British and Irish Lions release latest squad update ahead of Argentina match

A total of 15 players who were involved in the Premiership Rugby and URC finals on Saturday will join the remainder of the British & Irish Lions squad this afternoon, now that their club commitments for the season are over.

Finn Russell and Will Stuart, from newly-crowned Premiership champions Bath, and Ollie Chessum from Leicester will be joined by the 12-strong Leinster contingent made up of Jack Conan, Tadhg Furlong, Ronan Kelleher, Joe McCarthy, Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Dan Sheehan, Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan, James Lowe and Garry Ringrose.

There had been some uncertainty surrounding Gibson-Park’s availability after the scrum-half was ruled out of Leinster’s URC final win against the Bulls just hours before kick-off.

Those 15 players will participate in their first training session on Tuesday.

Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse Rugby/Scotland) is the only player who is yet to join the squad as he remains on Top 14 duties in France.

Jamie George (Saracens/England) and Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks/England) will train with the Lions today at UCD (Dublin), before returning to their clubs.

The Lions play their first match against Argentina, for the 1888 Cup, at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night, kick-off 8pm.

The British & Irish Lions Squad

Forwards:

Finlay Bealham (Connacht Rugby/Ireland)
Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland) #838
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England)
Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #839
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/England) #851
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England) #853
Ben Earl (Saracens/England)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #818
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England)
Maro Itoje (Saracens/England) #825 (C)
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Joe McCarthy (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales)
Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England)
Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
James Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Dan Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby/England)
Josh van der Flier (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)

Backs:

Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby/Ireland) #837
Elliot Daly (Saracens/England) #822
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Mack Hansen (Connacht Rugby/Ireland)
Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland)
Hugo Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
James Lowe (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/England)
Garry Ringrose (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Finn Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland) #835
Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England) #855
Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland)
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland) #841
Tomos Williams (Gloucester Rugby/Wales)