The British & Irish Lions Head Coach, Warren Gatland, has today named a 37-man squad to tour South Africa for the 2021 Castle Lager Lions Series. Gatland has also named Alun Wyn Jones as captain for the Tour.
Several players are named in a Lions squad for a first time, including Josh Adams, Bundee Aki, Chris Harris, Ali Price, Louis Rees-Zammit, Tadhg Beirne, Jack Conan, Zander Fagerson, Iain Henderson, Jonny Hill, Wyn Jones, Andrew Porter, Sam Simmonds, Rory Sutherland and Hamish Watson.
“We believe we’ve picked a squad capable of winning a Test series in South Africa,” said Gatland.
“Selecting a Lions squad is never easy and, in many ways, this has been the most challenging selection I have been involved in. Over the course of the last three weeks, the coaches and I have rigorously debated each position.
“We saw some outstanding performance in the recent Six Nations, so competition for places has been tough with some incredibly tight calls to make.
“However, we are very happy with the squad we have assembled and look forward to meeting up in Jersey in just over a month’s time to start our preparation to take on the World Champions. We’ve left out some very talented players which gives an indication to the strength of this squad and we know how important that stand-by list will be.
“Being selected for a Lions Tour is the greatest honour for a British and Irish player and I congratulate everyone named today.”
Backs (16): Josh Adams (Cardiff, Wales) Wing, Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby, Ireland) Centre, Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) Fly-half, Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) Centre, Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales) Scrum-half, Owen Farrell (Saracens, England) Fly-half, Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) Centre, Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) Centre, Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) Full-back, Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) Scrum-half, Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) Scrum-half, Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby, Wales) Wing, Finn Russell (Racing 92, Scotland) Fly-half, Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) Wing, Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) Wing, Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) Full-back
Forwards (21): Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) Second row, Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) Back row, Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) Hooker, Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England) Back row, Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) Prop, Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby, Wales) Back row, Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) Prop, Jamie George (Saracens, England) Hooker, Iain Henderson (Ulster Rugby, Ireland) Second row, Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, England) Second row, Maro Itoje (Saracens, England) Second row, Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, Wales) (Captain) Second row, Wyn Jones (Scarlets, Wales) Prop, Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England) Second row, Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) Hooker, Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) Prop, Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, England) Back row, Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) Prop, Justin Tipuric (Ospreys, Wales) Back row, Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) Prop, Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) Back row