It was not the way Greig Laidlaw would have wanted to earn his first British & Irish Lions call-up, but now that he is in the squad he is determined to make the most of it.

On Saturday night, Ben Youngs withdrew from the 2017 Tour to New Zealand to support brother Tom and his wife

in the saddest of circumstances.

That meant that Lions Head Coach Warren Gatland called up the Scotland skipper to the 41-man group to take on the All Blacks.

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The Gloucester No 9 quickly had to change his arrangements to make it to Monday’s Player Administration Day.

“First and foremost, everybody’s thoughts are with Tom, Ben and the whole of the Youngs family – certainly from within the camp here today,” said Laidlaw at a press conference yesterday.

Laidlaw joins his compatriots Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour in the Lions squad and after injury curtailed his 2017 RBS 6 Nations, the scrum-half is hoping to hit the ground running.

“It’s a great opportunity for myself to come in once training has started, get my feet on the ground and get involved. I want to try and put my print on the squad.”