just missed out on initial selection set to be involved after all.
With all three selected hookers – Dan Sheehan, Ronan Kelleher and Luke Cowan-Dickie – very feasibly playing in finals, the Times report Wales hooker Dewi Lake is a likely contender to be involved in the ‘Dublin Four’, with his powerful ball-carrying and ability to lead from the front seeing him impress within a struggling Welsh team.
However, he faces serious competition from former England skipper Jamie George, who is viewed by many as being unlucky to miss out on initial selection and has been touted as an ideal midweek captain on the tour.
With his season with Racing 92 wrapped up by the time the URC and Premiership finals take place, Owen Farrell is also thought to be a contender for the ‘Dublin Four’ as potential cover for Finn Russell, with Farrell senior certainly not ruling out taking his son on his fourth Lions tour.
The Times have also put forward England flyer Immanuel Feyi-Waboso – who has not played so far this year after dislocating his shoulder in late December – and Darcy Graham as potential candidates for call-ups ahead of the Argentina game.
Graham, in particular, can feel hard done by over his initial omission, having been a star player for Scotland and Edinburgh in recent years only to be near-cursed with injury setbacks. He looks to have missed out to Mack Hansen – who has a pre-established relationship with Farrell – but you would expect to see him involved when reinforcements are called in.
Elsewhere, Finlay Bealham could also be called upon having been beaten to the squad by Ireland teammate Tadhg Furlong, while England’s Jack Willis would be an obvious choice to boost the back row having been one of the form openside flankers in Europe over the last couple of years.
In the backs, Scotland’s Ben White is set to be the next cab off the rank if back-up is needed at scrum-half, having lost out to Tomos Williams – in Dan Biggar’s words – by “a flip of the coin”. Despite a dip in form and questions over his readiness for Lions rugby, Irish fly-half Sam Prendergast may also be seen as a contender.
Finally, there could yet be another Wales international in the mix, with Scarlets man Blair Murray doing his chances of a late call-up no harm with a superb performance against the Lions on Sunday.
While Farrell has no shortage of quality in his back three selections already, a two-try Player of the Match performance from Murray showed exactly what the electric full-back could bring to the squad.
Of course, there are several other players who have also been touted as potential late call-ups, with Taulupe Faletau, Dafydd Jenkins and Nicky Smith the other Welsh hopefuls alongside the likes of Ben Curry, Robbie Henshaw, George Ford and Jack Crowley.