With less than a year to go, anticipation for The British & Irish Lions Tour of Australia is building fast.
At Ireland’s Aviva Stadium, the Selector Series got underway in front of a sold-out crowd, with former Lions Gordon D’Arcy and Simon Zebo offering their thoughts on selection for the 2025 Tour as supporters also had the opportunity to pick their team at the first Selector Series event.
You can book your ticket at the next leg of the Selector Series tour and hear from former Lion and Scotland international Gavin Hastings in Edinburgh on 4 September.
Unsurprisingly in Dublin, Ireland No.8 Caelan Doris was the overwhelming favourite among supporters to captain the Lions down under.
Under Andy Farrell, the Leinsterman has established himself as one of the world’s top back rows.
The 26-year-old has churned out countless world class performances, starting every match of Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations triumphs in 2023 and 2024.
It is a run of form that has seen Doris capture the attention of his country and Lions supporters in Dublin, with D’Arcy also backing his countryman for the Lions captaincy while Zebo opted for former Racing 92 teammate Finn Russell.
Supporters and Zebo both found places for England legend Courtney Lawes.
After guiding Northampton Saints to the Gallagher Premiership Rugby title in his final season with the club, the 35-year-old was named in the second row by Zebo and at blindside flanker by fans.
In the front row, there was a clear liking of the all-Ireland trio of Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong, although Zebo preferred England prop Kyle Sinckler at tighthead prop.
Munster second row Tadhg Beirne was a crowd favourite too, with the 32-year-old coming off the back of another strong season with his province and Ireland, he was named in of Zebo and the supporters’ second row.
Only D’Arcy chose not to pick the Ireland international and instead opted for an all-England pairing of Mary Itoje and George Martin, who have formed a strong partnership for Steve Borthwick’s team in recent months.
Scotland international Finn Russell was the overwhelming choice to lead the tourists from fly-half.
In his first year with Bath Rugby, the 31-year-old took the club to a first Twickenham final in nine years and steered Scotland to a first win in Cardiff since 2002.
Across the backs there were a variety of different selections.
Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park was the only clear favourite after being selected by D’Arcy, Zebo and supporters at Aviva Stadium.
Elsewhere there were selections for Scotland’s Blair Kinghorn, England’s Tommy Freeman and Ireland’s Mack Hansen.
