Time to leave you with Gerard Meagher’s report, plus Michael Aylwin’s pen pics for every player.Thanks for joining me.There are only two Wales players in Andy Farrell’s 38-man line-up – comfortably their lowest-ever total in a Lions squad.Just four years ago, Wales sent 10 players to South Africa while Ireland had eight.2025: Ireland 15, England 13, Scotland 8, Wales 22021: England 11, Wales 10, Ireland 8, Scotland 82017: England 16, Wales 12, Ireland 11, Scotland 22013: Wales 15, England 10, Ireland 9, Scotland 3Here’s the reaction from Northampton as 20-year-old Henry Pollock was selected, along with Fin Smith, Tommy Freeman and Alex Mitchell.

This article includes content provided by Instagram.We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies.To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'.Some sad news to bring you from the world of rugby.The Fiji international Josaia Raisuqe has died after a road accident in France.

The winger, who won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, played for Top 14 side Castres.“It is with a heavy heart that we learned of the death this morning in a road accident of our player Josaia Raisuqe,” Castres said in a statement.“He was a wonderful teammate who was much appreciated by everyone.” The team’s match against Clermont Auvergne on Saturday has been postponed.“He was a radiant young man both on and off the pitch who was a pillar of the Fijian community that we have at the club and to which we are very attached,” the Castres president Pierre-Yves Revol said.

Reuters“No Jamie George!” sputters Mike Adam.Yes, the England hooker, twice picked previously, is one of the more surprising omissions.Others to miss out are Ireland captain Caelan Doris, who won’t recover from injury in time, and fly-half Sam Prendergast.As discussed, George Ford and Owen Farrell miss out and there’s also no place for England teammates Ben Curry, Sam Underhill or Jack Willis.Scotland’s Ben White, Tom Jordan and Darcy Graham are also notable absentees.

Some more thoughts from Andy Farrell on the Lions selection process.“Going from 75 players and getting it down to 55 – that’s tough enough,” he says.“Getting it down to the final 38, it is my job to play devil’s advocate.It’s extremely difficult.“The honest chats I have had with all the coaches about the players that we have talked about have been fantastic,” Farrell adds.

The domestic teams represented are as follows,Leinster Lions, anyone?Leinster 12Glasgow, Northampton 4Saracens 3Bath, Connacht, Edinburgh, Sale 2Bristol, Gloucester, Harlequins, Leicester, Munster, Ospreys, Toulouse 1The live broadcast has come to an abrupt end,Let’s look at the numbers…There are 15 Ireland players in the squad – nine forwards and six backs,England have 13 (eight forwards, five backs) while there are eight Scotland players (five backs, three forwards) and just two from Wales (one back, one forward),While you’re here, why not sign up for our weekly rugby union newsletter? There’s no better way to keep up with all the buildup before the Lions head Down Under.

There was plenty of debate around which fly-halves would get the nod.It was expected to be Finn Russell, Fin Smith and A.N.Other – but there’s no George Ford or Owen Farrell in the squad.Marcus Smith – who some thought might be taken as a full-back option – appears to be the third option at No 10.

“Twelve Leinster players?? And only four from Northampton?” says Henry C.“Surely some mistake!” Henry Pollock got the biggest cheer of the afternoon when his name was read out.I’m not particularly surprised that the squad is packed with Leinster players, given how familiar Farrell will be with those names from his Ireland role.Tomos Williams says he “shed a few tears” when the announcement was made, and that he’s “lost for words”.The Gloucester scrum-half is one of only two Welshmen in the squad – the other being Ospreys forward Jac Morgan.

Now we’re talking to Mack Hansen, another Australia-born pick.The Connacht wing doesn’t have much to say, explaining “Bundee [Aki] was supposed to do this but he had to look after the kids”.Hansen is one name (perhaps the only one) in the squad who wasn’t a part of our writers’ predicted line-ups.Now we head up to Glasgow, where four Warriors have made the cut – Scott Cummings, Zander Fagerson, Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu, who will be dreaming of wearing the red jersey for a Test match in Melbourne, the city of his birth.The quartet seem very excited, although the video link is a bit spotty in places.

