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'It’s not us and them. It doesn’t matter if there’s a late call-up'
By PA
Maro Itoje insists the new arrivals on the British and Irish Lions’ tour of Australia will be treated differently to the controversial ‘Geography Six’ in 2017.
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Scotland trio Rory Sutherland, Ewan Ashman and Darcy Graham will join up with Andy Farrell’s men over the coming week, swelling the size of the squad to 44 in the wake of Jamie Osborne, Jamie George and Tom Clarkson also being added.
The fresh faces have been brought in to provide cover that will prevent key personnel from playing in the Test series while backing up in next Tuesday’s match against a First Nations and Pasifika XV.
Farrell’s decision to turn to those from Scotland’s tour of nearby New Zealand has evoked memories of eight years ago when Finn Russell, Allan Dell, Kristian Dacey, Tomas Francis, Cory Hill and Gareth Davie joined Warren Gatland’s Lions.
Picked because of their geographical location with their national sides and not on merit, they were shunned by some squad members and Gatland later revealed that internal concern over “devaluing the jersey” forced him to not deploy them off the bench against the Hurricanes.
Itoje’s Lions will take a different approach with their captain declaring “we are all in this together”.
“I have no doubt that they will be welcomed in,” said Itoje ahead of the Saturday’s first Test in Brisbane.
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“The boss, Andy, has called them in because he believes they will help the Lions to achieve their goal of winning a Test series.
“All of the players who have been called in are quality players. They are players like everyone else in the team, have a high level of experience and have achieved things in their career.
“We are all in this together. It’s not us and them. It doesn’t matter if there’s a late call-up. We’ve seen in the past how late call-ups have had huge impact on the tour in positive ways.
“I have no doubt that everyone who has called up will play a significant role in helping the team achieve its goal.”
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Meanwhile, Itoje has doubled down on Henry Pollock’s revelation that the Lions are determined to complete a series whitewash of Australia – an aim that has been noted by the hosts.
“That’s definitely the ambition. It goes without saying – no one ever wants to lose a game,” Itoje said.
“It would be a bit weird if one of my team-mates said we want to win two and lose one.
“If you asked any of the Wallabies players, I hope it’s also their ambition to win all the games.
“We want to win, but all we’re focussed on is this Saturday. The other two games will look after itself.”
After playing four matches in four different states in 11 days, the Lions are based in Brisbane where preparations for the first Test have begun,
“We know there’s going to be a big step up. As we get closer and closer to the game, we’ll sharpen and sharpen,” Itoje said.
“There’s a healthy tension in the squad because we know this is what we’ve been working towards.”