British and Irish Lions slammed for reliance on Aussies, Kiwis and Springboks as tour kicks off

They’ve copped a pasting in their homeland for their reliance on southern hemisphere talents, with the Lions to roll out a squad with 25 per cent of players from Australia, NZ or South Africa.

It hasn’t taken long for the British and Irish Lions selectors to lean into their southern hemisphere brethren.

The Lions have copped a pasting in the Old Dart for the high reliance on players born in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa but head coach Andy Farrell clearly isn’t worried by the criticism.

In a sign of what’s to come, he’s picked six southern hemisphere-born blokes for this weekend’s warm-up clash between the Lions and Argentina in Dublin, including three Aussies.

Former Junior Wallaby Sione Tuipulotu, now the captain of Scotland, was named as starting centre while Canberra-born prop Finlay Bealham, now with Ireland, was chosen to start at tight-head. Ireland’s Mack Hansen, who was also born and raised in Australia’s national capital, will start on the bench.

You can add New Zealand raised Bundee Aki to the foreigners who got the nod to tackle the Pumas, along with South African-born Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Schoeman.

Lions team to face Argentina:

The Lions will fly to Western Australia straight after the match with the Pumas to prepare for their opening tour game with the Force on 28 June. The first of the three Tests against Australia kicks off on 19 July.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS TOUR

Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu was born in Australia but will play against them for the Lions

Lions’ tours are always feisty affairs and 2025 isn’t expected to be any different.

All the new rules to keep players safe means there’s unlikely to be any repeat of the wild brawls like the Battle of Ballymore from 1989 but it’ll still be highly physical, with the Lions’ captain Maro Itoje telling his players what he expected from them.

“I want this Lions squad to be tough. I look at our forwards and I see a group of tough men,” Itoje said.

“I want us to be tight, that’s a huge thing. I want us to be an incredibly tight group of players that have each other’s back.

“And regardless of who plays and regardless of which combinations, I want us to play with the passion, energy and zeal you’d expect of a Lions squad. I think that’s what the fans would expect of us.”

Itoje will be playing on his third Lions tour, after being picked against New Zealand in 2017 then South Africa in 2021.

British and Irish Lions captain Maro Itoje and head coach Andy Farrell.

Just 22 at the time, he was the youngest member of the Lions that toured New Zealand in 2017 and as such was given responsibility for looking after the mascot, a fluffy lion named BIL.

England flanker Henry Pollock has been given the honours of looking after BIL in Australia, with the threat of a team fine hanging over him if he misplaces the mascot.

“You have a new family when you’re with the Lions,” Itoje said.

“There’s a reason why there are four emblems on the badge – because when you get there, this is your new family.

“You’re not thinking from an English point of view or a Welsh point of view, you’re thinking from a Lions point of view.

“I want the players to enjoy it. This is an incredibly unique experience. Who knows if the guys on this tour will go again?”

Henry Pollock

COSTLY EXERCISE

As popular as the Lions are they still haven’t been able to completely sell out all the tickets for their farewell match in Dublin.

According to The Times newspaper in London, there’s still a few hundred tickets left and organisers are struggling to offload them because the prices are so steep, with the asking price for the best seats a whopping $335.

CANBERRA KICK-ONS

Who says those Canberra bureaucrats don’t know how to let their hair down and have a bit of fun?

With thousands of supporters heading to the nation’s capitals for the Lions’ clash with the ACT Brumbies on July 9 – territory officials are rolling out the red carpet by extending the liquor licensing laws in the city from midnight to 2am.

It may not sound like a lot but those extra couple of hours will give the Lions’ supporters a bit of time to celebrate – or commiserate – after the game.

The pubs should already be rocking with locals because the NRL’s State of Origin decider is on the same night.

Originally published as British and Irish Lions slammed for reliance on Aussies, Kiwis and Springboks as tour kicks off