Ben Earl joins via video link, and says getting selected is “one of the greatest days of my career”.The England forward adds that he didn’t sleep at all last night, and it’s been an emotional day for his parents.He hasn’t had a chance to congratulate clubmate Itoje because “he didn’t turn up for training today”.I guess he was busy …Tadhg Beirne (Ireland/Munster)Ollie Chessum (England/Leicester)Jack Conan (Ireland/Leinster)Luke Cowan-Dickie (England/Sale)Scott Cummings (Scotland/Glasgow)Tom Curry (England/Sale)Ben Earl (England/Saracens)Zander Fagerson (Scotland/Glasgow)Tadhg Furlong (Ireland/Leinster)Ellis Genge (England/Bristol)Maro Itoje (England/Saracens, captain)Rónan Kelleher (Ireland/Leinster)Joe McCarthy (Ireland/Leinster)Jac Morgan (Wales/Ospreys)Henry Pollock (England/Northampton)Andrew Porter (Ireland/Leinster)James Ryan (Ireland/Leinster)Pierre Schoeman (Scotland/Edinburgh)Dan Sheehan (Ireland/Leinster)Will Stuart (England/Bath)Josh van der Flier (Ireland/Leinster)Bundee Aki (Ireland/Connacht)Elliot Daly (England/Saracens)Tommy Freeman (England/Northampton)Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland/Leinster)Mack Hansen (Ireland/Connacht)Huw Jones (Scotland/Glasgow)Hugo Keenan (Ireland/Leinster)Blair Kinghorn (Scotland/Toulouse)James Lowe (Ireland/Leinster)Alex Mitchell (England/Northampton)Garry Ringrose (Ireland/Leinster)Finn Russell (Scotland/Bath)Fin Smith (England/Northampton)Marcus Smith (England/Harlequins)Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland/Glasgow)Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland/Edinburgh)Tomos Williams (Wales/Gloucester)Farrell was expected to name a 37-man squad, which increased to 40 this week.In the end, there are 38 players selected: 21 forwards and 17 backs.

The head coach congratulates all of the picks, and offers his commiserations to those who missed out.And now on to the backs, with indecent haste …Bundee Aki (Ireland/Connacht)Elliot Daly (England/Saracens)Tommy Freeman (England/Northampton)Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland/Leinster)Mack Hansen (Ireland/Connacht)Huw Jones (Scotland/Glasgow)Hugo Keenan (Ireland/Leinster)Blair Kinghorn (Scotland/Toulouse)James Lowe (Ireland/Leinster)Alex Mitchell (England/Northampton)Garry Ringrose (Ireland/Leinster)Finn Russell (Scotland/Bath)Fin Smith (England/Northampton)Marcus Smith (England/Harlequins)Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland/Glasgow)Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland/Edinburgh)Tomos Williams (Wales/Gloucester)Tadhg Beirne (Ireland/Munster)Ollie Chessum (England/Leicester)Jack Conan (Ireland/Leinster)Luke Cowan-Dickie (England/Sale)Scott Cummings (Scotland/Glasgow)Tom Curry (England/Sale)Ben Earl (England/Saracens)Zander Fagerson (Scotland/Glasgow)Tadhg Furlong (Ireland/Leinster)Ellis Genge (England/Bristol)Maro Itoje (England/Saracens, captain)Rónan Kelleher (Ireland/Leinster)Joe McCarthy (Ireland/Leinster)Jac Morgan (Wales/Ospreys)Henry Pollock (England/Northampton)Andrew Porter (Ireland/Leinster)James Ryan (Ireland/Leinster)Pierre Schoeman (Scotland/Edinburgh)Dan Sheehan (Ireland/Leinster)Will Stuart (England/Bath)Josh van der Flier (Ireland/Leinster)Here we go! Evans is going to read some names out, starting with the forwards in alphabetical order …Now, a highlight reel of the 2013 Australia tour – plus shots of a mural of the squad being painted in east London.I don’t want to complain, but we’re half-an-hour in and one name has been announced …“It’s a tremendous honour, tremendous privilege,” says Itoje.“Thinking of all the players who’ve gone before me … it’s hard to articulate really.” He says he got a call from an Irish number on Tuesday – “I picked up and heard a Wigan accent” – but then the signal played up.

Itoje is the first Englishman to lead the Lions since Martin Johnson in 2001 – and the first person of colour to captain the team.He spent last night with previous skippers at a dinner and says he was “blown away” by the “love and respect” they all have for the Lions, even “30 or 40 years” after playing.As had been widely predicted, it’s the Saracens and England forward who gets the nod.He’s here, in full Lions kit, and carrying a giant cuddly toy lion.The crowd give him a rapturous reception.

