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'One of the most famous players that didn't tour' picks 2025 Lions XV

Courtney Lawes, Maro Itoje and Conor Murray of the British & Irish Lions look dejected during the 3rd test match between the South Africa Springboks and the British & Irish Lions at Cape Town Stadium on August 07, 2021 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Former England internationals Danny Care and Mark Atkinson have picked eight Englishmen in their ideal British and Irish Lions starting XV to face Australia in the first Test next year.

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The pair thrashed out their best XV on the Hits Differently podcast recently, with six Irishmen and one Scot also making their team.

Despite making 101 appearances for England, Care never made a Lions tour, though he was described by the one-cap Atkinson as ā€œone of the most famous players that didn’t tourā€.

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      A theme throughout the team is a battle between Irish and English players, with two English players getting the nod in the front-row. There is an Anglo-Irish propping combination of Ellis Genge and Tadhg Furlong, with Care saying the Bristol loosehead brings ā€œraw powerā€ and ā€œwants to hurt peopleā€, while the Leinster star ā€œchanged the game in terms of tighthead propsā€.

      England captain Jamie George got the nod in the No 2 shirt, though it appeared to be a flip-of-a-coin between him and Dan Sheehan, with Care describing them both as ā€œworld-classā€.

      Fixture
      British & Irish Lions
      Australia
      06:00
      19 Jul 25
      British & Irish Lions
      All Stats and Data

      There is once again and Irish and English combination in the second-row, with Atkinson describing the No 4 position as the ā€œeasiest position to pick right nowā€. Maro Itoje was selected to partner Munster’s Tadhg Beirne in the second-row, with the Saracen tipped to return for his third tour.

      There was a greater debate when selecting the back-row, however, with the duo eventually settling on a trio of Courtney Lawes, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris, who was selected as captain. Though Lawes retired from Test rugby after last year’s World Cup, and is currently playing in France’s Pro D2, Atkinson said ā€œif we see the same Courtney as at Saints last season, still performing, I find it hard to leave him out of any team.ā€

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      Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park was understandably selected at scrum-half by Care, who described him as ā€œthe best scrum-half at the moment,ā€ but added that he is ā€œclosely followed by Alex Mitchellā€. The Ireland and Leinster star has been picked to partner England No 10 Marcus Smith, who will compete with Scotland’s Finn Russell, as ā€œthe gameplan doesn’t changeā€ with both attacking players vying to start.

      The pair settled on a powerful centre combination of Bundee Aki and Ollie Lawrence. Atkinson, a former centre, was effusive in his praise for the Ireland No 12, saying ā€œhe’s come from being a very, very, okay player… then suddenly, about four years ago, it was like overnight he became world-class,ā€ adding that both he and Lawrence are not just ball-carriers.

      There is equally plenty of power on the wings, with Duhan van der Merwe picked to partner Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. Atkinson said there ā€œdoesn’t feel like there’s anyone else to wear that shirtā€ other than 2021 tourist Van der Merwe, while Care said that his former England team-mate Feyi-Waboso has ā€œgot unbelievable gas, raw power, his stepping is unbelievable,ā€ and that ā€œhe’s as close to a Cheslin Kolbe as England have gotā€.

      Full-back was similar to the hooker, with another flip-of-a-coin selection, with both choosing England’s George Furbank marginally ahead of Ireland’s Hugo Keenan, although, with Andy Farrell head coach, he may well go with one of his preferred players.

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      Danny Care and Mark Atkinson’s Lions XV (Back-ups)
      1. Ellis Genge (Andrew Porter, Joe Marler)
      2. Jamie George (Dan Sheehan)
      3. Tadhg Furlong (Kyle Sinckler)
      4. Maro Itoje
      5. Tadhg Beirne
      6. Courtney Lawes (Chandler Cunningham-South)
      7. Josh van der Flier (Tom Curry)
      8. Caelan Doris – captain
      9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Alex Mitchell, Tomos Williams)
      10. Marcus Smith (Finn Russell)
      11. Duhan van der Merwe (James Lowe)
      12. Bundee Aki
      13. Ollie Lawrence
      14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
      15. George Furbank (Hugo Keenan)

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      Comments

      6 Comments
      N
      NK 214 days ago

      Picking Genge in the starting line up is an almost funny joke. He is not the best English loosehead and I'm not even sure he's the best loosehead in Bristol Bears.

      D
      DC 219 days ago

      Who is danny care????not a flying hope that team will be chosen,typical english arrogant attitude.andy farrell will choose the best,and id imagine 8 irish players not english starting,we do want to win afterall.the boks and ireland are at the moment ranked best teams in the world,ireland be far more successful in last few years than england.when gatland was in charge he chose a lot of welsh players as they were flying high at the time,what have england achieved lately???

      E
      Ed the Duck 219 days ago

      Fantasy rugby at its worst!


      Never gonna happen though.

      J
      JH 219 days ago

      Andrew Porter

      Dan Sheehan

      Tadhg Furlonh

      Maro Itoje

      Tadhg Beirne

      Josh van der Flier

      Caelan Doris

      Jamison Gibson-Park

      Finn Russell

      Duhan van der Merwe

      Bundee Aki

      Huw Jones

      James Lowe

      George Furbank

      P
      Pn 219 days ago

      Nice! What about blindside? It'd be between JVDF and Jac Morgan for 7 for me and Kinghorn at fullback, he's been immense for Toulouse. Huw Jones definitely, need at least one ball playing centre. I suppose it's all irrelevant anyway, whatever team goes out there will likely smash the hapless Aussies!

      R
      Rob 219 days ago

      Lads the outrage click articles are getting out of control, I nearly threw up reading that team 🤢

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