British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell has admitted his son Owen was “in the conversation” despite not making the 2025 squad for the tour to Australia, and left the door ajar for a potential late call-up.
The Lions confirmed their 38-player squad at the O2 on Thursday in London for the summer’s tour of Australia, exclusively live on Sky Sports, and Farrell revealed there remain places for players to be called up at a later date, with his son among those in the frame.
“He was in the conversation obviously, an experienced player like that, going for his fourth Tour,” Farrell told reporters on Thursday. “You cover all bases that’s for sure in terms of the leadership qualities and all of that.
“But we got to a point where, like a few other players, we feel that Owen’s still trying to find his way a little bit back to fitness.
“There’s 38 picked, which leaves a couple of slots open for us down the track if and when needed. Owen, like a few other guys, would be in that bracket.”
Owen Farrell, a previous Lions tourist in 2013, 2017 and 2021, has not been selected by his father Andy
Farrell retired from England Test duty before joining Racing 92 in France’s Top 14 at the start of this season, with the three fly-halves picked ahead of him for the Lions Scotland’s Finn Russell and English compatriots Fin Smith and Marcus Smith.
When asked what he liked about each of the three 10s selected, Farrell said: “If you look at Finn [Russell] and Fin [Smith], they’re two fly-halves that play a fantastic brand of rugby.
“And Marcus [Smith], whether it be 10-15 (fly-half/full-back) or 15-10 (full-back/fly-half), that type of blend is pretty important. Just going for three out-and-out fly-halves is a different type of balance. We need to cover all bases in that regard, just as we have done with Elliot Daly and Tommy Freeman playing different positions.
England’s Marcus Smith is included in Farrell’s 38-player squad
“Yesterday morning I thought we’d box it [full squad] off in an hour or so. We started at 8am and by 3pm we were still going, which says it all really.
“That’s how it should be. It should be unbelievably difficult because it means we have a talented squad to go to Australia.”
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Ieuan Evans reveals the 17 backs who will represent the British and Irish Lions on their Tour of Australia in the summer
One player who was unable to be selected was Ireland No 8 and captain Caelan Doris due to a shoulder injury. Farrell admitted the 27-year-old would have made it otherwise.
“I have [spoken to him]. You can imagine, he’s devastated,” he said.
“He would’ve definitely been in the mix, such an experienced player and leader, it’s devastating for people like that. But there’s always a constant in every single tour, and sport can be cruel sometimes, but Caelan will be back bigger and stronger.”
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Farrell spoke highly of youngster Henry Pollock, who was selected despite only having one international cap
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Maro Itoje and Andy Farrell share the story of how the England forward found out he was British and Irish Lions captain
British and Irish Lions 38-player squad for 2025 tour of Australia
Forwards (21):
Tadhg Beirne, Ollie Chessum, Jack Conan, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Scott Cummings, Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Zander Fagerson, Tadhg Furlong, Ellis Genge, Maro Itoje (c), Ronan Kelleher, Joe McCarthy, Jac Morgan, Henry Pollock, Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Pierre Schoeman, Dan Sheehan, Will Stuart, Josh van der Flier.
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Ieuan Evans reveals the 21 forwards who will represent the British and Irish Lions on their Tour of Australia in the summer
Backs (17):
Bundee Aki, Elliot Daly, Tommy Freeman, Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Hugo Keenan, Blair Kinghorn, James Lowe, Alex Mitchell, Garry Ringrose, Finn Russell, Fin Smith, Marcus Smith, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Tomos Williams.
Lions 2025 squad positional breakdown:
Loosehead prop
Ellis Genge (England), Andrew Porter (Ireland), Pierre Schoeman (Scotland)
Tighthead prop
Zander Fagerson (Scotland), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Will Stuart (England)
Hooker
Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), Ronan Kelleher (Ireland), Dan Sheehan (Ireland)
Second row
Maro Itoje (England, captain), Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), Ollie Chessum (England), Scott Cummings (Scotland), Joe McCarthy (Ireland), James Ryan (Ireland)
Back-row
Jack Conan (Ireland), Tom Curry (England), Ben Earl (England), Jac Morgan (Wales), Henry Pollock (England), Josh van der Flier (Ireland)
Scrum-half
Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland), Alex Mitchell (England), Tomos Williams (Wales)
Fly-half
Finn Russell (Scotland), Fin Smith (England), Marcus Smith (England)
Centre
Bundee Aki (Ireland), Huw Jones (Scotland), Garry Ringrose (Ireland), Sione Tuipolotu (Scotland)
Wings
Tommy Freeman (England), Mack Hansen (Ireland), James Lowe (Ireland), Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland)
Full-back
Elliot Daly (England), Hugo Keenan (Ireland), Blair Kinghorn (Scotland)
Watch the Lions tour of Australia live on Sky Sports in 2025
Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.
