Andy Farrell names 38-man Lions squad for Australia tour – as 13 English stars make it and he leaves the door open for son Owen

• The British & Irish Lions are set to tour Australia from June to August this summer
• Lions coach Andy Farrell announced his 38-man touring squad on Thursday 
• Maro Itoje has been named captain and 13 English stars were called up in total 

By NIK SIMON

Henry Pollock, Marcus Smith and Fin Smith have been named in Andy Farrell’s squad for this summer’s Lions tour of Australia.

The young English contingent are some of the biggest calls in the 38-man party, which does not include Owen Farrell, Jamie George or Sam Prendergast.

However, Farrell later left the door open for his son to make the squad by revealing that two spots had been held for players who can prove their form and fitness over the coming weeks.  

Lock Maro Itoje has been confirmed as captain, leading a squad that contains 15 Irish players, 13 English, eight Scottish and two Welsh.

With No 8 Caelan Doris not selected due to injury, Ben Earl and Jack Conan are the two specialist No 8s in the group.

France-based flankers Jack Willis and Courtney Lawes were both overlooked, leaving Pollock, Tom Curry, Jac Morgan and Josh van der Flier completing the back-row options.

Farrell named a 38-man group in front of 2,000 fans at a live event at the 02 Arena 

Maro Itoje was confirmed as Lions captain in a squad that contains 12 other English players

The squad was revealed in front of 2,000 fans at a live event at the O2 Arena.

Ireland lock Tadhg Beirne was the first name read out, as chairman Ieuan Evans read out a list of 21 forwards.

Englishmen Ollie Chessum, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Curry, Ellis Genge and Will Stuart were named in the pack. But Pollock, just 20, was the biggest call of all, continuing his remarkable breakthrough season.

Itoje was officially unveiled on stage as tour captain, revealing he heard the news on Tuesday after Farrell called him from Dublin Airport.

The initial call cut out due to poor signal, meaning Farrell awkwardly had to call twice before he managed to break the news.

‘I got a call from an Irish number,’ revealed Itoje. ‘I don’t have many Irish people calling me. I didn’t have his number saved so I picked up and heard a Wigan accent saying, “Hey Maro” and put two and two together. It was awesome. It was niggly because the signal was quite bad. It feels amazing.’

The Lions kick-off their tour next month with a warm-up fixture against Argentina in Dublin.

They will then fly out to Perth to continue their preparations which climax with a three Test series against the Wallabies.

Farrell’s son, Owen, didn’t make the initial group, but was told the door is still open for him

Henry Pollock’s call-up continued the 20-year-old’s remarkable rise over recent times

In the backs, Finn Russell and the Smiths are the squad’s No 10 options, with Prendergast, Farrell and Ford overlooked.

Jamison Gibson-Park, Tomos Williams and Alex Mitchell are the three scrum-halves, after the selectors boiled down a 74-man shortlist.

Utility back Elliot Daly has been included, with Bundee Aki, Huw Jones, Garry Ringrose and Sione Tuipulotu completing the midfield.

In the back-three, Tommy Freeman, Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan, Blair Kinghorn, James Lowe and Duhan van der Merwe round off the squad.

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Andy Farrell names 38-man Lions squad for Australia tour – as 13 English stars make it and he leaves the door open for son Owen

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