Alun Wyn Jones, who was captain for the 2021 South Africa tour before suffering an injury, comes out on stage for a chat before the new skipper is announced …We’re going to start with the captaincy – the player in question will become just the 46th person to lead the British & Irish Lions.Farrell says that player has to be “a beacon” for others – “it takes a special person for sure” – but that he has leaders and unifying players throughout the squad.“It’s impossible to explain unless you’ve been a part of it,” says Farrell of Lions duty as a player.“It’s so special to be able to represent all of the home nations … and how quickly that bond [in the squad] becomes united is amazing.”“I’m feelin great, I feel quite chilled,” says Farrell as he arrives on stage.

“I’ve made my picks, now Ieuan has to read them out.” As for Evans, he reveals that he heard about his first two Lions call-ups via telegram (“not the new one!”) and Ceefax.Former Lion and Guardian rugby writer Ugo Monye is on stage, alongside Sky presenter Lee McKenzie.They’ll be joined shortly by Andy Farrell and the Lions chairman, Ieuan Evans, to reveal Farrell’s picks and talk about the big decisions.This will be the Lions’ first tour of Australia since 2013, when the tourists prevailed 2-1.

Warren Gatland’s side won 23-21 in Brisbane, lost 16-15 in Melbourne and then roared to a 41-16 victory in the Sydney decider.The Lions will play 10 fixtures this summer – one in Dublin and the rest in Australia.Here’s the full list of opponents:Argentina (Dublin, 20 June) Western Force (Perth, 28 June) Queensland Reds (Brisbane, 2 July) NSW Waratahs (Sydney, 5 July) ACT Brumbies (Canberra, 9 July) Aus/NZ invitational XV (Adelaide, 12 July)Australia (First Test, Brisbane, 19 July) First Nations/Pasifika XV (Melbourne, 22 July)Australia (Second Test, Melbourne, 26 July) Australia (Third Test, Sydney, 2 Aug)It looks like the announcement – being made live in front of fans at the O2 in London – will start at 2pm GMT.So, in about 10 minutes.“It was interesting to see Jack Willis missing from the writers’ picks yesterday,” writes Bevan Jones.

“The back rows looked a bit lightweight to me.Do we think the best back rower in Europe is in? Also: fingers crossed for my current favourite player, James Lowe – a man who can seemingly antagonise any set of supporters around the globe.”You can watch the live announcement on the Lions’ YouTube channel – it’s due to start in about 20 minutes.There’s been a fair bit of talk this week about Northampton’s Champions Cup semi-final win over Leinster, and how that might affect Farrell’s thinking.Henry Pollock, for one, has moved from Lions bolter to near-certainty, and Fin Smith’s odds have also shortened.

On the other hand, Leinster fly-half Sam Prendergast is thought to have fallen down the pecking order, and questions have been asked over how many of the region’s players merit a place,I wonder if the head coach would make too many drastic calls based on a single match, even if the result felt seismic,“Just watching the live stream, and want to double-check,” writes Matthew Moore,“White smoke means the cardinals have chosen a new fly-half, right? Habemus Finnam?”Thankfully, the Vatican conclave has opted not to overshadow the squad announcement this afternoon,Daniel Stephens is ready to talk bolters – the players who will make a late surge into the Lions squad.

There’s room for an extra three today, with Farrell expected to pick 40 players rather than 37.Daniel says: “Blair Murray (Wales), Courtney Lawes (England) and Jamie Ritchie (Scotland) will all be selected and raise eyebrows this afternoon.”“I’m having a vision of the Lions No 10s as a 1958 Fairlane 500 convertible,” writes Carl Gladwell.“In other words, a Ford with a pair of Fin(n)s.”Our rugby union writers make their picks here …Lions szn is officially here.

The first Test against Australia in Brisbane is just over a couple of months away, and the curtain-raiser against Argentina in Dublin will be upon us in six weeks’ time.This is the biggest milestone on the road to opening night, as Andy Farrell picks an expected 40-man squad from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales’ finest.It’ll be a career highlight for many players, and a day of great disappointment for others.Maro Itoje is set to be named captain for the Lions’ first tour since South Africa in 2021.Many of his England colleagues, including Owen Farrell, Marcus Smith and George Ford, face a nervous wait to see if they make the cut.

Farrell Sr is forecast to pick 22 forwards and 18 backs.We’ll get the full lowdown at 1.30pm BST, when Lions chairman (and former tour winner Down Under) Ieuan Evans announces the squad.There’ll be 2,000 fans gathered at the O2 to give their collective verdict, and you can let me know your predictions/selections here.