Owen Farrell left out of British and Irish Lions squad as Maro Itoje named captain

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Owen Farrell has been left out the British and Irish Lions squad to tour Australia, with former England teammate Maro Itoje named captain of the travelling party.

Farrell misses out on selection for a fourth tour after being excluded from a 38-player group by Lions head coach Andy Farrell, his father.

The 33-year-old has not played international rugby since the 2023 World Cup, taking a break from England duty last year before agreeing a move to Racing 92 in France and thus making himself ineligible.

And after a season plagued by injuries in which his Paris club have struggled, Farrell has failed to earn inclusion as one of three fly halves with Scotland’s Finn Russell and fellow Englishmen Fin and Marcus Smith preferred.

Itoje, meanwhile, emerged as the outstanding candidate to lead the squad after an excellent first Six Nations as England skipper. He follows Bernard Gadney (1936), Bill Beaumont (1980) and Martin Johnson (1997 and 2001) as Englishmen to captain a Lions tour, and will become the first Black man to do so.

The 30-year-old carried cuddly toy “Bil”, the British and Irish Lions mascot, as the youngest player on tour in New Zealand in 2017, and was named player of the series in South Africa in 2021.

Maro Itoje will lead the Lions in Australia after an excellent first Six Nations as England captain (Â©INPHO/Billy Stickland)

Ireland No 8 Caelan Doris, a rival for the captaincy, misses out on the squad after undergoing shoulder surgery. English young gun Henry Pollock is, however, included.

Henry Pollock (centre) has forced his way into the Lions squad (PA Wire)

Jack Conan, Tom Curry, Ben Earl and Josh van der Flier are also included in the back row, while Jac Morgan is one of just two Welsh players selected along with scrum half Tomos Williams.

Ellis Genge, Andrew Porter and Pierre Schoeman are the looseheads, with Will Stuart, Tadhg Furlong and Zander Fagerson making up the tighthead room. Former England captain Jamie George is a surprise omission at hooker, with compatriot Luke Cowan-Dickie preferred alongside Irish pair Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher.

Jamie George misses out on the squad (PA Wire)

Tadhg Beirne, Scott Cummings, Ollie Chessum, Joe McCarthy and James Ryan join Itoje in a packed engine room, with Alex Mitchell and Williams joining presumed starting nine Jamison Gibson-Park at scrum half.

At centre, Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose and Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones could strike up partnerships forged for Ireland and Scotland respectively.

Veteran Elliot Daly earns a third tour in the back three, where Blair Kinghorn is also selected despite his likely involvement in the Top 14 play-offs when the tour begins. Tommy Freeman, Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan, James Lowe and Duhan van der Merwe complete the group.

Among the other high-profile potential inclusions left out are Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw, Toulouse and England back row Jack Willis and former England captain Courtney Lawes, now with Brive. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and George Martin miss out with the pair currently sidelined by injury.

The Lions begin their 10-match itinerary with a meeting with Argentina in Dublin on 20 June, before playing their first match on tour in Perth eight days later.

The three-Test series begins in Brisbane on Saturday 19 July, with the series continuing in Melbourne and concluding in Sydney over the next two Saturdays.

The Wallabies were beaten 2-1 by the quadrennial tourists on their last visit to Australia in 2013. The Lions lost 2-1 to South Africa four years ago in a series played in front of no fans due to Covid restrictions.

BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS SQUAD TO TOUR AUSTRALIA

Forwards:

Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland)

Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England)

Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)

Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/England)

Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland)

Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England)

Ben Earl (Saracens/England)

Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland)

Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)

Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England)