The British & Irish Lions will be without 16 players for their first training camp
The British & Irish Lions will be without 16 players from Andy Farrell’s 38-man squad for this week’s training camp in Portugal.
Farrell has called up experienced England hooker Jamie George as cover for Ireland pair Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher who will both be involved in next Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final between Leinster and the Bulls in Dublin.
The Lions boss selected his original squad with full knowledge he would be without a significant chunk of players for the Portugal training camp and the warm-up clash with Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on June 20.
Both the Gallagher Premiership and URC finals take place next weekend, while the French Top 14 takes place on June 28. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Leinster are providing a remarkable 12 players to the tour, while Scotland playmaker Finn Russell and England tighthead Will Stuart play for Bath and second-row Ollie Chessum is at Leicester Tigers.
As far as the Top 14 goes it only affects Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn who plays for Toulouse which isn’t ideal considering Hugo Keenan will also be unavailable for the trip to Portugal.
This scenario has been commonplace in the professional era with Warren Gatland without 12 players for the training camp in Jersey ahead of the tour of South Africa four years ago. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
Farrell’s decision to call Jamie George into the training squad has come at the expense of Wales hooker Dewi Lake who was heavily touted to tour for months.
Along with a shortage of hookers, Farrell will also be low on second-rows with Chessum, along with Leinster duo Joe McCarthy and James Ryan, unavailable.
With no Russell for now England duo Fin Smith and Marcus Smith could be in line to figure against Argentina.
Wales pair Tomos Williams and Jac Morgan will attend the Portugal training camp and have a great opportunity to hit the ground running ahead of the Lions’ clash with the Pumas in Dublin.
With Jamison Gibson-Park and Josh van der Flier out, both Williams and Morgan will have a head start on the Leinster duo. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
Lions players missing due to final involvement
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster)
Dan Sheehan (Leinster)
Andrew Porter (Leinster)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster)
Will Stuart (Bath)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester)
Joe McCarthy (Leinster)
James Ryan (Leinster)
Jack Conan (Leinster)
Josh van der Flier (Leinster)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)
Finn Russell (Bath)
Garry Ringrose (Leinster)
Hugo Keenan (Leinster)
Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse)
James Lowe (Leinster)
