The British and Irish Lions training camp was always going to clash with the two domestic finals and it means Andy Farrell’s absentee list runs into double digits with Leinster and Bath among the finalists
The British and Irish Lions will embark on their first training camp before heading to Australia without a staggering 16 members of their 38-man squad.
Andy Farrell‘s men will head to Portugal for some warm weather training before they play their tour opener against Argentina in Dublin on June 20. Rugby’s calendar meant he was always going to be without certain individuals due to a clash with the Premiership and URC finals, which take place the weekend before.
After the weekend’s semi-finals Leinster, Bath and Leicester Tigers have all booked themselves finals berths. The Irish side provide the bulk of the squad – 12 members to be exact. Bath have two, including fly-half Finn Russell whilst Leicester provide one.
The French calendar also means that the only Top 14 player – Toulouse fullback Blair Kinghorn – will still be playing for his club and another big name absentee. This is not the first time the scenario has arose – four years ago Gatland was missing 12 players from his 37-man squad that went to Jersey before their first game against Japan at Murrayfield.
Farrell knew this was a possibility and has been making contingency plans. It is understood that several players will be on standby to come into Farrell’s squad, but will not stay with the team when they fly to Australia. The Lions boss will call up those players who are already at the top of his standby list so that they are somewhat integrated in the squad should they receive a call-up to head Down Under as injury cover later down the line.
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The Lions want to avoid a repeat of the controversy from the 2017 tour to New Zealand – which became known as “geography six”. Then head coach Warren Gatland called up six players based on their geographical proximity to the Lions, rather than the best man for the job, as he was accused of devaluing the jersey.
The Times has already reported that Jamie George will join Lions training in Portugal next week as cover for Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher. Farrell will be missing two of this three hookers due to Leinster playing in the final with Luke Cowan-Dickie the only original member of the squad available.
He will also be without three of his second row options in James Ryan, Joe McCarthy and Ollie Chessum. The two men tipped to battle for the 15 shirt – Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan – are also absent.
The two Smiths – Fin and Marcus – will eye the fly-half berth when the Lions face Argentina as they look to stake their claim. Russell has been tipped as the man to wear the 10 shirt but Fin Smith has made himself the starter for England and is seen as perhaps favouring Farrell’s gameplan more.
Despite the initial frustrations for the Lions coaching group, they may see positives in knowing that a number of the squad could head into camp off the back of winning trophies. Leinster’s contingent want to end their lengthy period without a title and could be galvanised by such success.
That said, a loss to the Bulls, who they’ll play at Croke Park next weekend, would be a huge blow for a group who have continued to come up short. Russell can lead Bath to Premiership glory for the first time in nearly two decades and put to bed any doubts over the lack of silverware on his CV.
