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Laidlaw replaces Youngs in Lions squad
By Christopher Devine
Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw has been called into the British and Irish Lions squad to tour New Zealand after Ben Youngs pulled out due to family reasons.
It was announced on Saturday that Leicester Tigers and England scrum-half Youngs had withdrawn from the tour, due to the wife of his brother Tom receiving news that her cancer is terminal.
Laidlaw, who plays his club rugby for Gloucester, will replace Youngs in Warren Gatland's 41-man squad, joining fellow number nines Conor Murray and Rhys Webb.
Commenting on Youngs' withdrawal, Lions coach Warren Gatland said: "We fully understand and respect Ben's decision to stay at home.
"Family comes first and I know from having toured with Tom and Ben in 2013 how close they are.
"This is a difficult and important time for them and we send Ben, Tom and their family our heartfelt thoughts."
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Latest Comments
I thought you meant in europe. Because all of the reasons theyre different I wouldn't correlate that to mean for europe, as in french broadcasters pay two or three times as much as the UK or SA broadcasters do, like they do for their league.
With France, it's not just about viewers, they are also paying much more. So no doubt there will be a hit (to the amount the French teams receive for only playing a fraction of it) but they may not care too much as long as the big clubs, the top 8 for example, enter the meaty end, and it wouldn't have the same value to them as the top14 contract/compensation does. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3 separate networks broadcast deals only went to the clubs in their regions as well (that's how SR ended up (unbalanced) I believe).
Go to commentsHis best years were 2018 and he wasn't good enough to win the World Cup in 2023! (Although he was voted as the best player in the world in 2023)
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