Jim Hamilton's 2021 British and Irish Lions selection

Former Scotland second row Jim Hamilton has picked his starting fifteen for the 2021 British and Irish Lions Tour of South Africa.

The British and Irish Lions are one of the most famous teams in the world of rugby. Every four years, the Lions – selected from the national sides of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland – head to the southern hemisphere to do battle with rugby heavyweights New Zealand, Australia or South Africa.

In 2021, the eagerly awaited series will visit some of the most impressive stadiums in world sport and culminates in three Test matches against the newly crowned Rugby World Cup champions, the Springboks.

The eight-game tour kicks off on Saturday 3 July 2021 when the British and Irish Lions play Vodacom Super Rugby’s DHL Stormers in Cape Town.

Three weeks later the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg will host the first Test – a venue which last hosted the Springboks in 2013.

The second Test follows on Saturday 31 July at the Cape Town Stadium – the first Lions Test in the Mother City since 1997 – before the tourists return to Gauteng for the final Test on Saturday 7 August at Emirates Airline Park – the storied venue of the 1995 Rugby World Cup final.