British & Irish Lions squad 2025: All the players Andy Farrell has taken to Australia

The British & Irish Lions squad are now halfway through their 2025 adventure down under, with five matches played so far. Since losing to Argentina in Dublin back in June, head coach Andy Farrell’s team have won matches against Western Force, Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies.

Inevitably, they’ve picked up some injuries along the way, meaning Farrell has been forced to make some changes to the 38-player party he first announced in May – no surprise, seeing as on average, seven players are called up after the initial announcement. Zander Fagerson, Tomos Williams and Elliot Daly have all been ruled out of the tour, with Finlay Bealham, Ben White and Owen Farrell coming in to take their places.

Now, with just one more game to play before the first Wallabies Test on Saturday 19 July, time is running out for the players to make their case for a place in that matchday 23. Below you’ll find full details on the current British & Lions squad, along with Farrell’s selections for every match of the tour so far – including Saturday’s game against an Australia/New Zealand invitational XV.

British & Irish Lions squad 2025

Since Andy Farrell first announced his British & Irish Lions squad in May, injury has forced the withdrawal of three players: Scotland prop Zander Fagerson, Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams and England utility back Elliot Daly. They’ve been replaced by Ireland’s Finlay Bealham, Scotland’s Ben White and England’s Owen Farrell.

The selection features 21 forwards and 17 backs. The squad originally comprised 13 tourists from England, 15 from Ireland, 8 from Scotland and 2 from Wales. The current breakdown is 13 from England, 16 from Ireland, 8 from Scotland and just one player (Jac Morgan) from Wales.

FORWARDS (21)

BACKS (17)

Withdrawals:

Related: What’s the fewest players from a single nation selected for a British & Irish Lions tour?

Matchday 23s

v Argentina (20 June)

Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman, Sione Tuipulotu, Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe, Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham, Maro Itoje (captain), Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl

Replacements:
Rónan Kelleher, Pierre Schoeman, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Cummings, Henry Pollock, Tomos Williams, Elliot Daly, Mack Hansen

v Western Force (28 June)

Elliot Daly, Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Sione Tuipulotu, James Lowe, Finn Russell, Tomos Williams; Pierre Schoeman, Dan Sheehan (captain), Tadhg Furlong, Scott Cummings, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Henry Pollock

Replacements:
Rónan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, Ollie Chessum, Jack Conan, Alex Mitchell, Huw Jones, Marcus Smith

v Queensland Reds (2 July)

Elliot Daly, Tommy Freeman, Huw Jones, Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje (captain), Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, Jac Morgan, Jack Conan

Replacements:
Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Ben Earl, Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Garry Ringrose

v NSW Waratahs (5 July)

Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Blair Kinghorn, Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham, Scott Cummings, James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne (captain), Josh van der Flier, Ben Earl

Replacements:
Dan Sheehan, Ellis Genge, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Duhan van der Merwe, Jac Morgan, Ben White, Marcus Smith

v ACT Brumbies (9 July)

Blair Kinghorn, Tommy Freeman, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park; Ellis Genge, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje (captain), Joe McCarthy, Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, Jack Conan

Replacements:
Rónan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, Josh van der Flier, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith, Mack Hansen

v Australia/New Zealand invitational XV (12 July)

Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Fin Smith, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Will Stuart, James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne (captain), Henry Pollock, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl

Replacements:
Rónan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Finlay Bealham, Scott Cummings, Josh van der Flier, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith, Owen Farrell

British & Irish Lions squad 2025: Captain

Maro Itoje, who’s previously toured with the Lions in New Zealand in South Africa, has been named captain of the 2025 British & Irish Lions squad (David Rogers/Getty Images)

As was widely predicted, England’s Maro Itoje is the captain of the 2025 British & Irish Lions squad. The current England skipper has plenty of previous Lions experience, having toured New Zealand in 2017 and South Africa in 2021. He’s also started the last five Lions Tests.

British & Irish Lions squad 2025: Coaching staff

Richard Wigglesworth, Simon Easterby, John Dalziel, Andrew Goodman and John Fogarty will all be part of Andy Farrell’s coaching staff for the 2025 British & Irish Lions squad (Credit: British & Irish Lions)

Ireland boss Andy Farrell was appointed head coach of the British & Irish Lions squad for the tour to Australia back in January 2024.

In January 2025, it was confirmed that Farrell will be joined by David Nucifora (currently a consultant for the Scottish Rugby Union) as General Manager, Performance, along with two members of his Ireland backroom staff: Aled Walters as Head of Athletic Performance and Vinny Hammond as Head of Analysis.

Once the Six Nations 2025 had concluded in late March, Farrell added five assistant coaches to his British & Irish Lions coaching staff: England’s Richard Wigglesworth; Ireland’s Simon Easterby, John Fogarty and Andrew Goodman; and Scotland’s John Dalziel. Johnny Sexton, who was a member of the British & Irish Lions squads in both 2013 and 2017, was added to the assistant coach roster a few weeks later.

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