Only two Lions make Gallagher Premiership team of the season

Seven England internationals have been included in the Gallagher Premiership team of the season.

England captain Maro Itoje is joined by current England team-mates Ted Hill, Ben Curry, Tom Willis, George Ford and Tom Roebuck in the squad selected by an expert panel, with Bath’s Tom Dunn being the seventh England international, who earned the last of his three caps in 2020.

England hopeful Joe Batley, who was recently named in a 33-player training squad by Steve Borthwick, has made the team in the second-row, as well as his Bristol Bears team-mate Gabriel Ibitoye, who failed to make Borthwick’s squad. The winger’s inclusion will exert more pressure on the England head coach to select him for summer internationals against Argentina and the USA, particularly with Tommy Freeman and Elliot Daly absent with the British and Irish Lions.

Fellow Bristolian, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, whose eligibility for England next year remains uncertain, also features in the team.

Fixture

Gallagher Premiership

Bath

34 - 20

Full-time

Bristol

All Stats and Data

The foreign influence in the XV comes from Welshmen Nicky Smith and Tomos Williams, Springboks Thomas du Toit and Robert du Preez (van Rensburg was also born in South Africa) and Argentina’s Santi Carreras.

Despite 15 Premiership players making Andy Farrell’s 38-man Lions squad, only two of those have made the team of the season – Lions captain Itoje and Williams, who was named player of the season. The likes of Curry, Willis and Ford, who were all in contention to make Farrell’s squad, have made this XV ahead of those that will take on Australia later this year.

Gallagher Premiership team of the season 2024/25
1. Nicky Smith (Leicester Tigers)
2. Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby)
3. Thomas du Toit (Bath Rugby)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens)
5. Joe Batley (Bristol Bears)
6. Ted Hill (Bath Rugby)
7. Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
8. Tom Willis (Saracens)
9. Tomos Williams (Gloucester Rugby)
10. George Ford (Sale Sharks)
11. Gabriel Ibitoye (Bristol Bears)
12. Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol Bears)
13. Robert du Preez (Sale Sharks)
14. Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
15. Santi Carreras (Gloucester Rugby)